How to be a tourist in Europe
Last week, I was in the Florence Baptistery by 8.30 a.m. That used to be early enough to avoid the…
In London, dinner parties and murder exist side by side
Last month, a 17-year-old business student of Somali extraction, Abdikarim Hassan, was knifed to death outside a corner shop, 70…
Homer’s Trojan War epic richly deserves its lavish new BBC adaptation
Did the Trojan War really take place? The Foreign Secretary certainly thinks so. ‘The Iliad must have happened,’ Boris Johnson…
Why the sleepy old CoE is just a greedy, moneygrubbing property tycoon
Holy smoke! The sleepy old Church of England is a greedy, money-grubbing property tycoon. This month, it emerged that since…
Harry, Meghan and the irresistible rise of the glamocracy
The world may be dazzled by Prince Harry marrying a divorced, mixed-race American TV star. But his grand friends and…
The real reason for the fall of Rome? Climate change
Why did the Roman Empire collapse? It’s a question that’s been puzzling writers ever since Edward Gibbon wrote The History…
Homer Simpson meets Homer
Milan Kundera has said that Homer’s Odyssey was the first novel. I’m not so sure — the verse kind of…
Boiling point
Bicycling up Regent Street in the intense June heat last week, I was cut up by a black cab driver.…
Dumbing down the house
Osterley Park on the western fringes of London is a rare survival. A Robert Adam house, with splendid Adam interiors,…
Dumbing down the house
Osterley Park on the western fringes of London is a rare survival. A Robert Adam house, with splendid Adam interiors,…
Bye bye, Buller
RIP the Bullingdon Club, 1780–2017. It isn’t quite dead — but it is down to its last two members. That’s…
Bye bye, Buller
RIP the Bullingdon Club, 1780–2017. It isn’t quite dead — but it is down to its last two members. That’s…
Bye bye, Buller
RIP the Bullingdon Club, 1780–2017. It isn’t quite dead — but it is down to its last two members. That’s…
Surviving Trumpworld
While he was on the campaign trail, Donald Trump was asked an intriguing question by Bob Lonsberry of WHAM 1180…
Surviving Trumpworld
While he was on the campaign trail, Donald Trump was asked an intriguing question by Bob Lonsberry of WHAM 1180…
Surviving Trumpworld
While he was on the campaign trail, Donald Trump was asked an intriguing question by Bob Lonsberry of WHAM 1180…
Bridges and troubled waters
During David Cameron’s years as prime minister, an unobtrusive figure could be seen slipping out of the back entrance to…
Bridges and troubled waters
During David Cameron’s years as prime minister, an unobtrusive figure could be seen slipping out of the back entrance to…
Not owning a car
On two occasions, sainted members of my family have offered me a car for nothing. Both times, I turned them…
Not owning a car
On two occasions, sainted members of my family have offered me a car for nothing. Both times, I turned them…
Diary
On New Year’s Day I went for a swim off Broad Haven beach in Pembrokeshire. The water was 10.3ºC: pretty…
Diary
On New Year’s Day I went for a swim off Broad Haven beach in Pembrokeshire. The water was 10.3ºC: pretty…
The Marx Memorial Library
There’s a small corner of Clerkenwell where the communist dream never died. The Marx Memorial Library has been in its…
The Marx Memorial Library
There’s a small corner of Clerkenwell where the communist dream never died. The Marx Memorial Library has been in its…
Meet Boris Mark II
The make-up lady at the BBC’s Millbank studio in Westminster has noticed a change in Boris Johnson’s look. ‘His hair…
