War
It’s been a tough year for socialites
New York Here we go again, the annual holiest of holies is upon us, although to this oldie last Christmas…
Boldly going where hundreds have gone before: Brave New Planet podcast reviewed
Since technology is developing at such light-speed pace, why does it feel so strangely slow? There is a sense that…
If this is a war, let’s fight it like one
Under the cloud of conformity that has settled over the land as a replacement for air pollution, heretics who doubt…
What if a virus were ever used as a WMD?
This article is in The Spectator’s May 2020 US edition. Subscribe here to get yours. Faced with the coronavirus pandemic, Donald Trump…
The coronavirus is springing the Thucydides trap
The first casualty of informational war is truth. The first American casualty of COVID-19 was the myth that the United…
How to be a man
The river of death has brimmed his banks And England’s far and Honour’s a name But the voice of…
Donald Trump, president of peace
This article is in The Spectator’s February 2020 US edition. Subscribe here. Groupthink is the last thing a country needs when debating…
The dark side of Venus — goddess of war as well as love
Bettany Hughes has spent a decade, she tells us, exploring the origins of the goddess Aphrodite, first for a BBC…
Does Trump have a better idea than endless wars?
This article is in The Spectator’s November 2019 US edition. Subscribe here. ‘WE WILL FIGHT WHERE IT IS TO OUR BENEFIT, AND…
Sebastiao Salgado – master of monochrome, chronicler of the depths of human barbarity
Occasionally, we encounter an image that seems so ludicrously out of kilter with the modern world that we can only…
An important story but not for the faint-hearted: Deadliest Day podcast reviewed
One of the advantages that podcasts have over the scheduled array of programmes is the space that can be given…
Few soldiers have seen as many terrible sights as Don McCullin
Diane Arbus saw mid-20th century New York as if she was in a waking dream. Or at least that is…
Radio 3 had the most simple yet effective way of reflecting on war’s impact
Amid all the remembrance, Radio 3 came up with a simple yet effective way of reflecting on war’s impact. Threaded…
The dumbing down of the Reith Lectures
It’s been a heavyweight week on Radio 4 with the start of the annual series of Reith Lectures and a…
From the archive: the future of Scandinavia
From ‘The Baltic question’, 15 June 1918: The future of Scandinavia and the Baltic must depend on the outcome of…
The tragedy of Syria: how protest spiralled into savagery
The fateful day five years ago began like any other for the family. A pot of black tea with cardamon…
BBC2’s Civilisations seems unable to decide what civilisation is
The presenters of the BBC 2 programme on civilisations seem unable to decide what civilisation is. Socrates would therefore wonder…
Ratings war
Planning for the ‘war of the future’ is something generals and politicians have been doing for the past 150 years.…
High life
After the heat in Greece, the Alps are cool and green and very comfortable. My sensei Richard Amos is over…
Russia’s revolutionary soul
From ‘The Russian awakening’, 6 July 1917: M. Kerensky, the Russian Minister of War, has kept his word. He promised…
Ernest Shackleton and other South Georgia ghosts
The terrible news that Henry Worsley had died just 30 miles short of crossing the Antarctic continent unsupported reached me…
Archive: Motoring as a hobby should be discouraged
From ‘The Conscription of Wealth’, The Spectator, 22 January 1916: At recent race meetings streams of motor-cars have proceeded from…
From the archive: On compelling shirkers to do their duty
From ‘The Position of the Government’, The Spectator, 15 January 1916: Any man who knew the nature of Englishmen, or…
War & Peace is actually just an upmarket Downton Abbey
Gosh what a breath of fresh air was Andrew Davies’s War & Peace adaptation (BBC1, Sundays) after all the stale…
'The tide is turning': Justin Welby interviewed by Michael Gove
An interview with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby
