Dear Mary: Your problems solved
Q. I have heard news of a forthcoming party which I would really love to attend. The problem is that…
Women’s rights and wrongs
When I awoke the other morning and switched on my radio, the airwaves were alive with the sound of furious,…
Cold comfort
Can Germany’s solidarity with Ukraine survive the winter?
Gorgeous George
The George, Fitzrovia, was Saki’s local, and a pub for men talking about cars when Great Portland Street was called…
Distraction
Dominic Raab blamed distraction forBoris Johnson’s woes when the Tories failed in two by-elections last week. ‘Hehas track records as…
Oxford Street reborn could be the model for every British high street
Oxford Street is ‘a dinosaur district destined for extinction’, says Marks & Spencer boss Stuart Machin – whose plan to…
Wild life
Kenya As late as the 1920s, it was believed that Africa’s tropical sun would boil a European’s brains. ‘The direct…
Mountains to climb
That great Frenchman the Marquis de Sade would have been justly proud of the Tour de France had he lived…
The play’s the thing
Last week Lloyd Evans was wondering whether it was about time audiences started booing dramatic productions of which they disapproved.…
Low life
I’m looking backwards: old journals, old photographs, old notebooks. What strikes me above all is the vigour and energy I…
Letters
Strong leaders Sir: Freddy Gray states that ‘voters seemed most enthusiastic about the leaders who removed their liberties’ (‘Leaderless’, 18…
High life
London As speaker at a posh dinner given by Jonathan and Jake Goedhuis, best UK wine merchants by far, and…
Will tactical voting topple the Tories?
Boris Johnson has always been a celebrity politician. It is one of the reasons why the normal rules of politics…
The day I got heckled at Speakers’ Corner
Monday was the 150th anniversary of Speakers’ Corner and, in the hope of drumming up some publicity for the Free…
World king vs future king
Boris and Charles have had slightly fractious dealings so far
War of words
Scrabble players are being censored
A study of Scarlett
Selfish, acquisitive, ignorant and vain, Gone with the Wind’s heroine not only resembles Donald Trump – she may even be his role model, says Greg Garrett
A shared mission
The concept of vaccination evolved from 18th-century inoculation practices and many people contributed to the accretion of knowledge. This book…
All roads lead to Dublin
I do not think I am alone in confessing that I had read critical works on James Joyce before I…
A very tangled web
Vanessa Salomon is an internationally successful translator. Clever, beautiful, privileged – ‘born in a trilingual household: French, English and money’…
The great arbitrator
‘The law,’ according to W.S. Gilbert’s Lord Chancellor, ‘is the true embodiment of everything that’s excellent’ and, by common consent,…
Remember forget-me-nots?
‘There are a great many ways of holding on to our sanity amid the vices and follies of the world,’…
The lady vanishes
This is a depressing book. It’s a reminder of everything that is sick, broken and generally maledicted about the human…
Bridge
Rubber bridge is a game that happens to suit me very well: you can come and go as you please…
The Battle for Britain
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