Portrait of the week
Home Demand for housing posed ‘the biggest risk to financial stability’ according to Mark Carney, the governor of the Bank…
The Spectator’s notes
Plus: An internet connection with Turkey, the curse of the 'garage action', and the advance of France in Nigeria
Reasons to love your German neighbours
They really are exceptionally law-abiding. But maybe they’re planning something
How the Suzuki method changed my life
If you ever wonder whether it’s worth dragging your child to practice, I have the answer
Pfizer may have retreated but big pharma’s urge to merge hasn’t gone away
Plus: In praise of the high street, and why the Rich List should be a set text for sixth-formers
The Farage effect
Ukip's leader is now a genuine celebrity – go out on the street with him and you'll see
Landings
On our anniversary, you drag the sofa-bed into the old conservatory. The January moon swells to cliché and under a…
The kids are all right
I went expecting to find mustard trousers. I found down-to-earth ex-Labour voters
Goodwood Festival of Speed
You smelt them, it was said of the Mongol hordes, before you heard them, and by the time you heard…
Irresistible zing and pizzazz
A review of Constant Lambert: Beyond the Rio Grande, by Stephen Lloyd. Constant by name, but not by nature
Captivated by Karl
A review of Capital in the Twenty-First Century, by Thomas Piketty. The French economist’s proposals are as shaky as the analysis to which they are precariously connected
‘Rather like his own ugly duck’
A review of Hans Christian Andersen, by Paul Binding. The writer spent his whole life trying to run away from his miserable childhood
Back to Blighty
A review of The Stories, by Jane Gardam. The people in this novel may be a dying breed, but there is nothing old-fashioned about the storytelling
The one who got away with it
A review of The Baby Boom, by P.J.O’Rourke. Like all the best memoirs, Baby Boom stirs suppressed memories in the reader
The road to bestsellerdom
Christopher Maclehose recalls his dealings with the author of the Flashman novels, George Macdonald Fraser
Firmly in focus
But the good-natured director’s endorsement of Ed Miliband wouldn't fill you with confidence
