Jonathan Sumption

The best children’s books: a Spectator Christmas survey

18 December 2021 9:00 am

J.K. Rowling Poignant, funny and genuinely scary, The Hundred and One Dalmatians was one of my favourite books as a…

Lord Sumption was right to quit the Supreme Court

7 September 2021 8:10 am

There used to be a saying: ‘never discuss religion or politics’. That was just a societal rule, a prudent tip…

The corona curtain-twitchers are watching

4 April 2020 9:00 am

Welcome, then, to a country in which the police send drones to humiliate people taking a walk and dried pasta…

Boris is the only one who can save the Tories

15 June 2019 9:00 am

A lady once offered to go to bed with me if I could ensure that she would write The Spectator’s…

George the Poet in 2014. Photo: Ben A. Pruchnie / Getty Images

Forget the The Reith Lectures. To understand the world listen to George the Poet

25 May 2019 9:00 am

At last a podcast that takes the medium to its limit, created by someone who loves listening, understands how it…

A French illuminated manuscript shows supplies being loaded onto boats before departing for the Crusades

What it took to wage holy war, Medieval style

5 September 2015 9:00 am

For most of history, religion and war have been the most powerful social instincts of mankind and its chief collective…