My fans say I could have won the Nobel – if it wasn’t for the bizarre sex
The family ranch, which my father acquired when I was about six years of age, lay along the banks of…
What do Gammons really think of gammon-gate?
Gammon vs gammon Controversy raged over whether calling an angry, white, right-wing man a ‘gammon’ is racist. The insult is…
Brexit and sovereignty
Brexiteers argue for ‘sovereignty’, i.e. that Brexit should release us entirely from the grip of Europe, leaving us free to…
Letters: My Iranian friends hate the mullahs and want them to be got rid of
Iran’s hated regime Sir: I disagree with the analysis of Christopher de Bellaigue (‘Trump’s folly’, 12 May). The Iranians I know,…
The royals who do best are those who restrain their personalities
The last time we had a royal wedding of comparable dynastic importance (i.e. only a bit important), Prince Andrew married…
We need to stop buying into this ‘divided Britain’ narrative
Amid all the argument in Westminster, everyone can agree on one thing: the country is bitterly divided. The 52:48 divisions…
Turns out life’s not so easy – just look at Ulysses S. Grant
When Winston Churchill was at the nadir of his career, he wrote a biography of his ancestor, the Duke of…
Why this deluded affection for the Palestinians?
The worst entry for this year’s Euro-vision song contest was that vast cater-wauling aboriginal. I can’t remember her name, only…
We might be plunging towards Brexit chaos – but at least everyone has jobs
It’s heartening to see an authentic British entrepreneur heading this year’s Sunday Times Rich List, the industrial-ist Jim Ratcliffe, who…
Will Italy become the first country to fall to populism?
It looks indeed as if Italy — the beating pulse of European civilisation — will be the first country in…
Macron can see that the EU must change or die
It was a moment to cherish, not to spoil. But I wasn’t the only one at the grand Charlemagne prize…
What does friendship with Israel really mean?
Harold Macmillan once remarked that: ‘There are three bodies no sensible man ever directly challenges: the Roman Catholic Church, the…
The eradication of South Georgia’s rats proves we can do anything – even Brexit
The extermination of every single one of South Georgia’s rats, for the sake of its birds, was confirmed at a…
Wedding lists are out of control – just look at Harry and Meghan’s
I have a phobia of wedding lists. They always seem very presumptuous. Friends ask for monstrous amounts of things that…
Why do powerful men love to be spanked?
Spanking is back in the news. Le vice anglais was meant to be a dying art — a vestige of…
The right stuff: I’ll miss my friend Tom Wolfe
To some, Tom Wolfe’s death might seem a greater loss for readers on the right wing of American culture and…
Notes from Jerusalem: Everyone is in love with Donald Trump
‘Trump Make Israel Great’ reads the banner on the deserted hotel next to the new American embassy in Jerusalem. Unlike…
Nothing quite beats a British beach
‘May I take a picture of your snake?’ I asked the tattooed man with a python around his neck, regretting…
The wilder shores of excess in William Trevor’s fiction
A very prolific and long-standing writer of short stories reveals himself. William Trevor, who died in 2016, owned up to…
A violent ultimatum ended Giacometti’s brief flirtation with Marlene Dietrich
Those with long enough memories may remember Desmond Morris as the presenter of the hit ITV children’s programme of Zoo…
What was Donald Trump’s father doing at a notorious KKK rally in 1927?
The figure of Donald Trump looms over Sarah Churchwell’s new history of American national identity, which highlights the ugliest features…
The stubborn old Hanoverians saw new Gunpowder Plots everywhere
Once won, rights and freedoms are taken for granted. We all find it difficult to imagine life before the Married…
A brave, bold failure
In the high summer of 1944 the Allies achieved their major victory in Normandy with the closing of the German…
The real stars of Kew’s newly restored Temperate House
The glasshouses at Kew Gardens are so popular that they can be quite unbearably busy at weekends. And why shouldn’t…
Whoever signed off on the ending deserves a good thrashing: On Chesil Beach reviewed
On Chesil Beach is an adaptation of the Ian McEwen novella set in 1962 when ‘conversation about sexual difficulties was…
