At dinner, Mr Morpurgo tried to draw out my Uncle Dominic on the subject of his pacifism. ‘Go on, admit it,’ he kept saying, with what was presumably intended to be a roguish grin, ‘you’re deluding yourself. No real progress has ever been made in the name of peace or love. Greed, aggression and lust - that's what motivates people. We're beasts really - I'm one, I don't deny it.