Islam
Courting Sultana Isabel
The idea for a mechanical cock was never going to work. In 1595 the English ambassador to Constantinople, Edward Barton,…
Everything in black and white
This is a quite remarkable book. Badly written, devoid of anything even vaguely approaching a methodology, patronising, hideously mistaken on…
What do all these evil maniacs have in common?
More bad publicity for the Islamic State’s ‘Kafir Tiny Tots and Babycare Service’. A burka-clad madwoman wandering through the streets…
Why are children in Guernsey extolling Islam to their parents?
I have never been to the island of Guernsey. This is a large world and we have a finite amount…
High life
This is going to be one hell of a year, hell being the operative word. It will be the year…
We need Christianity more than ever in this Age of Atheists
Have we ever needed Christianity more than we do today? It’s a rhetorical question, for sure, because the loss of…
Hug, hold hands . . . then stampede to the right
What a pleasure it was to see two socialist parties triumph in the most recent elections. First, Labour increased its…
It is political correctness, not maniacal bigots, that will end civilisation
What does one do, attend or refuse a party after a tragic event such as the recent Paris outrage? My…
The French might as well bomb Belgium
I am always open to spiritual guidance from any quarter, all the more so if that guidance is of practical…
Of gods and men
Tom Holland on Egypt, where the deities were born and history itself began
France’s new reactionaries
The nation’s intellectuals are being roiled by issues of immigration, sovereignty and freedom of expression
Battle fatigue
Can anyone explain this sudden enthusiasm for Agincourt, that unexpected victory over the French, now being celebrated, or rather commemorated,…
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…
The Spectator’s notes
Presumably Britain has some sort of policy on immigration, asylum and refugees, but instead of struggling to understand it, you…
A twinge of fear, and a glimpse of a harsher world
I celebrated Eid in a sandy bay in Sri Lanka, watching from the warm, shallow sea as gaggles of local…
The crackdown that backfired
In October 2013, a jeep ploughed through a crowd of pedestrians on the edge of Tiananmen Square, crashed and burst…
I’m emigrating to Islamic State – see ya, kafirs!
I am getting heartily sick of being subjected to low-level racist and Islamophobic abuse whenever I go out wearing my…
High life
I have signed an affidavit for a hearing in the High Court stating that Janan Harb was, to my knowledge,…
Behind the Black Flag curtain
So you’ve just popped out of town for the day on an errand. And when you get back, everyone has…
You can’t take the Islam out of Islamic State
At last, British politicians have been galvanised into action by the appalling events last weekend in the Tunisian resort of…
Is suicide bombing now a Yorkshire tradition?
Where would you rather live, Dewsbury or Bradford? I ask because it seems that there are probably some good property…
Shifting sands in Saudi
Why America’s once-cautious ally suddenly looks so skittish
Benefits for people who don’t live here? Great idea
Yet another exciting discovery from the world of Islamic science. As you are probably aware, Islamic culture has always paid…
Striking Middle Sea
The Mediterranean has always been central to European civilisation — and a source of drama and conflict, says Anthony Sattin
Barometer
Plagued by stigma The World Health Organisation told doctors to stop naming diseases after people, places and animals so as…
