Give Mike Ashley a peerage if he can revive House of Fraser
This column has consistently stood up for Mike Ashley, even when the lonesome billionaire’s notions of corporate governance at Sports…
The bluffocracy: how Britain ended up being run by eloquent chancers
Any time we see a politician fail, or an idiotic policy collapse as it passes through parliament — which these days…
War of words: my battle to correct Wikipedia
How can you be attacked by an encyclopaedia? Until last week I would have thought the idea as absurd as…
V.S. Naipaul’s gentle side
When I went to see V.S. Naipaul in hospital last week he was feeling marginally better. His wife Nadira had…
What does Prince Charles’s art collection tell us about our future king?
It’s like any traditional bazaar. Cushions litter the floor and crowds gather around displays of Chinese pottery and Persian rugs.…
In Britain, deaths of the homeless are not even counted. That says it all
On Valentine’s Day, a homeless man was found dead in the pedestrian subway near the Houses of Parliament. This week,…
Tilbury Docks, where cranes meet Joseph Conrad
The great grey river stretched into the horizon. The sun was big and low in the sky. The air was…
Ménage à quatre with Robert Graves
‘I have a very poor opinion of other people’s opinion of me — though I am fairly happy in my…
A feast for foot fetishists
It is always interesting to see what art historians get up to when none of the rest of us is…
Did the notorious Zinoviev letter ever exist?
This is a well-written, scrupulously researched and argued account of an enduring mystery that neatly illustrates the haphazard interactions of…
The plight of the returnee: A Terrible Country, by Keith Gessen, reviewed
If the 20th century popularised the figure of the émigré, the 21st has introduced that of the returnee, who, aided…
Anita Leslie: sparkling socialite with the Croix de Guerre
Anita Leslie knew how to tell a story. Arranging to sit for a portrait six months before she died, she…
How do we envisage Shakespeare’s wife?
Despite his having one of the most famous names in the world, we know maddeningly little about William Shakespeare. His…
Unlucky in love: Caroline’s Bikini, by Kirsty Gunn, reviewed
‘The most interesting novels are a bit strange,’ Kirsty Gunn once told readers of the London Review of Books. ‘They…
From the Iliad to the IRA: Country, by Michael Hughes, reviewed
Recently there has been a spate of retellings of the Iliad, to name just Pat Barker’s The Silence of the…
It’s time to rehabilitate the art connoisseur
Many art historians have written their own story of the making of an aesthete: Ruskin, Berenson and Kenneth Clark to…
How to live in a world without light: Life in the Dark at the Natural History Museum reviewed
![Let there be light: the Atlantic footballfish dwells 3,000 feet below the surface of the ocean. [Paulo Oliveira / Alamy Stock Photo]](https://www.spectator.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/18augartslead.jpg?w=410&h=275&crop=1)
Like most of our ape ancestors, we have really had only one response to the fall of night. We have…
Three of the best faces, and six of the best hands, ever painted: the pick of the Edinburgh Art Festival
The Rembrandt show at the National Galleries of Scotland (until 14 October) has a problem. A mighty haul of Rembrandt…
Holidays in Hell – Such A Pleasant Getaway from the BBC
Apparently there’s a new ‘character’ on University Challenge. I wouldn’t know. Last year, I vowed never again to raise my…
A captivating addition to the filmography of the first world war: The Guardians reviewed
There are moments in The Guardians when you can imagine you’re in the wrong art form. Time stills, the frame…
An exalted experience even without a convincing central character: Siegfried in Edinburgh reviewed
There’s one big problem with Wagner’s Siegfried, and the clue’s in the name. None of Wagner’s mature works hangs so…
Conversations with a penis, having a laugh about Brexit and why titles matter: Edinburgh Festival reviewed
David Greig has written the international festival’s flagship drama, Midsummer. This farcical romance is performed as a party piece by…
Another side of John Humphrys
‘What can you tell me just now,’ asks Audrey Gillan. She’s talking to Tara, who’s been sleeping rough on Fournier…
The case for bringing back feudalism
Gstaad I need it like Boris needs a bleach job. Another birthday, that is. Birthdays tend to make your life…
Why the kindness of strangers trumps a pagan festival
The entire Alpine village, contemptuously dismissed recently in an online tourist guide as a nondescript centre of old peasants and…
