Features
‘I was a tortured, obviously brilliant child’: James Ellroy interviewed
James Ellroy is occasionally quoted as saying he’s the greatest American crime novelist ever. The man sometimes called the ‘demon…
Anne Glenconner: My Christmas gift from Queen Mary
At the age of 87 I find myself not just a first-time author, but a bestseller. I’ve always told stories,…
A soldier’s legacy: how a baby’s cry saved a family
It was early evening on Sunday 6 August 1944. The Allies’ bloody struggle to liberate Normandy from the Nazis had…
Michael Moorcock: I feel I’ve been cheated by the British state
Back to Texas to prepare for guests arriving for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Once again we left our Paris home not…
History may hold the secrets of statecraft – but not the secrets of business leadership
‘How can one person lead one hundred?’ That was one of the questions in my Cambridge entrance exams back in…
I was born to be a pantomime Dame (oh yes I was!)
‘Flamenco, lambada/ But hip hop is harder/ We moonwalk the foxtrot/ Then polka the salsa…’ I’m sure you know those…
Eggs and hard liquor: Spectator writers on their favourite examples of meals in literature
P.J. O’Rourke I love poems but hate poetasters, love wine but detest oenophiles, love food but can’t stand foodies. Therefore…
A.N. Wilson: The V&A’s Tristram Hunt is a modern Prince Albert
We don’t have Thanksgiving in Britain, but this does not stop us giving thanks and Christmas is a good time…
The King of Christmas: A short story by Owen Matthews
The Christmas King steps slowly from his house and sniffs the evening’s chill. His tread is dainty, for all his…
‘Cook it like a prayer’: Bip Ling’s Christmas curry
This dish is refreshing and super yummy. It’s a recipe that Didas (my Indian grandmother) taught me. The zesty tomato…
Away from the manger: the holy relics of Bethlehem
‘No crib for a bed,’ says ‘Away in a Manger’ rather puzzlingly, since a crib is a manger. ‘No one…
Changing the script: the shifting character of our political parties
Elections should be carnivals of democracy. The campaign we have just been through, though, has felt more like amateur dramatics.…
All the world’s a stage: this election has echoes of Shakespeare and Dickens
The Christmas election has unfolded like a series of mini-dramas from panto, Dickens and other popular classics. Boris has come…
Finland is rebooting its politics – and its new centrism is defined by youth
Helsinki Sanna Marin is the world’s new feminist political icon. At the age of 34, she’s just been appointed the…
The chilling stories from inside China’s Muslim internment camps
Vegetable-seller Kairat Samarkhan didn’t know why he had been summoned to the police station. ‘I had to empty my pockets…
Trans activists are making life harder for trans people
This was the year that the word ‘non-binary’ went mainstream. It has now officially entered the dictionary — lexicographers at…
A river of lost souls: the extraordinary secrets of the Thames
If you spend enough time on the Thames, you will eventually come across human remains. It is a river of…
Is St Edmund’s body buried beneath a Suffolk tennis court?
Here in St Edmundsbury cathedral, a bunch of clerics and local bigwigs are preparing for a most unusual anniversary. Throughout…
Uzbekistan: where east meets west and past meets present
You realise what a rarity western tourists are when the locals ask to take selfies with you. I was standing…
The island where monkeys steal from your minibar
A short flight from Kuala Lumpur, the island of Langkawiis a wise choice for anyone seeking to shake off the…
Tsar quality: the charm of Tbilisi
‘These regions are not under the control of the central government,’ reads a warning on a map of Georgia in…
Why Tuscany always beats Provence for me
A family of peacocks is sunning itself in our villa garden. They all look extraordinarily happy and composed, especially the…
Nightmare on Downing Street: what could happen on Friday 13th?
Radicalism does not usually work out well for the Labour party. Michael Foot fought the 1983 general election on a…
What the Tories don’t understand about Corbyn voters
Until recently, the Tories seemed pretty confident about next week’s election. Despite spending three and a half years blundering over…
‘Corbyn is led by ideology, I’m led by economics’: Sajid Javid’s spending plan
If Boris Johnson wins next week, it will be on a manifesto of change. He will not deliver the fourth…
