Death

‘La Mort de Louis XIII’, 1731, by Jean-François de Troy

The strange death of Louis XIV

21 November 2015 9:00 am

At the beginning of the summer of 1715 Louis XIV complained of a pain in the leg. In mid-August gangrene…

Why do we assume our western good life will last for ever?

21 November 2015 9:00 am

The slaughter in Paris is a catastrophe for the victims and their families, but the usual hysterical response across the…

Joan Collins’s diary: I’m in deep shock at Jackie’s death, but life goes on

7 November 2015 9:00 am

I had only experienced great loss when my mother died. It was desperately harrowing, but not as harrowing as the…

What is it about Bill Viola’s films that reduce grown-ups to tears?

17 October 2015 8:00 am

What is it about Bill Viola's films that reduce grown-ups to tears? William Cook dries his eyes and talks to the video artist about Zen, loss and nearly drowning

Spectator letters: Mental health and assisted dying

5 September 2015 9:00 am

Suicide and assisted dying Sir: As a mental health practitioner, I am grateful to Douglas Murray (‘Death watch’, 29 August)…

The brave thing now: don’t write about your death

25 July 2015 9:00 am

In the social media age, breaking ‘the last taboo’ is de rigueur

How your funeral director is ripping you off

16 May 2015 9:00 am

Funerals are a rip-off. But you can do something about that

A sombre Irish family saga — that glows in the dark

9 May 2015 9:00 am

The Green Road is a novel in two parts about leaving and returning home. A big house called Ardeevin, walking…

The over-75s are being asked if they would like to sign their own death warrants

9 May 2015 9:00 am

It’s more than four months now since my 75th birthday, but I’m still waiting for a ‘cold call’ from the…

Britain has the lowest percentage of women engineers in Europe. Why?

2 May 2015 9:00 am

‘It’s hard to know how to tell this story,’ she said as she began. ‘Because it’s so loaded. It’s so…

Anne Tyler’s everyday passions

14 February 2015 9:00 am

There was nothing remarkable about the Whitshanks. None of them was famous. None of them could claim exceptional intelligence, and…

You realise how little you know of anybody when they die

31 January 2015 9:00 am

Whether or not you believe in the afterlife, death remains an impenetrable mystery. One moment a person is making jokes…

Here I am on Twelfth Night with nothing but benevolence to look back on

10 January 2015 9:00 am

For the past two and a half years my brother John has been living next door to me in the…

Life is full of little endings. We should pay them more attention

22 November 2014 9:00 am

Life is full of little endings. We should pay them more attention

We know that war is hell. But it doesn’t ever make us stop doing it

15 November 2014 9:00 am

There’s a plausible theory — recently rehearsed in the BBC’s excellent two-part documentary The Lion’s Last Roar? — that our…

Jeremy Vine’s diary: Zipcars, hipster milk and the word that means I’m losing an argument

4 October 2014 9:00 am

Last Tuesday I tried to sign up to a new life. My wife and I argued, slightly. ‘I don’t think…

Clive James on his late flowering: ‘I am in the slightly embarrassing position where I write poems saying I’m about to die and then don’t’

4 October 2014 9:00 am

Clive James on poetry, civilisation and the critical benefits of facing leukaemia

Why do we care about the mutts from Manchester and not the chickens from KFC?

27 September 2014 9:00 am

Our attitude to animals and their suffering is bonkers

The jilted bride

Charles Saatchi’s new book of photos makes me feel sick

13 September 2014 9:00 am

Charles Saatchi, the gallery owner, has created his own Chamber of Horrors in this thick, square book, ‘inspired by striking…

No, I haven’t seen that beheading video. And it’s not right to share it

16 August 2014 9:00 am

It’s time to stand up against the self-righteous sharing of videos of beheading and other gruesome violence

Anthony Horowitz’s Diary: Dinner with Saddam, anyone?

19 July 2014 9:00 am

I have written a play, but a month after it was sent to half a dozen theatres, I have heard…

The cruellest present you could give a hated old in-law

5 July 2014 9:00 am

It takes a special sort of talent to be able to make drawings of your own 97-year-old mother on her…

I am ready to talk about my death. Is anyone else?

10 May 2014 9:00 am

I am ready to talk about my death. Is anyone else?

Death brings out everyone’s inner Mary Whitehouse

15 March 2014 9:00 am

Shortly after Bob Crow’s death was announced on Tuesday, Nigel Farage sent the following tweet: ‘Sad at the death of…

Rod Liddle: Neknominations – this is what the internet is for

22 February 2014 9:00 am

Wouldn’t it be boring if everyone behaved much as you behave? If everyone expressed themselves similarly? Let a thousand flowers…