Christmas quiz
You don’t say In 2018, who said: 1. ‘I have the absolute power to PARDON myself, but why should I…
The peculiar allure of the Pyrenees
On 26 August 1880 Henry Russell consummated his marriage in an unusual way. He was, to his own mind, married…
Christmas quiz
Weird world In 2017: 1. Police discovered thousands of what kind of plant growing in a disused nuclear bunker…
Breaking the commandments on Moses’s mountain
A medieval party of 800 Armenians at the top of Mount Sinai suddenly found themselves surrounded by fire. Their pilgrim…
A pilgrim’s progress to Santiago
In his friendly and beguiling voice, Jean-Christophe Rufin explains (in a way that reminded me of the pre-journey relish of…
What did the ancient Greeks believe?
It is a curious fact that the modern Hebrew for ‘atheist’, Tim Whitmarsh notes in passing, is apikoros. The word…
John Dee thought he could talk to angels using medieval computer technology
I remember the shock, like a jolt of static electricity. One day, between taking my degree and beginning my first…
Take up and read Augustine’s Confessions
I usually throw away dust jackets but Robin Lane Fox chose his for a reason. He originally encountered Augustine of…
Christmas Quiz
On the record In 2015, who said:1. We must get the cow off the ice. 2. It’s decision time —…
The answers
On the record 1. Jean-Claude Juncker 2. David Cameron 3. Sir Tim Hunt 4. Jeremy Corbyn 5. President Vladimir Putin…
Remembering P.J. Kavanagh
‘Elms at the end of twilight are very interesting,’ wrote Gerard Manley Hopkins in his journal: ‘Against the sky they…
St George: patron saint of England, patronised by all
What did St George do? Killed a dragon, as everyone knows. And yet, as Samantha Riches points out, no mention…
Christmas Quiz
So they say In 2014, who was quoted as saying:1. ‘There is no status for the partner of a head…
Five of the best celebrity biographies of 2014
Cilla Black has become a strange creature during her 50 years in showbiz. When her husband Bobby was in hospital…
Charles Saatchi’s new book of photos makes me feel sick
Charles Saatchi, the gallery owner, has created his own Chamber of Horrors in this thick, square book, ‘inspired by striking…
Floating bodies, seeing hands, rippling skies - is Jerry Uelsmann’s photomontage a tragic dead-end?
An untitled photograph by Jerry Uelsmann from 1991 shows a rock like Magritte’s floating in the sky between an Ansel…
Judge a critic by the quality of his mistakes
What the title promises is not found inside. It is a tease. John Sutherland says he has ‘been paid one…
The right way to see Madrid
I got Madrid utterly wrong for quite a long time. It’s a lovely city to walk in, and I thought…
The Spectator's Christmas Quiz
Says who? In 2013, who said:1. ‘To me it’s not a marriage, it is, if you like, a Ronseal deal.’2.…
The Christmas Quiz answers
Says who? 1. David Cameron. 2. The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Revd Justin Welby. 3. Nick Clegg. 4. Prince…
What's notable about 'a lovely little old rectangular green French silver whittling knife'?
In the reminiscences of Bertie Wooster we find this: As I sat in the bathtub, soaping a meditative foot and…
Charles Saatchi's photo play
The game that Charles Saatchi plays in The Naked Eye is to find photographs of subjects that look surprisingly like…
How much can you tell about E.E. Cummings from this photo?
Do you think you can tell things about writers from the way they look in a painting or photograph? A…
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