There is a breath of fresh air that has wafted through our political system over the last three weeks, ushering…

There are elements of a fairy story, as the Mayor of Paris noted, in the marriage the other day of…

Psst! How about a 10 per cent return from BHP?

Malcolm Turnbull is fooling himself if he doesn’t recognise the silent support for Tony Abbott

Two recent cases highlight the inconsistencies of who we choose to let in

In the era of ‘trigger warnings’ and PC censorship, would Lolita be as seductive today?

The feminist-approved, media-driven ‘gender’ agenda is ignoring where the real problems lie

Plus: Bloomberg, Kissinger and me; Hillary Clinton’s Peronist path to power

Stigma and superstition are confining a crucial, life-changing conversation to coy and cutesy internet forums

The former HP boss is just the kind of woman the party base loves – and that other Americans are scared of

It’s a true privilege to have coined a phrase – even if people credit it to Libby Purves instead

Holland’s most painterly city is beautiful in autumn

His Synod on the Family may not be the big reforming step he expects

His Syrian intervention has made Obama and Cameron look weak and confused

From ‘Bulgaria and Greece’, The Spectator, 9 October 1915: The fact that the British people will in all probability soon be…

The death of Diesel The Volkswagen scandal has brought into question the future of the diesel engine. A century ago…

Plus: Literary speed dating at Yale, and an installation near Salisbury

Home David Cameron, the Prime Minister, told  the Conservative party conference in Manchester: ‘We need a national crusade to get…

Now is the time to show why modern Conservatism is the surest way of bringing about a stronger, fairer society

The shadow chancellor is digging for imaginary treasure. Classicists know how that one turns out

Conspiracy theory Sir: What happened to the Letters page in this week’s issue? What was the reason for its non-appearance?…

Plus: George Osborne's cunning pension plan; and the delightful Denis Healey

An imaginary problem could soon have real consequences in international law

I’m perfectly qualified to dispense ‘community justice’ with the loutish protestors at the Tory party conference

If the authorities don’t act, the stowaway ‘Isis brides’ of today will be tomorrow’s homing missiles

Plus: The rage of Denis Healey; a clarification for Sir Geoff Palmer; and why there’s no party for my new book

They can redefine politics while Labour lurches to the unelectable left

Elain Harwood’s Space, Hope and Brutalism reflect the heavy impact of its subject, and some of its callousness

This remarkable man deserves to be remembered for more than his ‘shocker’ and the film it inspired

This committee-ridden tome by the director of the Hermitage doesn’t reveal the beautiful, chaotic place I remember

Thomas Dixon’s Weeping Britannia proves that only empire stemmed the flow of our tears

End Games in Bordeaux, the final volume, has too much action but some vintage details

Amazing Grace and Gilbert: The Last Years of W.G. Grace – two biographies of the cricket Champion

Richard Hannay’s first adventure, now 100 years old, is a pastoral disguised as a thriller

David Vann’s memoir, A Mile Down, about his disastrous career at sea is an irresistible read

Plus: why are old people on TV never allowed to behave like old people? BBC4's Close to the Edge reviewed

Plus: the extraordinary life of Eleanor Roosevelt and the pain of a son’s disappearance

Plus: Rachel Cusk’s Medea at the Almeida isn’t a bad piece of yuppie soap, but it’s hardly Medea

Plus: does Wozzeck work in concert? Zurich Opera's one-night stand at the Royal Festival Hall certainly did

There are clunky script moments, and the plot is at times soapily manipulative, but Carey Mulligan's face saves the day

In the National Gallery’s new exhibition, Goya: The Portraits, you see a talented provincial become a modern master

'The only truly alien planet is Earth,' Ballard once told me. A new film adaptation of Ballard's High-Rise shows what he meant

In the past three decades, pop's place in culture has changed drastically, drifting out of reach and away from people's lives

It’s a fairly assertive title: The Greats -Masterpieces of the National Galleries of Scotland. The assertiveness is justified; the galleries…

Parties such as the one I’ve just been to in Seville will soon be gone with the wind

Provence in the rain is as miserable as anywhere else but Charlie came to the rescue with his power tool

I have always felt I can trust my horse with my life; that day I found out exactly what that meant

Its demise may be a rare and heartening sign of our lack of selfishness but life will never be so easy again

There’s no doubt about it: I’m an addict. A BBO addict. Since the Bermuda Bowl began, nearly a fortnight ago,…

Joseph Henry Blackburne was the leading British tournament player towards the end of the 19th century. It could be said…

White to play. This is from Blackburne-Schwarz, Berlin 1881. What is the best way to deal with the knight check?…

In Competition No. 2918 you were invited to submit a poem composed entirely of three-letter words. ‘This is the most…

The unclued lights, in one case paired, are all suggested by a thematic phrase (two words), which is set out…

The PROVERB (35) (in ODQ), associated with the KENNEDY (19) FAMILY (31), was ‘A rising tide lifts all boats’. EDIT…

Praise, insult, sexual euphemism – what an extraordinary range of meaning

This was a great city once. It will be so again

Also, how to tell people they have a massive blackhead, and how to deal with good friends who are bad musicians

When unethical behaviour is embedded in software, as it was at VW, bosses often don’t have a clue

This wasn’t a ‘Trot’ or an ‘anarchist’; this was an ordinary woman re-engaged by Corbyn-mania