Frankenstein’s Westmonster
All political parties are a mess: coalitions of people with different beliefs, stitched together — like Frankenstein’s monster — into…
A view to a kill
A certain sort of male novelist will always aspire to be Joseph Conrad. The seedy cosmopolitanism of his fiction and…
So it St Louis
From the humble status of wild-card entry at St Louis last year, the US Grandmaster, Wesley So (formerly of the…
Tales out of school
At first glance Sean O’Brien’s new novel appears to focus on England’s devotion to the past. Even its title carries…
Body talk
In Competition No. 2962 you were invited to supply a poem about a body part of an author of your…
Girls about town
On 8 June 1920 an old beggar woman sat against a wall in Kingsway holding a mongrel in her arms…
to 2272: Holiday time
21 and 41 are definitions of SUMMER; RECESS defines each of the other unclued lights. First prize Rhiannon Hales, Ilfracombe,…
Crying Wolfe
He might be 85 but Tom Wolfe is going strong with a new book and a dustjacket photo that still…
The Battle for Britain
The post The Battle for Britain appeared first on The Spectator. Got something to add? Join the discussion and comment…
Doctor who?
On 25 July 1865, during a heatwave, Dr James Barry died of dysentery in his London lodgings. A charwoman came…
Pelican pie
Revisers of OED have made a pig’s ear of pelican pie, I fear. I’ve been reading for pleasure Peter Gilliver’s…
No happy endings
Between agreeing to review this book and receiving it, I got worried. Like many, I adore Doctor Zhivago with its…
Diary
To Edinburgh for the book festival, where I am to explain Fools, Frauds and Firebrands to respectable middle-class Scots, who…
Gale-force lyricism
Centuries before their footballers learned giant-slaying ways, Icelanders knew how to startle the world with tall stories. In the moonscape…
The morality of mandatory detention
Last week on the ABC programme, the Drum, I confronted my unwilling conscience. The topic was the Manus Island immigration…
All about C
In March 1981 Margaret Thatcher went to the hospital bedside of Maurice Oldfield, the former head of the Secret Intelligence…
Business/Robbery etc
There’ll always be a Menzies while there’s a BHP For they have paid their dividends since 1883. There’ll always be…
House style
Last Sunday, I went to see two of the greatest paintings in Britain — at least in the estimation of…
Portrait of the week
Home Virgin Trains released videos showing that there were seats available when Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the Labour party,…
Where new is good
On Saturday night, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra makes its first appearance at the BBC Proms under its new…
Australian notes
Turnbull’s betrayal on 18c Okay, let’s stop pretending that the Liberal Party has a deep commitment to free speech. We’re…
When autumn comes
You know when late summer has arrived because conkers are starting to form on the horse chestnuts, your eagerness to…
Media notes
Tackling the elephant Let’s cut to the chase; Australian political leadership must find the stomach to deal with the core…
Red hot
Everything about Julieta feels totally Almodóvarian. It’s a family saga that smoothly blends tragedy and levity, with exquisite performances from…
Doctor Death
‘European premiere of classic American musical’ is a phrase that deeply alarms the experienced playgoer. As I tootled along to…
