History
Henry III vs EU law
It is no surprise that the laws imposed on the UK by a European parliament in Brussels should so infuriate…
An electrifying politician
Just who was Benjamin Franklin? Apart, that is, from journalist, statesman, diplomat, founding father of the United States, inventor of…
What to do with Syria?
From ‘The future of Syria’, The Spectator, 5 February 1916: We say with all the emphasis at our command, and…
Rhodes’s statue should remain, on one condition
Lobengula was the second king of the Matabele people in what is now Zimbabwe. He was also the last. Cecil…
The Clare Valley
It is a century and a half since The Spectator noted the exceptional qualities of South Australia, a colony of…
One for all
China’s brutal one-child policy was not only inhuman; it will profoundly damage the rest of the world, says Hilary Spurling
Plato and think-tanks
In Living with Difference, a think-tank report on the problems raised by a multi-faith UK, the chair Baroness Butler-Sloss says…
Commanding vintages
As the bottles flowed, the talk ranged, to a serious vineyard, an awesome Field Marshal and a delightful restauranteur. For…
Curiosities for Christmas
There is not, sadly, a dedicated Trivia Books section in your local Waterstones, although at this time of year there…
Sic transit: the buildings we treasure most are often the ones we’ve never seen
Here are two books which have almost nothing in common: form, function, source material, methodology, all utterly different. The surprise…
The Church of England’s shameful betrayal of bishop George Bell
The Church of England has rushed to posthumously condemn one of the greatest men it has produced
Sri Lanka makes me yearn to be a pre-war tea planter
James Delingpole tastes bliss in the steamy heat
Notes from a very small island: wonderful, eccentric Ascension
A toast to Ascension Island – remote, eccentric, and now vital to the space race – on its 200th birthday
Can politicians say ‘crusade’ again? David Cameron thinks so
One thing grabbed my attention from David Cameron’s speech, long ago in the middle of last week. ‘We need a…
Proof that the British hardly ever had a stiff upper lip
The last time I cried was September 1989. That was my first week at public school. The reason I cried…
Barometer
The death of Diesel The Volkswagen scandal has brought into question the future of the diesel engine. A century ago…
Diary
Jeremy Corbyn has been compared to plenty of people over the past few months — a geography teacher, Michael Foot,…
A terrible beauty
A.S. Byatt on the dark, deadly secrets lurking beneath a calm, white surface
Diary
During our annual odyssey around the Scottish Highlands, I read Tears of the Rajas, Ferdinand Mount’s eloquent indictment of imperial…
Livy on immigration policy
In the migration crisis, the EU is currently acting just like the ancients, as if border controls did not exist,…
Forget Chilcot
What we really need is an inquiry into why so many of us are so eager to support ‘humanitarian’ wars
Diary
Should we have celebrated VJ Day? Hearing the hieratic tones of the Emperor Hirohito on Radio 4 the other day,…
Labour’s losing instinct
The party always swings left after defeats. But this time is worse
Hamburg
‘What was it like growing up in Liverpool?’ a journalist asked John Lennon. ‘I didn’t grow up in Liverpool,’ he…
Who dares lies
Why do so many men (including Sir Christopher Lee) fib about serving with the SAS?
