France
Bees make magic: an inspirational case for biodiversity
The importance of biodiversity, a handy concept that embraces diversity of eco-systems, species, genes and molecules, has been promoted for…
Rona Fairhead will be good for the BBC – but who was so keen to nobble her rival?
Hats off to Rona Fairhead, the former Financial Times executive who will succeed Lord Patten as chairman of the BBC…
Andrew Marr’s diary: Seeing shadows of Syria in Limousin’s ghost village
No, no, no, you don’t want a house abroad — the paperwork, the taxes, the piping, the cost of the…
Europe's leaders worship Mario Draghi. They should listen to him instead
European Central Bank President Mario Draghi secured a place in history by his demonstration, on 26 July 2012, of the…
Spectator letters: Indian soldiers in the first world war, public relations PR, and why Nineteen Eighty-Four?
Placing refugees Sir: Tony Abbott seems to have fooled The Spectator. Your editorial (23 August) gives plaudits to the Australian…
It’s not just left-wingers who think the bosses’ pay boom is unhealthy
The FTSE100 index stands precisely where it did in the first week of December 1999. Whichever way you look at…
Why a City job should be graduates’ last resort
August is the season for conversation about career choices. Every holiday party seems to include new graduates or next year’s…
The man who could sell the British public on fracking
Iain Conn, who will succeed Sam Laidlaw as chief executive of Centrica, would have been a dead cert for the…
A world crisis with no world leader
No one wants to pay the price of speaking for the free world
How Napoleon won at Waterloo
If you visit Waterloo today, there’s no question which general comes out on top
The cold, remote plateau of Vichy France where good was done
It is with a heavy heart that I pick up anything to do with the Holocaust. Not because it’s wearisome…
Spectator letters: The trouble with religion, alternatives to HS2, and whisky-drinking dogs
Old cabby’s tale Stephen Rommei’s London cabby story (Diary, 7 June) reminded me of catching a cab one cold night…
France's political system is crumbling. What's coming next looks scary
The desperate state of its politics seems to signal the end of the Republic
Resistance and reprisal
Published to mark the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Vercors, perhaps the most famous stand of the French Resistance…
How France’s left-wing government learned to love austerity
How France learned to love cuts
Why I won’t let my children learn French
Why I won’t let my children be taught French
You, too, can be a shale profiteer
Here’s how to get a slice of the fracking action
Any other business: How François Hollande let France miss the global recovery train
I’ve always respected stationmasters, but that sentiment is not universally shared. A distinguished friend of mine across the Channel described…
How James Goldsmith's wisdom on mistresses could revolutionise mobile phones
I wouldn’t worry much about the future of the British economy. Because I have a simple plan to make the…
The men who invented Napoleon
Writing about Napoleon is a risky business. It exposes the author to the brickbats of the blind worshippers for whom…
Going off-piste in Val D'Isere
First things first. Yes, Val d’Isère does have a reputation for being expensive — and it is, especially if you’re…
The World According to Karl, edited by Jean-Christophe Napias - review
Every fashion era has its monster and in ours it’s Karl Lagerfeld, a man who has so emptied himself on…
A windfall tax on monster basements could solve London’s housing problem
The mega-rich are best housed behind high fences, on wooded estates patrolled by dogs; that way, they don’t have to…
Jeremy Clarke: The day I walked into a postcard
This time last year the postman delivered a picture postcard depicting a village square in Provence. The photograph on the…
Jeremy Clarke’s joy at a two-speed oscilating fan in la chaleur TGV
Hotel Trepaner, St Raphael, French Riviera: I have read all ten reviews on this site. The overall rating (given by…
