What did you do in the last war, Maman?
‘La France,’ as everyone knows, is female. Perhaps this is due to gendered assumptions about the beauty, cuisine and couture…
Grand tour
The first two legs of this year’s Grand Chess Tour have now been staged in Paris and Leuven. There will…
Preacher and prosecutor
Craig Raine is a pugnacious figure in the fractious world of contemporary poetry. When his poem ‘Gatwick’ appeared in the…
Come fry with me
In Competition No. 2954 you were invited to supply an ode to a greasy spoon, a challenge prompted by a…
Of microbes and men
Which disease are you most scared of catching: Ebola or influenza? Before I read this medical memoir, I would have…
To 2264: The A-Team
‘Harry the King, BEDFORD (19) and EXETER (18), WARWICK (1D) and TALBOT (25), SALISBURY (4A) and GLOSTER (12)’ (Henry V,…
Escape into pop
‘How can you come into this room and ask me “What is the purpose of life?”,’ wails Massive Attack’s laconic…
The Battle for Britain
The post The Battle for Britain appeared first on The Spectator. Got something to add? Join the discussion and comment…
Life’s rich collage
Such is the veneration in this country for the St Ives school of painters, it’s easy to forget that other…
Dear Mary
Q. The setting was dinner for 16 at one of Europe’s most civilised houses. Sitting on the right of the…
Ce n’est pas la guerre
On 1 July 1916, along a frontage of 18 miles, 100,000 British infantrymen — considerably more than the entire strength…
Referendums
‘One referendum, two referenda,’ chanted my husband. ‘No, no, it’s a gerund. The English plural is referendums,’ interrupted Veronica, red…
The food of love
‘You are the most adorable man and artist, intelligent, gifted, simple, loving and noble… I am really very, very lucky…
Brown study
Now the election is over, here are our Awards for noteworthy service given to the democratic process over the last…
The road to catastrophe
France’s problems today should lessen the condescension of posterity towards Louis XVI. Presidents of the Republic have proved just as…
Why can’t we exit, too?
The British people have not only shown us how to recover our country from the elites, Brexit has further reduced…
A choice of crime novels
Pascal Garnier’s novella Too Close to the Edge (Gallic, £7.99, translated by Emily Boyce) deals with the boredom of middle…
Detoxing Medicare
Last October, I wrote in these pages that those on the centre-right might one day regret the change of prime…
Simon Collins
Currencies will plummet, markets will crash and there will be rioting on the streets of capitals. Followed, perhaps, by the…
Holy visions and dustbins
Woolworth’s spectacles. Pudding-basin haircut, rather sparse. Norfolk jacket. Pyjama cuffs below trouser legs and sleeves. Paints and brushes in an…
Australian notes
Brexit, 1381 ad, and Turnbull’s election Well, the Brits did it. They defied the warnings and threats from ‘I got…
Money for nothing
Tate Modern’s new Switch House extension in London has been greeted with acclaim. It is a building designed in the…
Spectator Australia Wine Club – July
At 11.59am – the internationally accepted end of the working day – my portable telephone melodies. Caught off guard, I…
Darkness visible
Perhaps you have sometimes wondered: how would you even begin to make a film about going blind and being blind…
Australian letters
Religion of peace? Sir: Chris Ashton (“It’s the religion, stupid”, 18 June 2016) refers to Christianity’s “relative peacefulness, especially today”.…
