It seems passing strange that the Victorian government’s arbitrary detention of its citizens, desperately flying home after Christmas, appears to…

Fortunately, I came clean long before the US election and said that Trump would lose and probably should. It became…

Victoria’s lock-’em-up approach to Covid comes at high cost

It may be a sin but it shouldn’t be a crime to loathe thy neighbour

History will come to praise Trump not to bury him

A moral failure of the international community

Can the reintroduction of indigenous languages save dysfunctional communities?

Emotion trumps reason when governments make policies

Democrats love protests, just not by Trump supporters

The unlikely alliance of Orban and Macron

From the moment Donald Trump’s presidency began, he was lacking something. But Joe Biden is about to make up for…

The stifling cult of self-care

The questionable ethics of eating octopus

The vaccine has arrived at just the right time for the Israeli PM

Why I’m keeping my church open

The West’s approach to China must change

Can anyone stand up to big tech?

When lockdown was first proposed in March, one of the many arguments against it was that people would tolerate being…

Lockdown damage Sir: I am sick and tired of people taking the moral high ground and looking down on ‘lockdown…

Parliamentary objections The US Capitol was raided by Donald Trump supporters trying to prevent the confirmation of Joe Biden’s election…

In his 37-book Natural History, Pliny the Elder (d. ad 79) wondered why we wished people ‘Happy new year’ (primum…

The thing we most need to understand right now is how you deprogram people who have been in a cult.…

Home The government, in the face of overwhelming numbers of people with Covid-19 being admitted to hospital, told everyone to…

When Sir David Barclay, along with his twin brother Sir Frederick, bought The Spectator in 2004, the magazine came as…

What will Brexit Britain do differently? This is going to be the most important question in our politics for the…

The screenwriter Russell T. Davies has said that only gay actors should be cast in gay parts, believing this leads…

Which is madder, bitcoin at $41,500 — oops, make that $31,000 on Monday — or Tesla shares at $880 apiece?…

Even with its 27 amendments, the US Constitution is only 7,591 words. I keep it beside me, and find in…

Matt Forde, the stand-up comedian and presenter of his regular Political Party Podcast, has hit on an overlooked technique for…

Following his disgruntled supporters’ rampage through the Capitol, Donald Trump’s fate hangs in the balance. But one artefact of this…

As well as micromanaging the lives of 1.4 billion Chinese, Xi Jinping is becoming a prolific author. His latest book,…

One of Barack Obama’s favourite books of 2020, Raven Leilani’s debut comes acclaimed by a literary Who’s Who that includes…

Madagascar. There are so many delightful incongruities about the island. Despite being off the coast of Africa, because of the…

Thanks to the Booker Prize, Richard Flanagan is probably the only Tasmanian novelist British readers are likely to have heard…

If the last quarter of 2020 saw a glut of novels published, of which there were winners (Richard Osman) and…

Olivia Sudjic’s second novel, Asylum Road, is a smart and sensitively layered story that’s told through niggling memories, unspoken thoughts,…

The reviewer’s first duty is to declare any skin he may have in the game, so here goes: I write…

‘Without this river the Russians could not live,’ remarked Robert Bremner in his work, Excursions in the Interior of Russia.…

Ignoring the padlocked gate, my six-year-old son Nicholas and I climbed through a break in the metal fence and pushed…

Although I can understand why Dana Gillespie might choose to call her memoir after her most famous album, for the…

A death sentence, prison in Siberia, and chronic epilepsy. The death of his young children, a gambling addiction, and possible…

Patricia Highsmith’s life was filled with more eccentric, disturbing brilliance than most readers can normally handle; and so the chief…

Despite innovative work by younger writers, there remains a prominent strain in Irish literature of what we might call the…

Having a breakdown? Try this pill, or that — or these? Built on the 1950s myth of a chemical imbalance…

The Autumn of the Ace begins in 1945, as the second world war ends, but both Louis de Bernières and…

‘Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,/ But he’ll remember, with advantages,/ What feats he did that day.’ Peter…

Dolly Parton is the living embodiment of America’s best values, says Philip Hensher

Who would have thought that Netflix would score so sumptuously with a Regency soap that flaunts colourblind casting like a…

One of the most eligible bachelors in England, he was strong, handsome, well-educated, adventurous and a fabulously rich young man.…

The new series of Mark Kermode’s Secrets of Cinema began with an episode on British comedy films. As ever, Kermode…

The comedy Blithe Spiritwas written by Noël Coward in 1941. It is, essentially, about a séance going wrong and a…

Rosie Millard dispels the myth that persistence is always rewarded

On Archewell Audio, Harry and Meghan’s new podcast, ‘love wins’, ‘change really is possible’, and ‘the courage and the creativity…

How many people are celebrating the fact that, last week, one of Europe’s most inspired writers about music, modern art…

Graeme Thomson talks to Steve Diggle, front man of Buzzcocks, about orgasms, boredom and Pete Shelley

Simon Collins Can you remember when ‘We live in interesting times’ was an acceptable response to the disruptions caused by…

Each of the unclued lights, (four of two words), individually or as a pair can be linked with an unclued…

Caroline was pretty heroic during the first lockdown. She’s used to having no children to deal with between the hours…

In Competition No. 3181 you were invited to submit a letter by a publisher rejecting a well-known literary classic. The…

Losing your sense of smell due to Covid is no joke when you make a living in food and wine.…

Q. My husband and I have two single friends who we believe should be introduced. In days gone by, we…

Veronica brought me a hundred newspapers so that I could check on one word. Well, she didn’t bring a wheelbarrow,…

Soon after the pandemic hit, the world’s airlines turned off their pricing algorithms and resumed pricing flights manually. Everything the…

Indian Ocean coast ‘I love you’ became just ‘love’, and that was the last word Mum was able to say…

Never mind Clap for Carers, I’m trying to start a new weekly morale booster called Scream If You’re Going Round…

Gstaad Lord Belhaven and Stenton, a wonderful man and the quintessential English gentleman, died at 93 just before the end…

A new year and another round of medical treatments in the French health system. On Saturday morning, needing a blood…

’Tis better to give than to receive, the Bible teaches us. Well, not if you were me this Christmas, it…

December 12th was the birthday of Gustave FLAUBERT (1D) and Frank SINATRA (15). Examples of their work are MADAME BOVARY…

Gormally–Turner, Caplin Hastings Online 2021. Black looks safe, but Gormally’s next move forced a win of material. What did he…

In game 1 of his Airthings Masters Final against Radjabov, Aronian’s pawn push 21 e4-e5 (shown in the first diagram)…