Empire
When Britannia ceased to rule the waves
The final volume of N.A.M. Rodger’s magisterial history documents the gradual decline of Britain’s naval power as the empire disintegrated
Britain’s role in ending the slave trade ought to be celebrated
It was bound to happen sooner or later: a guest on the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow presented an artefact which derived…
Hanging offences
Calvin Po laments the pious distortions of history at two of Britain’s best-known galleries
The woman who would be king
Describing the golden age of ancient Egypt, John Romer pays tribute to the chief wife of Thutmose II who proclaimed herself king and ruled successfully for almost 20 years
A lethal disdain for the poor
Dictating to the Estate is a piece of community theatre that explains why Grenfell Tower went up in flames on…
High life
New York Prince Pavlos, heir to the Greek throne, turned 55 recently and I threw a small dinner for him.…
High life
Gstaad Mercedes Benz heir Mick Flick and I have been friends for more than half a century. We both married…
The distortion of British history
The British Museum has announced the appointment of a curator to study the history of its own collections. On the…
Labour’s revealing support for reparations
The most extreme measure in the entire Labour Party manifesto of 2019 – and this is a high bar –…
The Great War was enough to make grown men weep
Following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo it took a mere six weeks for the diplomats of Europe’s…
Radio 4 treats its radio listeners as second-best in favour of those who listen to podcasts
How very odd of Radio 4 not only to release The Ratline as a podcast before broadcasting it on the…
Shashi Tharoor’s book is a polemic, says Kapil Komireddi – beware of Hindu nationalism
Most religions bind their adherents into a community of believers. Hinduism segregates them into castes. And people excluded from the…
The World Cup has made us proud to be English
Buying fish at Cambridge market on Sunday, I found myself chatting to the fishmonger about the prospects for England in…
What the Windrush scandal reveals about Theresa May
Everyone speaks about the Windrush. The boat was actually called the Empire Windrush. The full name reveals what the story…
Grain of truth
We routinely feel emotional about materials — often subliminally. Which is why new substances and techniques for manufacturing have provoked…
Real life
When in India, I always appal my highly educated tour guides. They despair of me, as they drag me round…
Sri Lanka makes me yearn to be a pre-war tea planter
James Delingpole tastes bliss in the steamy heat
I reshot Andy Warhol
Stephen Smith finally sees the point of Empire, one of the dullest films in cinema history
Sugar and spies
John Gimlette on the strange and superbly told story of Willoughbyland, England’s ‘lost’ colony
India’s sacrifice
At six o’clock on 31 May 1916, an Indian soldier who had been captured on the Western Front alongside British…
Viva España
‘Every schoolboy knows who imprisoned Montezuma and who strangled Atahualpa.’ Macaulay, anticipating Gove, was complaining that the schoolboys by contrast…
Letters from Christmas Past
This is a selection of seasonal letters from The Spectator’s 185-year archive, now online at archive.spectator.co.uk. The emblem to the…
Diary
ONE OF THE MINOR sociological treats of being appointed shadow education secretary is a frontbench view of David Cameron’s crimson…
