The knifing of Tony Abbott will go down as one of the most destructive and arrogant acts of political bastardry…

I returned to my work as a Crown Prosecutor for the first time in a year. (In fact it was…

If Malcolm Turnbull is remembered for anything, it will be for his supreme act of treachery in bringing down a…

I am a lover of books. Reading has been one of the great pleasures of my life. In some ways,…

Increasingly, the West is succumbing to the vicarious virtues of the politics of ‘feelings’

Let’s train middle-east refugees to fight for their homeland rather than to hate or terrorise ours

Where Tony Abbott understood the tradie heartland, Malcolm Turnbull may appear aloof and out-of-touch

Despite the flaws, Tony Abbott was a proper conservative

Left-wing thought has shifted towards movements it would once have denounced as racist, imperialist and fascistic. It is insupportable

There wasn’t much time for the hopey-changey stuff while there was a chance to be vile about the Tories

Ed Miliband’s policy chief talks about why Labour lost and the decline of the Blairites

The London marathon winner’s clash with Tory MP Jesse Norman is symptomatic of a debate that both shames and risks the health of athletes

The neurosurgeon who is suddenly Donald Trump’s closest rival is relaxed, impressive – and not to be pinned down on detail

In the middle of the Calais migrant camp, there is a book-filled haven of peace

Real, life-changing medical advances are being blocked for fear of ‘designer babies’; humane laws are stymied because of things they do not propose

This seaside town in Brittany was the perfect location for a stag weekend – even if the locals were a bit sniffy at times

The Conservatives have a stunning array of social achievements. They need to talk about them more

Jeremy Corbyn chooses his shadow cabinet

Plus: the pact that could save Labour; Vince Cable’s economic confession; and a sincere Tory for Corbyn

Plus: How our railway is racing ahead; pylons to be proud of; Met Office summer predictions

The new Labour leader’s political life has just been one long protest

From ‘The coming budget’, The Spectator, 18 September 1915: At present the large majority of householders and electors pay no direct…

Plus: What to do about migrants; more hair verse

Political futures hang on the question – not least that of Boris Johnson

Plus: the origins of Corbynite leftism; a study of manhole covers; Malcolm Turnbull; and Sir Walter Scott

Is nothing sacred? They sacked Clarkson, and now they won’t even let us enjoy ‘Land of Hope and Glory’

If the law does not lead, it will follow — at root the reason is Darwinian

To regard the fourth estate as a coherent and malicious political entity is conspiratorial madness

Plus: uneasy feelings about an oil price war; and ten years of ‘Any Other Business’

Thomas Harding’s A House by the Lake chronicles the rise of Nazism through the story of one small summer retreat on the outskirts of Berlin

Christopher Howse pays tribute to the poet, soldier, actor and former Spectator columnist and poetry editor, who has died, aged 84

De Waal’s The White Road finds the history of porcelain manufacture shrouded in secrecy and littered with terrible disasters, says A.S. Byatt

Former British ambassador Sherard Cowper-Coles hails the Kissinger biography as ‘a great work about a great man by a great historian’

Donald S. Murray’s fascinating Herring Tales shows how vast shoals of this fickle fish have for centuries been appearing in our waters — only to disappear again

Everyone in Bill Clegg’s psychological thriller Did You Ever Have a Family is touched by tragedy — except the reader

Simon Bradley’s celebration of the network is likely to become a classic of social history — vivid, authoritative but never trainspotterish

The sex-filled dystopia of The Heart Goes Last reflects a writer at the height of her powers cutting loose and having fun

Fear and nationalism, along with Nazism and fascism, are the predictable villains of Ian Kershaw’s To Hell and Back — while communism gets off curiously lightly

The medieval historian Carolyne Larrington finds tales of green men and black dogs still flourishing in 21st-century Britain

Brazil may be the land of the future, as Misha Glenny suggests — but living there now has become practically impossible

No longer the MoD’s responsibility, our traumatised ex-forces feel abandoned, betrayed and shamefully dependent on charity, according to Matthew Green’s Aftershock

Ridley’s ‘general theory’ boasts of surpassing even Darwin’s — but his vision of a utopian libertarian future looks like evolution gone horribly wrong

He may not be a household name, yet, but Peter Boggs is one of our outstanding painters. His works hang…

A new documentary lifts the lid on the Italian horse race-cum-medieval pageant where you're hospitalised for coming second

Nothing by Fanny Mendelssohn, Clara Schumann, Amy Beach, Ethel Smyth or Judith Weir matches up to the work of their male counterparts

Plus: the Royal Opera's first ever production of Gluck's Orphee et Eurydice is full of risible dancing and pointless directorial decisions

Adele Thomas's faithful approach to the Greek tragedy achieves something both stately and sickening. Robert Icke's production, meanwhile, warrants a visit from trading standards officers

Plus: though handcrafting his own reputation is Ai Weiwei favoured medium, there are some works of real poignancy and beauty in his Royal Academy show

Oscars do not beckon for this crudely characterised, Gravity wannabe. On the plus side, Keira Knightley is at her least annoying

The start of the year is all good if sombre stuff, and includes a revival of English National Ballet's Lest We Forget, a version of 1984 from Northern Ballet and a new work from Amici Dance Theatre

Yet despite the oppressively didactic set-up, the BBC's new TV adaptation of J.B. Priestley's weird melodrama grips and compels

Plus: the politician of the future and Orwell before he was famous

An outstanding crop of apprentices are squeezing out more established jockeys

The third letters of extra words in two dozen clues spell out a 35 (in ODQ 7&8), associated with the…

X was Ingrid Bergman, winner of a TERN (21) of OSCARs (8), who was born on 29th August 1915 and…

I was so traumatised, aged 16, by unrequited love that I stopped playing tennis and going to brothels

And Modafinil with Taki sitting in front: even better

I’m encasing myself in extra strong bubble wrap just in case

Attempts to reflect equality and diversity in our messages to extraterrestrials is a waste of time

The cheating scandal rages on. The latest to be accused is the world’s number one-ranked pair, Fulvio Fantoni and Claudio…

This week I conclude my coverage of the St Louis leg of the million dollar Grand Tour.   Carlsen-So: Sinquefield…

Black to play. This position is a variation from So-Nakamura, St Louis 2015. How can Black conclude the attack with…

In Competition No. 2915 you were invited to submit limericks featuring a well-known artist and a destination of your choice.…

My fury at the sight of rubbish is now so great that I’ve started picking it up wherever I happen to go

Plus: Smaller teams to watch out for at the Rugby World Cup

And how can I bring a little joy to a memorial service?

Portland doesn’t offer its diners a ‘philosophy’, despite its spindly Swedish decor – but the food is glorious

Jamie Reed demonstrates the blithe insouciance useful in the face of trolls