the Enlightenment
The Georgians feel closer to us now than the Victorians
‘The two most fascinating subjects in the universe are sex and the 18th century,’ declared the novelist Brigid Brophy when…
There’s nothing a white person can do about racism, says Dr Kehinde Andrews
After the death of George Floyd last year, and the subsequent Black Lives Matter protests around the world, racism is…
Mozart the infant prodigy was also a child of the Enlightenment
‘My dear young man: don’t take it too hard,’ Joseph II counsels a puppyish Mozart, the colour of his hair…
What the new nationalism means
This article is in The Spectator’s March 2020 US edition. Subscribe here. For most of the past 200 years, the left, whether…
Benjamin Franklin: from man about town to man on the run
Just who was Benjamin Franklin? Apart, that is, from journalist, statesman, diplomat, founding father of the United States, inventor of…
A journey through magic across three millennia
With the briefest of introductions to each chapter, it is up to the reader to decide how they want to…
Crossed swords and pistols at dawn: the duel in literature
Earlier this century I was a guest at a fine dinner, held in a citadel of aristocratic Catholicism, for youngish…
How 18th-century gardeners ordered their plants after a great storm, a terrible drought and ‘a little ice age’
I hesitate ever to criticise an author for the inappropriateness of a book’s title, since it’s more likely the fault…
Scotland’s miraculous century (it started with the Union)
In 1707 Scotland surrendered what it had of its independence by the Treaty of Union with England. That independence had…
