Euro-fission song contest T he Soviet government was condemned in the West for keeping information about the Chernobyl nuclear power station disas- ter to itself, when it had...

THE English do not take kindly to black- Tall; English Heritage — the Historic Buildings & Monuments Commission — Should resist it as well. Mr Fred Koch has let it be known...

WE are sorry that Hugh Montgomery- Massingberd, in his cover article last week, said that Sir Anthony Meyer was retiring from Parliament at the next election. This is not the case.

WHEN THE DUST SETTLES A n old Soviet joke has a Russian asking the fictional Radio Yerevan: 'How many years must an American work before he can afford a car?' After a very long...

Mr Hurd and the Praetorian Guard Syndrome FERDINAND MOU NT F rom the start, Hurd shares were clear- ly a speculation, a bit of a punt. I was advised to get into them by a City...

A fter their initial silence and then their grudging admission of disaster at Cher- nobyl, the Russians have finally become more communicative. Spokesmen have appeared on...

Time for a Secret Society against all special interest groups AUBERON WAU GH One must admit that homosexual activ- ists do seem to invite misrepresentation of this sort. A...

William Deedes celebrates the survival of the game, but warns that new measures will be needed to ensure its preservation THERE is an agreeable tale told about the fourth Lord...

Christopher Hitchens finds the American press hot on the trail of atomic dangers in the West Washington AT TIMES of crisis and drama, Americans tend to turn to ABC's Nightline...

Bohdan Nahaylo on how the Soviet press hinted at the risks of nuclear power THE Chernobyl disaster has revealed that although Soviet leaders may change, the system over which...

Samuel Phipps, caught in Minsk when Chernobyl exploded, describes his experience Minsk 'YOU'LL be national heroes when you get back to England,' said one of our Russian...

Edward Theberton finds that Ethiopia under Marxist rule is like a prison Addis Ababa AS a student I had an Ethiopian contem- porary whose personal achievements by far...

On Tuesday the Queen opened the Exhibition of all Colonial and Indian products at the Albert Hall. One strophe of 'God save the Queen' was sung in Sanscrit as the representative...

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard on the ability of civilised Salvadorans to remain oblivious to a cruel civil war San Salvador 'WE ARE about to listen to Bach's third Brandenberg...

Dhiren Bhagat discovers that the Riviera no longer belongs to the British Cannes AT THE Colombe d'Or in St Paul-de- Vence my copy of Patrick Howarth's book caught the head...

Robin Marris defends Keynes against the champions of tight money THIS is an article about pure economics. On seeing that, She who shares my break- fasts will turn straight to...

Charles Clover, who fishes for salmon but is not very rich, attacks a law which will not save his sport SALMON fishing, like foxhunting, brings out all the most primaeval...

The press: Paul Johnson on a scandalous case of union censorship THE worst aspect of the tyranny exercised by the print unions on Old Fleet Street was their power to dictate...

The perils which beset a private investor before the Big Bang JOHN HOWARTH In the first four months of 1986 the London market has moved ahead 20 per cent — most of it in the...

Sir: I disagree with Jennifer Paterson's recipe for Cockaleekie, the Scottish national dish (Food, 26 April). The boiling fowl should not be cut up and browned in butter as she...

Sir: I feel a bit like Trotsky. Although I was at Eton, Mr Montgomery- Massingberd (`Top and bottom of the Tory class', 3 May) has adjusted history and eliminated me from both...

Sir: Mr Lev Loseff (Letters, 12 April) does not mention the finding of Radio Liberty's Broadcast Analysis Division, that his broadcast was 'anti-semitic and the most Offensive...

Sir: I have just read Paul Johnson's article about Austria (The press, 19 April). He lays stress on the high percentage of Nazis there: that is certainly a fair point, though...

Sir: I anticipate that the article in your Scottish Special Issue 'Drink and worship When we choose' by Richard West (26 April) will produce various complaints about its...

Sir: Perhaps Gavin Stamp (19 April) would like to know that Penelope Betjeman was in fact meticulous about her appearance. She would often don a riding jacket and tie when the...

SUBSCRIBE TODAY! Please enter a subscription to The Spectator I enclose my cheque for f (Equivalent SUS & Eurocheques accepted) RATES: 12 Months 6 Months UK/Eire 0 £41.00 0...

A t rare intervals, a historical work appears that is more than history. Hitler made the 20th century, perhaps in indirect reaction to Lenin, but at any rate in a catastrophic...

elbow David Sexton A CONCISE HISTORY OF THE SEX MANUAL 1886-1986 by Alan Rusbridger Faber, £10.95, W hen Alan Rusbridger was a school- boy he was alarmed to read, in a book...

John Jolliffe BAD COMPANY AND OTHER STORIES Translated and chosen by Antony Lambton Quartet, £10.95 T he greatest of pleasures for a reviewer is to have an opportunity to...

Peter Eyre SUBSEQUENT PERFORMANCES by Jonathan Miller Faber, £15 R eading this enthralling book has been for me a pleasurable recherche du temps perdu, and the reader must...

Byron Rogers BARDOT, DENEUVE AND FONDA by Roger Vadim Weidenfeld & Nicolson, £10.95 T here is something very sad about this book. Its subtitle (and in the 1960s sub- titles...

Pure winter and a barking dog Stands on the candied roadway is The only red brown patch in dawn's Powder blue and spider grey Until it stops and goes away Hard coal burns...

Brian Martin AN INSULAR POSSESSION by Timothy Mo Chatto, £9.95 A first glance, it might appear that this novel has been structured by a booty- hunter on the American market:...

Mark Amory BWANA STOKESI AND HIS AFRICAN CONQUESTS by Nicholas Harman Jonathan Cape, £12.95 I n 1886, when the 14 important countries of the world, all white, decided at the...

J.L. Carr CAPE SUMMER AND THE AUSTRALIANS IN ENGLAND by Alan Ross Constable, 00.95 T his is a republished account of the Australians' 1956 English cricket tour and of M.C.C's...

STUDENTS ARE TWICE AS LIKELY TO ENJOY THE SPECTATOR AT LESS THAN HALF PRICE* More stimulating than any lecture, funnier than the set books, The Spectator should be required...

S ometimes one would follow a record to the ends of the earth. What collector does not know that sudden fixation on a particu- lar disc which must be lying somewhere in a • s...

Recording technology has improved consider- ably in the past few years, especially in the field of electronic/electric music, with an ever- increasing use of new digital...

To anyone who once found a thrill in cautiously lowering an arm onto a fragile, revolving black surface, and marvelling at the attenuated evoca- tions of musical experience that...

My initial enthusiasm has not waned. The interference-free sound continues to delight and so does the way that favourite old recordings come up as if freshly minted in the new...

I am of course very impressed with what is clearly a great achievement — gone are the crackles and pops of the LP, and gone (in a digital recording) is the tape hiss. CDs are...

Points of view Richard Baker I derive enormous pleasure from my compact disc player, in particular it is good for chamber music and solo instruments. However, I do find the...

Addison's admonitions Peter Phillips A s everyone must know, the first manifestation of a journal entitled The Spectator commenced publication on 1 March 1711 (NS). It...

A lot of it about Rodney Mdnes hatever one may think about 0 . pera, it is one of the few growth industries In this country along with institutionalised violence and...

A certain bias Noel Malcolm A friend of mine met a retired major at his club, who asked what the score was in the Test Match. 'I've no idea,' replied mY, friend. 'Are you not...

In the shadows Peter Ackroyd L ong, long ago, in the early Twenties, Caravaggio was described by Roger Fry as 'the first Hollywood painter', or words to that effect — no...

Albert Wainwright (Michael Parkin till 30 May) Francis Le Marchant (Sally Hunter & Patrick Seale till 23 May) . _ Town and Country II (Christopher Wood till 18 May) Et in...

Fighting fit Taki was on my way to Somerset last week, and Princess Nicholas von Preussen's dance, but I changed my mind at the last minute and remained glued to my typewri-...

Star qualities Alexander Chancellor W hen the bombing started, I leapt out of bed and went onto the balcony in time to see the first after-burners of the jets. Then I went...

Iron rations Jeffrey Bernard S he who would iron 14 shirts at one standing has been described by her daugh- ter as being too compliant. I think this means obedient and it just...

Ringing tones Alice Thomas Ellis lfie was in his sister Marion's house t he other day when the telephone raug.; Ooh,' she cried, jumping a foot in the and dropping a plate....

n..)01 ,....*JoRtLe serifk.„),ft WHAT to do when persons speak up for 'British food'? It is best to do nothing. The problems only start when they threaten to serve it, then...

experts, tells me that a unique chess match will take place on 17 and 18 June in London. One of the players, Dr Jana Miles, is an International Woman Grandmaster and the...

supply a poem such as A. E. Housman might have written had his favourite scene been not Shropshire, but modern suburbia or the inner cities. Toxteth and Tottenham, Brixton and...

A first prize of £20 and two further prizes of £10 (or a copy of Chambers Dictionary, value £12.95 -- ring the words 'Chambers Dictionary above) will be awarded for the first...

You are invited to write a story (maximum 175 words) beginning, 'The parrot swore . . .' and ending, 'It would have been all right if only it had been raining.' Entries to...

Partly clued radial lights and un- clued outer encircling lights are characters in the works of Edward George Bulwer-Lytton (referred to at centre), the latter being also the...