Notre Dame
A keepsake – and to-do list – of Europe’s greatest cathedrals
In his new book on Europe’s cathedrals, Simon Jenkins begins with the claim that the greatest among them are our…
If you’re going to leave Notre Dame in ruins, why not set fire to Oxford University?
Almost everyone agrees it is a pity that so few pupils from ‘disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds’ get into Oxford. But no…
Lessons from the Greeks on rebuilding Notre Dame
As soon as the blaze that nearly brought down Notre Dame was extinguished, two questions were asked: how did it…
Portrait of the week: A plot to oust May, terror in Sri Lanka and Ukraine’s comedy president
Home Theresa May, the Prime Minister, returned to parliament after the Easter recess to find backbenchers plotting to get rid…
How dangerous are barbecues?
Spires on fire Paris was lucky not to lose its medieval cathedral entirely, a fate which London suffered in 1666…
We condemned the ideology behind Christchurch. Why didn’t we do the same after Sri Lanka?
The carnage in Sri Lanka which left more than 300 dead may have been carried out by ‘Buddhists’, according to…
Our churches aren’t perfect, but if we lose them we will all be worse off
After hearing about the massacre in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, I went to church, happily sang the word God…
Notre Dame is an architectural nullity
Notre Dame is only important from a Shakespeare’s-birthplace point of view. Architecturally it is a nullity beside the cathedrals of…
Hope will rise out of the ashes of Notre Dame
‘Great edifices, like great mountains, are the work of centuries,’ wrote Victor Hugo in Notre-Dame de Paris. ‘The man, the…
Portrait of the week: Brexit party launches, Assange is arrested – and Notre Dame burns
Home Although the latest date for Brexit had been postponed by the European Council until Halloween, 31 October, the government…
What would happen if the Gospels were judged in a history contest?
This week, the Wolfson History Prize announced its shortlist. It is always worth drawing attention to, precisely because it is…
