Politics
Was Roy Jenkins the greatest prime minister we never had?
Roy Jenkins may have been snobbish and self-indulgent, but he was also a visionary and man of principle who would have made a good prime minister, says Philip Ziegler
Witnesses in the heart of darkness
When presented with a 639-page doorstopper which includes 82 pages of closely-written sources, notes and index, most of us feel…
Lawlessness, corruption, poverty and pollution: the city where we're all headed
India’s vast polluted capital, where brutality, corruption and ruthless self-seeking are endemic, could be the blueprint of the future, says Peter Parker
Death brings out everyone’s inner Mary Whitehouse
Shortly after Bob Crow’s death was announced on Tuesday, Nigel Farage sent the following tweet: ‘Sad at the death of…
Why Boris is wrong to say that the children of jihadis should be taken into care
Do your children have a bleak and nihilistic view of the world? It’s hard to tell, really, when they spend…
I’m scared to admit to being a Tory in today’s C of E
Believe me, it’s not easy to be a Tory in today’s C of E
From Nasser to Mubarak — Egypt's modern pharaohs and their phoney myths
Jonathan Rugman is foreign affairs correspondent for Channel 4 News.
Hope for one of the most turbulent, traumatised regions in the world
John Keay’s excellent new book on the modern history of South Asia plunges the reader head first into some wildly…
The 'semi-detached' member of Margaret Thatcher's cabinet
John Biffen was mentally ill. This is the outstanding revelation of Semi-Detached, a memoir which has been assembled from his…
Why is Doris Kearns Goodwin raking up old muck?
Theodore Roosevelt and the Progressive Era are well-worn subjects for both professional and amateur historians, so it’s pertinent to ask…
When we dropped the Bomb by mistake
In January 1976 New York’s late-lamented National Lampoon produced a bicentennial calendar as a contribution to the general rejoicing. For…
Letters: Cyclists reply to Rod Liddle, and an MP replies to Hugo Rifkind
Rod rage Sir: Like most cyclists, who also own a car and pay road tax, I enjoy a pedal along…
Hugo Rifkind: Yes, I'm apathetic about politics. But isn't Russell Brand?
Since I was a child, pretty much everybody I have ever met has asked me if I want to be…
Does Xi Jinping really want reform? If so, he would unravel China
For all its bombast and success, the Chinese Communist party faces a host of looming problems – and a big decision
Guido Fawkes to Damian McBride: Who's spinning now?
When Gordon Brown eventually became aware that his Downing Street was about to be engulfed in the Smeargate scandal, he…
In it together? Matthew d'Ancona's book on the coalition is a huge letdown, says Peter Oborne
There are two ways of being a political journalist. One is to stay on the outside and try to avoid…
Conservative landslide in Australia: Tony Abbott will crush Kevin Rudd
Sometimes only a cliché will do, especially when the subject is the Australian Labor party. Labor is holed beneath the…
Foreign Policy Begins at Home, by Richard N. Haass - review
A year or so after the ‘liberation’ of Iraq, an unnamed senior Bush administration official (later revealed to be Karl…
Dark Actors, by Robert Lewis - review
No book about Dr David Kelly could start anywhere other than at the end. Kelly is found, dead, in a…
Mourning Julia Gillard with the greatest wine ever to come out of Australia
My Australian friend was in mourning over the removal of Julia Gillard, the country’s first female prime minister. She had…
