Alcohol
Did a vodka ban precipitate the Russian Revolution?
It’s one of the more mysterious features of human history that people of every era and in almost every place…
Jeremy Clark: Was this a cruise ship — or Colditz?
We ascended the gangplank and were smartly directed to the ship’s library, where the seated purser swiped my debit card…
Oxford in my day was another, better world
I was in the attic killing some Taleban on Medal of Honor when Girl interrupted and said: ‘Dad, what’s this?’…
Confessions of a Saga lout
Baby boomers like me aren’t giving up irresponsible hedonism as we age. We’re just getting worse at it
Low life
Nice airport was more or less deserted. Two-and-a-half hours early for the easyJet flight to Gatwick, I had a leisurely…
Long life
Here I go again. I have stopped smoking. Until recently I had been smoking about 40 cigarettes a day, but…
Planet of the canapés
Let’s get rid of these ridiculous thimble-sized offerings
The Spectator’s Notes
When Jeremy Corbyn says it is better to bring people to trial than to shoot them, he is right. So…
A soothing Negroni for la dolce vita
The first draft of the famous story was called ‘A Martini as Big as the Ritz’. That’s not true, but…
Stewed Siena
The Indian summer was still fending off the mists and mellow fruitfulness. But the autumn term was about to begin;…
Giving up alcohol is not as much fun as I’d hoped
Two months ago, I set myself the target of losing 11 pounds in time for the Spectator’s summer party on…
Low life
Ninety-two readers (thank you!) sent accounts of their worst debacles on drink or drugs. I printed out each one and…
Diary
Down here in west Cornwall, the days are long and summer is on the wing. Like the Tories in Scotland,…
Low life
The entries are crawling in on their hands and knees for the ‘drunkest I’ve ever been’ competition to win a…
Barometer
Golden league Some MPs who earn Sir Malcolm Rifkind’s rate of £5,000 a day: — Sir Tony Baldry (Banbury): £3,333…
Long life
The gulf in understanding between the old and the young has widened with the news that the young are beginning…
Why I intend to become an addict
When the White Queen told Alice she had sometimes believed as many as six contradictory things before breakfast, she spoke…
The problem with a wider definition of rape
When Mary Jane Mowat remarked recently that rape conviction statistics would not improve ‘until women stop getting so drunk,’ the…
The kick of the habit
I was waiting on an office forecourt recently puffing on an e-cigarette when a security guard came out. ‘You can’t…
Dear Mary
Q. At a drinks or a dinner party, when very attentive waiters are hovering, I tend to let them keep…
Wasted in the wastelands
Fifteen minutes by rail from Paddington, Southall is a ‘Little India’ in the borough of Ealing. An ornate Hindu temple…
Dare to be unaware
Once, campaigners and charities tried to fight social evils. Now they just tell us about them
Neknominations – this is what the internet is for
Wouldn’t it be boring if everyone behaved much as you behave? If everyone expressed themselves similarly? Let a thousand flowers…
When scaremongering stops being funny
My grandmother, Nanny Nancy, is 99 and going strong. But it can’t be denied that while she’s all there mentally,…
Giving it all up
I’ve gone completely overboard with New Year’s Resolutions this year. I’ve sworn off three illicit substances — alcohol, chocolate and…
