Justinian II, Charles II, Napoleon, Gladstone, Churchill, Menzies, de Gaulle, Nixon, Wilson, Howard, Clinton, Rudd — what do these figures…

The economic problems of the US are substantial. The recovery is staggering along with occasional bursts of energy, but by…

It was a stoic little gathering of Craig Thomson loyalists in the Celebrity Room of City Tatts in Sydney. Promoted…

The rhythms of my new life are becoming clear. Waking early for exercise, not a morning call. Immersing myself in…

Two Australian universities have ostracised eminent scientists for straying from the ‘consensus’

They say politics is reality TV for ugly people. So draw what you will from my being invited to participate…

Militant Islamists could set up shop in our backyard

The Mayor of London and the Home Secretary are squaring up for the next Tory leadership battle

Sooner than you think, all our burgers may be grown in a lab

He knew how to run a revolution. They don’t

They are a protected species – we’re not

The strange tale of how 500 women were helped to conceive after the first world war

Five lessons from my new pet

It’s a place for relaxed, civilised conversation (and a cheap haircut, of course)

David Howell never really succeeded as energy and then transport secretary in Mrs Thatcher’s governments. After she sacked him in…

The astonishing level of enthusiasm over the birth of the new prince goes far beyond the pleasure that people naturally…

IQ and social mobility Sir: It seems not to have occurred to our leaders that ability is not evenly distributed…

The NHS 111 line, designed to deal with problems that do not count as emergencies, is in financial and organisational…

Art by the seaside The Kent seaside resort of Herne Bay staged the parade of a urinal through the town…

Home Barclays decided to issue £5.8 billion in shares to meet capital reserve requirements from the Bank of England. Lord…

I have tried very hard to become an afficianado of pornography, seeing as it is by far the most popular…

You may be aware that David Cameron — as part of a secret, Lynton Crosby-inspired operation codenamed Suck Up Shamelessly…

This is not to be a column about Twitter. Can’t abide columns about Twitter. I’ve written a few, I know,…

I’ve been in the pulpit again, this time to salute the centenary of the death of Charles Norris Gray, a…

The brutality and folly of Russia’s bid to conquer America has the makings of grand tragicomedy says Sam Leith

‘I never before came across a man whom I could fancy being a Napoleon or a Nelson…His ascendancy over everybody…

Colonel Eli McCullough, formerly known as Tiehteti, is a living legend. The first male child born in the Republic of…

Rift Valley, Kenya The other day when I told the headmaster of a top British public school that I came…

A friend of mine who works for the NHS has been told recently by a superior that his ‘attention to…

People, they say, want different things from a book over the summer than they do the rest of the year.…

Pastoral elegy is not what you expect to find in a collection of short stories, but then Ali Smith is…

‘A world without birds would lay waste the human heart,’ writes Mark Cocker. Following his Birds Britannica and prize-winning Crow…

The rusted-on supporters of the ALP must wonder how it came to this. Six years ago, the ALP was on…

Roderick Conway Morris on the French master’s love affair with the art and artists of the Renaissance

One generation is usually so busy reacting against its predecessors that it can take years for a balanced appreciation of…

Mention of the 70th anniversary of Composer of the Week brings to mind a distinguished list of long-running programmes on…

This is brilliant. The new play by Oliver Cotton, a 69-year-old actor, is set in New York in 1986. An…

What could be more delightful than going to Gyndebourne with someone who has never been before, arriving in time for…

Sandra Bullock is a highly watchable actress and she seems like she’d be fun to hang out with — I…

Every so often a programme comes along that completely alters the way you think about something you thought you understood.…

I watched Top Gear (BBC2, Sunday) for the first time in my life last week (the rock under which I’ve…

Standing enthusiastically by as a naked man writhes in agony might not be everyone’s cup of tea. But this is…

  Gstaad One possesses youth, talent, fame, even beauty, the other none of the above except arrogance, physical repulsiveness and…

I haven’t been out for three weeks and I’m up for a big night. To prove it I’m wearing my…

‘Benvenuti alla Small Cluster Band!’ And about time, too. We had been sitting in the Castello in Castellabate for half…

When we bought the farmhouse in Tuscany, where I am now, more than 40 years ago, there were only two…

A fresh new breeze is wafting through British racing. Led by the enthusiastic Sheikh Fahad Al Thani, the Qatar ruling…

I haven’t played rubber bridge for a few years now (the demands of young children), but recently I’ve been hearing…

Lothar Schmid, chess grandmaster, the world’s greatest collector of chess books and the only arbiter trusted by Bobby Fischer, died…

White to play. This position is from Keene-Eley, Whitby 1964. White’s next move won at once. What did he play?…

In Competition 2808 you were invited to invent a new addition to the genre that already includes Tartan Noir and…

Seven unclued lights are words that may be regarded as 13 18.  The remaining unclued light supplies the material with…

All the unclued lights mean ‘Goodbye’.   First prize Alan Donovan, Croydon, Surrey Runners-up Mary Varela, Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex; Geoffrey…

Scarcely a day passes, it seems, without another book landing with a thud on my desk that bemoans the rise…

Of all the strange behaviours of the rich, owning horses long struck me as the most bizarre. A horse, when…

Q. I very recently attended my son’s black-tie leavers’ ball at his school on one of the hottest evenings of…

Glyndebourne. There is no single quintessential example of English scenery, but this is one of the finest. The landscape is …

Two hundred and forty-years ago next Tuesday, Thomas Gray was buried in his mother’s grave in Stoke Poges churchyard. In…