Features
Shirtmaker Simone Abbarchi
The Premio Rezzori literary prize — held every May in Florence — is named after the Austrian writer Gregor von…
Mayday! How Theresa May has been trapped by her enemies and her friends
The European Union might have many flaws, but one of its great strengths is its ability to sense weakness. It…
The Windrush debacle is not as straightforward as it seems
The idea that left vs right has been replaced by open vs closed is one of the most self-serving conceits…
Why China’s happy couples are spending thousands to stand by Big Ben
If you’ve walked by the red telephone boxes on Parliament Square, chances are you have seen an Asian couple in…
The Catholic Church is absent in Ireland’s abortion referendum
The Irish referendum on abortion takes place in just under three weeks’ time, and while the polls suggest a hefty…
Diary of a revolution: Paris 1968, through the eyes of Nancy Mitford
In May 1968, civil unrest, bordering on revolution, exploded on to the streets of Paris. Student protesters and striking workers…
Good grief: Death isn’t something you just get over
Just over a year ago, my best friend dropped dead. He was in his early sixties and many of us…
Welcome to Matlock Bath, the ‘Switzerland of Derbyshire’
Revisiting cherished childhood memories can be dispiriting; everything appears diminished and one leaves questioning the nature of perception. Were we…
Why Britain is lucky to have Meghan Markle
The wedding of Prince Harry, sixth in line to the British throne, and Meghan Markle, actress and former star of…
Hooray for Meghan Markle, a very modern adventuress
I’m keen on all sorts of my fellow females — broads, gold-diggers, career girls — but the best is the…
Interview: Meet Mariana Mazzucato, big-state capitalism’s new champion
‘It was Plato who said storytellers rule the world,’ observes Mariana Mazzucato, her powerful voice tempered with a beaming smile,…
Windrush is just the start: records are being shredded and history deleted
Have you ever thrown something away and then realised that you needed it? Surely all of us have done so.…
The strange death of English cricket
In 2005 I published a book called The Strange Death of Tory England, and a long article called ‘Cricket’s final…
My life in Paris as a Diplomatic Wag
The French President says he wants to rule as a Jupiter — but he doesn’t look like a Jupiter to…
The Scouts can’t offer equal access to the disabled – they won’t survive
A couple of years ago, Simon Barnes wrote a moving piece in this magazine about how his son Eddie, who…
In praise of Chelsea Green, a London oasis
Splats of calves’ liver in a puddle of blood; rabbits, headless, stretched and stripped of fur; and plucked poussins, nestling…
The wrong Brexit: what happened to ‘Global Britain’?
A few months ago, Britain’s most senior ambassadors gathered in the Foreign Office to compare notes on Brexit. There was…
James Comey is trying to take down Trump. He’ll fail
Americans forget their corruption in order to savour their innocence. When Republicans and Democrats are struggling to find ways forward…
What will the next war look like?
Imagine Peace. These were the words that appeared on an otherwise blank page in the New York Times on New…
Why do British charities want to shut down private schools in Africa?
Why would anyone who claims to care about the world’s poorest children try to shut down their schools? It’s strange…
Low-cost private schools are transforming lives in the third world
Private schools in the United Kingdom are affordable only to those on the highest incomes. But surprisingly to many, this…
Not one of my Harvard students thinks Brexit is a good idea
My wife laughs that my love of gadgets is a remnant of my Communist upbringing, when western toys were objects…
University Challenge
One programme that still shines out as a beacon of intellectual rigour among the sea of dross on television is…
Trump is likely to tweet, fire and forget. His missile strike won’t help Syria
Beirut ‘Gas!’ Bodies piled up grotesquely in a stairwell. No sign of injuries. A father cradles two small children. Still,…
Bombs away: Trump and Macron’s bromance is getting serious
Remember the never-ending handshake? It was 14 July 2017, Bastille Day, and Emmanuel Macron and Donald Trump opened their formal…
