The deafening rise of ‘background’ music
The unstoppable rise of ‘background’ music
Devil of a job: the curious occupations recorded in the census
Even before the first census was made in 1801, the plan was regarded with fear, hatred and ridicule. And this…
God’s many mansions: a guide to the world’s greatest churches
The surroundings of the Crimea Memorial Church in Istanbul are ‘little better than a dump’, wrote the British embassy chaplain…
2020 Christmas quiz
Set by Christopher Howse. Illustrated by Castro
Who decides what’s allowed on a gravestone?
A parishioner in West Yorkshire has been allowed to put an inscription in Chinese on a relative’s gravestone. ‘There is…
The art of street furniture
On his lockdown rambles, Christopher Howse finds beauty and solace in London’s street furniture
Why beards of convenience are a bad idea
Viewers of the BBC News channel, now that Zoom shows talking heads in their own homes, want before anything to…
Gay giraffes and dead in ditches: The Spectator 2019 quiz
They said it In 2019, who said: 1. ‘You have stolen my dreams and my childhood.’ 2. ‘I didn’t sweat…
Away from the manger: the holy relics of Bethlehem
‘No crib for a bed,’ says ‘Away in a Manger’ rather puzzlingly, since a crib is a manger. ‘No one…
Gay giraffes and dead in ditches: The Spectator 2019 quiz
They said it In 2019, who said: 1. ‘You have stolen my dreams and my childhood.’ 2. ‘I didn’t sweat…
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
John Dee liked to talk to spirits but he was no loony witch, says Christopher Howse
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
Set by Christopher Howse. Illustrated by Castro
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
OBITUARY
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
Set by Christopher Howse. Illustrated by Castro
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…
