The magic of manuscripts
Nothing captures medieval life more vividly than a manuscript that has passed through many hands, says Jonathan Sumption
A written constitution is no defence against authoritarian government
No one can accuse Linda Colley of shying away from big subjects. This one is as big as they come…
Sylvie Bermann personifies French fury over Brexit
Sylvie Bermann was the French ambassador in London between 2014 and 2017. Her stint here was a notable success. She…
The moment the modern world went wrong
Spectator contributors were asked: Which moment from history seems most significant or interesting? Here is Jonathan Sumption’s answer: The Paris…
'This is how freedom dies': The folly of Britain's coercive Covid strategy
During the Covid-19 pandemic, the British state has exercised coercive powers over itscitizens on a scale never previously attempted. It…
Britain’s bizarre Italian travel guidance
Here’s a tip. When the Foreign Office advises against going somewhere, hop on the next plane. The mandarins have advised…
Social distancing destroys our lives as social beings
A lockdown diary is an oddly negative thing. At the dinner parties that we aren’t going to, we aren’t discussing…
Jonathan Sumption: 'You cannot imprison an entire population'
The current rationale for the lockdown is incoherent. The old rationale was: ‘you must spread the infections over a longer…
Did Christianity make the western mind — or was it the other way round?
Nobody can accuse Tom Holland of shying away from big subjects. Dominion is nothing less than a history of Christianity…
Heroism in a hopeless cause: why the crusades remain fascinating
The crusades are part of everyone’s mental image of the Middle Ages. They extended, in one form or another, from…
History will be kinder to Theresa May than we have been
Recording the BBC Radio 4 Reith Lectures has brought me to five cities and five styles of questioning. Cardiff had…
What it took to wage holy war, Medieval style
For most of history, religion and war have been the most powerful social instincts of mankind and its chief collective…
