R.B. Haldane: a great public servant, much maligned
This is a strange but valuable book. The author is a private equity magnate, whose fascination for Richard Burdon Haldane…
Political biographies to enjoy in lockdown
Here are ten political biographies, with a leavening of the classics, for those with time to kill in the present…
It’s easy to forget how undemocratic Europe was 50 years ago
The subtitle of Simon Reid-Henry’s substantial work indicates its thesis: ‘The remaking of the West since the Cold War, 1971–2017.’…
Diary
When a few months ago my friend Tom Switzer – former editor of this magazine and now director of the…
There’s no place quite like Excellent Essex
Those who think Essex is boring, or a human waste bin into which only the most meretricious people find themselves…
Where is the rise of neo-Nazism around Europe leading?
‘Why would anyone write a historical study of it?’ asks Gavriel Rosenfeld about the Fourth Reich at the start of…
Adam Smith analysed human behaviour, not economics, says Simon Heffer
Jesse Norman is one of only three or four genuine intellectuals on the Tory benches in the House of Commons.…
The best single-volume history of the Great War yet written
The historiography of the Great War is stupendous, the effects of the conflict being so far-reaching that even today historians…
The 1850s: a dizzying decade of boom and bust
We can all identify decades in which the world moved forward. Wars are not entirely negative experiences: the social and…
A Horrible History of English Hymns
Given that for much of English history the country’s main musical tradition was that connected with the church, it is…
The ‘art’ of stealing presented as English heritage
The publicity blurb about the two unpleasant criminals whom this dismal book romanticises says that they are ‘continuing their ancestors’…
The art of political biography remains in intensive care if Giles Radice’s latest book is anything to go by, says Simon Heffer
With the odd exception — I think principally of Charles Moore’s life of Margaret Thatcher — the genre of political…
Cambridge, showcase for modernism (and how costly it is to fix)
The Pevsner architectural guides are around halfway through their revisions — though it is like the Forth Bridge, and soon…
What will it take for us to stop doing business with Qatar?
Qatari money has flooded into London – but also into much less savoury places
Stand up to a bully
If only European leaders were more like Tony Abbott
Vote yes, Scots – and set the English free
Scottish independence would indeed be a disaster – but only for the Scots
Be grateful this criminal left your lucky country
On the list of trusted Australians, ‘Rolfie’ would be several thousand rungs below Ned Kelly
Little Scotlanders
If Scotland votes for independence on 18 September, it will be the end of Great Britain. And thanks to Pommie cynicism, selfishness and comic incompetence, it could happen
Why we love the Cambridges
The visiting Royals are more like film stars than royalty, following the template set by the Duke’s late mother
More British than Britain
In the interests of a more civilised world, let the Commonwealth leaders trump democratic values
Tony is soft on crime
The only way to stop aggressive drunks is for the state to become even more aggressive with them
Hubris and humiliation
How to account for the collapse of the English cricket team? Hint: it has little to do with Aussie brilliance
Grand delusions?
So what is the point of the Commonwealth in this day and age?
In praise of our future King
Far from being agitated, restless and frustrated, the 65-year-old heir to the throne is ready for prime time
Pass the torch
If only Britain had sound conservatives such as John Howard and Tony Abbott
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