H aving made five attacks on members of the Ulster security forces in as many days, the IRA killed Mr Robert Bradford, a Methodist minister and Unionist MP for Belfast South...

Dr Paisley's laughter Ferdinand Mount T hey have taken up their seats early, in the front row of the upper side gallery. From there, they can glare down at the Prime Minister...

T tried to telephone Mrs Elizabeth Carew1 Hunt to console her about the damage caused to her Wimbledon house last weekend. Unfortunately, the telephone did not answer, and I...

Venial and Cardinal Sin Auberon Waugh Manila, Philippines T do not know whether Graham Greene 1 has ever been to Manila, but he is probably the only Englishman alive who could...

Xan Smiley Warsaw T he first revelation to the outsider in Poland is that the Poles are much less worried by the nagging possibility of Soviet invasion than most of us are....

Timothy Garton Ash Washington S talin asked: 'how many divisions has the Pope?' There are influential advisers to the Reagan administration whose view of world affairs is...

Tom Bethell Washington T he budget director, David Stockman, whose candid discussion of the administration's economic policies caused such a flap in Washington last week, was...

Murray Sayle Hong Kong M aybe it won't make much of a dent in the dole queues, but as of I April next there's a first-class job vacancy going in the Far East. On that day the...

It appears that the diamond merchants of Hatton Garden are in the habit of sending quantities of diamonds in registered letters throuigh the Post Office, insuring them with...

Geoffrey Wheatcroft T ripping, even skipping, across the grass she gets down to the sea shore. Mrs Williams is having her picture taken. The photographer wants her with sea and...

Richard West Birmingham B oarding the train to Birmingham, I saw that the engine was named 'Joseph Chamberlain'. This should not be taken to mean that British Rail always suits...

The stags Tony Rudd The best game in town these last few weeks has not been in the casinos but down at the Stock Exchange, with the stagging of the two major eye-catching new...

Sir: Mr Mount is entitled to his fantasies about lain Macleod (7 November). But he is not entitled to distort the manner of argument of those with whom he disagrees. He quoted...

Sir: In 'Portrait of the week' (31 October) you indicated that 'various polls predicted a win for Mrs Shirley Williams at the Crosby by-election . . . ' We don't possess any...

Sir: Cannot you persuade Taki to give us what must be one of history's best untold stories, the secret of his descent from Alexander the Great? Did poor little Alexander IV,...

Sir: Murray Sayle's statement, 'Wingate later went on to drive the Italians out of Abyssinia at the head of the Sudan Defence Force ' (24 October) does less than justice to the...

Sir: I have only just noticed, in your 3 October issue, a considerable error (based no doubt on sloppy newspaper reports) in the 'Portrait of the Week'. The European Court of...

Sir: In publishing my letter, 'The Sodpal factor', in your splendid 8000th issue, space was properly preempted to celebrate less ephemeral matters than the Social...

Sir: You'll remember those two pages of political ads (14 November) over the slogan 'Keep it Local'. Mustn't grumble, I suppose. Welcome revenue for the Spectator. But think....

The cleverest man in Europe John Stewart Collis Bismarck Edward Crankshaw (Macmillan pp. 451, £9.95) There are many esteemed writers who I remain esteemed, and that is all....

Eric Christiansen The Sack of Panama Peter Earle (Norman & Hobhouse pp. 304, £9.95) M ost people think of the London School of Economics as a pretty austere sort of place. No...

Tom Bethel! No Particular Place To Go Hugo Williams (Cape pp. 200, £6.50) E nglishmen on their first visit to the United States as a rule are full of advice for Americans,...

Alexander Chancellor The Best of JJ John Junor (Sidgwick and Jackson pp. 175, £6.95) 'T have said it before, and I will say it again,' writes Sir John Junor in a phrase which...

Life Unfulfilled Nigel Dempster (Quartet pp. 192, £.7.95) rr he Royal Marriages Act of 1772 might have served some useful purpose when it was passed. In effect, it prevented any...

Philip Warner Pads in the Third Reich David PryceJones, Michael Rand; Picture Editor (Collins pp. 294, £12.50) The Linz File: Hitler's Plunder of Europe's Art Charles de Jaeger...

Terrorism Isabel Co legate The Death of Men Allan Massie (Bodley Head pp. 256, £6.50) Who Was Oswald Fish? A. N. Wilson (Secker & Warburg pp. 314, £6.95) A Ilan Massie's third...

Lutyensmania takes hold Gavin Stamp rr he Lutyens exhibition at the Hayward "Gallery (until 31 January) is the biggest and most elaborate exhibition ever held about the work...

Richly woven John McEwen T t is Dr Roy Strong's conviction that in times of economic depression, like the present, people need luxurious exhibitions to cheer them up, hence...

Monroe doctrine Peter Ackroyd Marilyn: The Untold Story ('A', selected cinemas) Er or the Rank Organisation to make a film about Marilyn Monroe is rather like the National...

Self-defeating Rodney Milnes La forza del destino (WNO, Cardiff) T thought Joachim Herz's new production 1 of Forza was really rather good until I started reading the...

Singular Mark Amory Richard II (Aldwych) Brothers Karamazov (Fortune) Borderline (Royal Court) W hen an audience emerges agreeing amongst itself that a play is wonderful,...

Death warrant Richard In grams T am sorry to see that 'Sir' Robin Day's 1 . Question Time programme has been shifted back to the unseemly hour of 10.50, thereby putting it...

Joker Taki C oming back to London, dining at Aspinall's and drinking at Annabel's, was a welcome change after my selfen forced sobriety in Manchester. Karate, in its infinite...

Tension Jeffrey Bernard T was given a very clear indication this 1 morning of the meaning of that old phrase 'from the sublime to the r idiculous. There I was lying in an...