1937年，毛主席寫信給時任英國工黨領袖克萊門特•艾德禮(Clement Attlee)，呼籲英國加入抗擊日本的“生死鬥爭”。這封信近日將在蘇富比(Sotheby's)拍賣，起拍價超過10萬英鎊。1954年，他曾經應中國領導人毛澤東和周恩來的邀請訪問過中國.
艾德禮後來成為二戰後英國最偉大的首相之一，該信件由艾德禮兒媳婦安妮•艾德禮伯爵夫人(Anne, Countess Attlee)提供。一般咸信艾德禮的兒,孫鬧窮,將其祖父收藏多年珍貴私人信函,公開拍賣以為渡日所需?
克萊門特·理查·艾德禮，第一代艾德禮伯爵，（Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee，英國政治家，1945年大選帶領工黨取得壓倒性勝利，並意外地擊倒在第二次世界大戰領導英國的邱吉爾，出任英國首相一職。艾德禮是工黨首位能夠度過一個國會會期，並能在國會擁有多數優勢的首相。此外，他也是歷史上在任時間最長的英國工黨黨魁。在艾德禮的領導下，英國始終成功由戰時經濟過渡到和平時期，並成功解決了遣散軍隊、外幣短缺、貿易逆差和政府支出失控等等的問題。而他任內在國內事務最大的成就，則要數任內成立的國民保健署，以及使英國在戰後成為福利國家，國民保健署至今仍影響英國社會。
Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee was a British politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951 and the Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955. Attlee was the first person to hold the office of Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, serving under Winston Churchill in the wartime coalition government, before going on to lead the Labour Party to a landslide election victory in 1945 and a narrow victory in 1950. He became the first Labour Prime Minister ever to serve a full five-year term, as well as the first to command a Labour majority in Parliament, and remains the longest-ever serving Leader of the Labour Party.
對外事務上，艾德禮政府面對著四大問題，分別是戰後歐洲之重建、冷戰的開始、聯合國的成立以及大英帝國的去殖民化。艾德禮對前兩者尤為關心，這些事務除了得到歐內斯特·貝文協助外，艾德禮又在1945年出席了波茨坦會議，與美、蘇兩國的領導人，杜魯門和史達林會面。
他在1965年1月出席了邱吉爾的喪禮，最後在1967年10月8日去世。他死後，伯爵爵位由兒子馬丁·理查·艾德禮所繼承。馬丁·理查·艾德禮在1991年去世後，伯爵爵位則由艾德禮的孫子約翰·理查·艾德禮所繼承。雖然《1999年上議院法令》使大部份世襲貴族喪失上議院席位，但約翰·理查·艾德禮仍成功保住自己的世襲議席。
艾德禮死時房產值約7,295英鎊，對一位富知名度的顯要來說，著實並不多錢總括而言，他的最大成就和貢獻，相信就是成功在英國戰後，不論是政治政策，抑或經濟方針上，都使社會各界，各黨各派都達至一致的共識，而這種共識更一直牢固於政治角力場，到1970年代才有所變化。儘管學界仍有激烈的辯論，但有些觀察者認為，這種「戰後共識」至今仍然存在。
The file photo shows a fragment of a letter from China's Mao Zedong to former Labour Prime Minister Clement Atlee in 1937.
A letter written by China's Mao Zedong asking a leading British politician for help in fighting Japanese invaders in 1937 is to be auctioned later this month in London, where it is expected to fetch more than 100,000 pounds.
The letter, typed in English and signed by both Mao and Zhu De, one of the founding generals of the People's Liberation Army, was dated 1 November 1937 from Yan'an, a remote part of northwest China where Mao's forces had set up their headquarters in the fight against the Japanese invaders.
It is addressed to Major Clement Attlee, then leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party, and appeals for help in fighting the Japanese.
"We would ask you especially to lend the support of your party to any measures of practical assistance to China that may be organized in Great Britain.
"We believe that the British people, when they know the truth about Japanese aggression in China, will rise in support of the Chinese people, will organize practical assistance on their behalf, and will compel their own government to adopt a policy of active resistance to a danger that ultimately threatens them no less than ourselves,"the letter said.
Mao's original words were translated by James Bertram, a New Zealand-born British journalist who had been given an audience with Mao after helping smuggle the wife of one of Mao's colleagues across Japanese lines to Yan'an.
Britain joined the war against Japan in 1941 after the Japanese invaded British colonial possessions in South-East Asia.
Attlee became UK Prime Minister in 1945 and under his leadership, Britain became the first major western power to recognise the People's Republic of China on January, 1950; Atlee also became the first major western leader to meet Mao in a three-hour discussion over tea in 1954.
Historians believe Attlee played a major role in persuading US President Harry Truman not to declare all-out war on China during the Korean conflict.
Sotheby's will put the letter up for auction on 15 December, where it is expected to fetch between 100,000 and 150,000 pounds.
