Northern exposure
The Chancellor on elected mayors, northern cities and the need for ‘a bit of the Michael Heseltine’
The empire-builders
Two sides are required for a New Cold War — and there is no obvious need for an adversarial system in post-Soviet Europe
Notes from a ceasefire
Here, near the airport, the war has never really stopped. Soon it will resume everywhere
Athens
Is a ‘new’ Athens emerging from the smog of ages and the rubble of a collapsed economy? Maybe…
Driven to abstraction
Mark Rothko: portrait of the artist as a Jewish mystic (and a picker of fights)
Songs of praise for the BBC
A review of Pinkoes and Traitors by Jean Seaton suggests that we take Auntie too much for granted
Worshipping the body beautiful
In a review of the Temple of Perfection by Eric Chaline, Mark Mason sees the gym as our modern place of worship
Feather-footed through the plashy glen
Mark Cocker celebrates the vivid poetry of John Lister-Kaye’s Highland diary
Deep in the heart of darkness
A review of Death in the Congo by Emmanuel Gerard and Bruce Kuklick reveals the full scandal of a 50-year-old murder
English without tears
The ‘rules’ of English grammar are often just incoherent prejudices, according to Oliver Kamm’s Accidence Will Happen
A father goes over the edge
A review of This House of Grief by Helen Garner recounts how an ex-husband exacted the ultimate revenge
A James Bond thriller for real
The plot of A Kim Jong-il Production by Paul Fischer would rival one of Ian Fleming’s own
No escaping the past
A review of The Faithful Couple by A.D. Miller recounts how one youthful ‘incident’ can permanently affect a friendship
Here comes everything
In a review of The Soul of the Marionette Tibor Fischer celebrates the vast scope of John Gray’s reading
Running around with Marx
The thrill of violence was key to Jean-Paul Sartre’s philosophy, says his latest biographer
Back to the future
On the eve of the re-release of Scott's 'Final Cut' at the BFI, William Cook explores the thoroughly modern riddles at the heart of this cult movie
Monet maker
The art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel didn’t invent Monet or Degas; they did that for themselves
Whose line is it anyway?
Marcus Berkmann predicts Ed Sheeran’s future: co-writing the hits of someone much younger and prettier
GBH meets BS
Plus: a revival of Patrick Marber’s modern classic Closer, in which Rufus Sewell looks like a Botticelli angel on crack
From one extreme to another
Plus: when do we stop hoping for better and start admitting that the technological experiments of Silent Opera just don’t work?
Worthy of Riefenstahl
Plus James Delingpole assesses two more whiny, right-on programmes from BBC4: the dreary Arts Question Time and devious Climate Change By Numbers
