Desperate straits
Not much. Greece is an hour away, and the Turkish coastguards do nothing to deter migrants from making the crossing
In praise of PC
Without the prevailing wind of political correctness my life would be very different. Eddie’s would be unrecognisable
Vote for freedom!
Sovereignty is not absolute, inside the union or outside it. And we have more clout as we are
The Amber express
The climate change minister wants a more practical focus on future bills – while admitting renewables will push them up
The London Library
A reading room of your own in St James’s Square... or books to take home for two months
A gift from beyond the grave
Andrew Motion appreciates the touching coincidence that both the Aeneid and the latest translation of Book VI were cut short by their authors’ deaths
Too high, too fast
Rowan Moore deplores the investment-only monoculture reflected in the city’s new building boom, but doesn’t know what to do about it
One of history’s saddest chapters
Paul Preston returns to the Spanish Civil War to describe in harrowing detail its brutal — and farcical — closing chapter
Mother courage
Helen Stevenson is helped through the trauma of her daughter’s cystic fibrosis by the sublime beauty of Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater
Everything in black and white
She doesn’t seem to understand — or care — why the white working class of Luton are so angry, but finds the Muslim activist Anjem Choudary smiling and affable
Pox-ridden and power-crazed
The chronically diseased Henry IV, generally eclipsed in history by his glamorous son, is finally given the full treatment by Chris Given-Wilson
A sex vampire on wheels
Who suffered most compiling this painful, frank record of sex- and drug-addiction: Jack Sutherland, or his ghostwriter father John?
Bribes, bickering and backhanders
Michael Honig’s vision of Putin in his dotage, surrounded by warring retainers, makes for a funny, original and unexpectedly touching novel
Among the snobs, slobs and scolds
The American film critic A.O. Scott jokily dismisses reviewers as snobs, slobs and scolds — while reminding us that we all are (or should be) critics to some extent
Rebel angels
The National Museum of Ireland’s new exhibition, Proclaiming a Republic, is packed with objects from the 1916 rebellion that tell both sides of the story sensitively and poignantly
Repeat prescription
But which paintings are in fact by Giorgione? It’s impossible to resist playing the attribution game
Second thoughts
Plus: Anna Teresa De Keersmaeker’s adaptation of As You Like It at Sadler’s Wells shows this grande dame of contemporary dance has also stayed the course
Building block
Ben Wheatley isn’t much interested in narrative or character or women but he is keen on barbecued dogs and explosions of violence
Original sin
But is the same true of the austere original version of the opera that this Richard Jones production are using?
Time out of mind
Plus: Mel Giedroyc will hopefully get better offers than this American adoption melodrama at Southwark Playhouse
Greedy greenies
The latest Scandi drama that’s showing great promise (despite the liberal-lefty politics) is BBC4’s Follow the Money
Home and away
Plus: why are we given so little teaching on how to care? And is there some truth to the three-second rule?
