'Our billion' There is a lingering myth that money doesn't matter much in international affairs - or at least that it ought not to. Diplomats, statesmen and those who brood and...

Political commentary The virtues of failure Ferdinand Mount Let us, if only briefly and for the sake of argument, think the unthinkable: that the failure of the American...

Notebook As the NUJ has become more active within the mainstream trade union movement, so it has been increasingly embarrassed by complaints from those social groups who felt...

Another voice Do I dare to eat a Peach? Auberon Waugh When Blair Peach died I restrained my tears. It is sad, of course, when any young person comes-to a violent and untimely...

Iran: a second revolution? Roger Cooper - - Teheran The abortive mission to free the hostages is about the only good thing that has happened to Iran lately. Buffeted on all...

Mission impossible Nicholas von Hoffman W'ashington Some of the first radio reports about the airborne Iranian excursion said that the escapade had to be cancelled because...

Is this really 1914? Edward Mortimer Jeddah I have been asked to consider from my Outpost in Saudi Arabia whether, as Dr Kissinger and Mr Benn have suggested, the situation...

The seeds of Poppie Roy Macnab Is South Africa really undergoing a change of heart? During the past six months some quite astonishing statements, described in The Times as 'a...

Tito and the third world Richard West Bangkok The continuing decline towards death of President Tito has been front-page news in the papers of Bangkok and all South-East...

A Conservative year Jo Grimond Mrs Thatcher's Government has been lucky. The trade union leaders have reacted as one would have expected mediaeval barons to behave if their...

Enraged Russian Sir: Auberon Waugh's evil diatribe of 8 March against the Russian people has just reached me after a circuitous journey via the USA. There some angry Russian...

Gay by nature? Sir: Reviewing Gay Life (26 April) Richard Ingrams asserts that 'pooves and lezzies. . . are only trying rather desperately to keep their spirits up.' This is a...

Sihanouk's philosophy Sir: In my article last week in praise of Prince Sihanouk of Cambodia it appears that I wrote that his government 'reflected ideas of progress,...

Anticipating Carter Sir: I am unable to follow Henry Fairlic's reasoning in his latest article (26 April). He praises America's readiness to take military action in the Middle...

Letters -mmommommomm HM Brothel-keeper Sir: You so rightly depliore the heavy punishment given to Mrs Cynthia Payne for her bawdy house activities (26 April). I wonder what my...

Sweden's enemy within Sir: The Swedish people are certain to be Very grateful to Andrew Brown for his generous help in solving our social probenms, especially that of...

Sir: It is all very well, in the Spectator's extraordinary terms of reference, for Simon Courtauld to hark back to the good old days of 1867 when the British sent their...

Spring books 11 London, half Londoner Roy Kerridge Out of the Way: Later Essays Colin Macinnes (Martin Brian & O'Keeffe £9.50) City of Spades Colin Macinnes (Allison and...

Ding-dong David Leitch Unreliable Memoirs Clive James (Cape Clive James was born in Australia in 1939. Not the most auspicious conjunction, I grant, but we all have our...

Charmers Taki Charmed Lives: The Fabulous World Of the Korda Brothers Michael Korda (Allen Lane £7.95) My friend Count Giovanni Volpi, whose father was Mussolini's best and...

Team spirits Benny Green Association Football and English Soci- ety 1863-1915 Tony Mason (Harvester £15.95) That the English, who invented and pioneered the world's most...

Our Pope Eric Christiansen Consul of God: The Life and Times of Gregory the Great Jeffrey Richards (Roul- ledge £9.75) It is a rare pleasure to find a new biog9'Ph' that is...

Wagner alone Hans Keller The Diary of Richard Wagner: The Brown Book 1865-1882 Ed. Joachim .Bergfeld, Trans. George Bird (Gollancz £9.95) In his youthful. guilt-laden essay...

Role 'n' roll Paul Ableman How Far Can You Go? David Lodge i (Sec- ker £5.95) On page 73 of this book, David Lodge suddenly pokes his head up out of the narrative and starts...

The Last Peacock Allan Massie (Bodley Head £5.95) The Sidmouth Letters Jane GardaM (Hamish Hamilton £6.50) Another Beginning Sian James (collins £5.95) I hated Alan...

Re-evaluations Fellowship with the dead Patrick Cosgrave The Last Enemy Richard Hillary (Macmillan 24.95) I first read The Last Enemy, an autobiographical work by a young...

Arts Exhilarating grandiosity Rodney Milnes Faust and Les Contes d'Hoffmann (Paris Opera) The only advice I can offer to healthy Anglo-Saxons who have not been to the Paris...

Cinema The innocents Peter Ackroyd T-J The Jerk ('A' Ritz) Grey Gardens ('U' Minema) Steve Martin's hair has turned white with hyper-activity;his limbs move as if he were...

Leverage John McEwen This Year marks the Golden Jubilee of the °t"nding of Unilever, and to celebrate the ?vent the Company has sponsored an exhibition commemorating the first...

Theatre Prisoners Peter Jenkins Sus (Half Moon) Early Days (Cottesloe) Barrie Keeffe's harrowing play about police brutality has been knocking around on the fringe since...

High life Scandal ised Taki My friend Nigel Waymouth is a hardworking and talented artist who specialises in the old-fashioned art of portraiture. He recently had an...

Television Talk Richard Ingrams April always seems to be a bit of a struggle. This year, in addition to a bad attack of Spring tliredness as we doctors call it. I have been...

Postscript WWT Patrick Marnham New york News of the aborted cavalry charge tO rescue the Iranian hostages was timed tO reach America at the hour of the breakfast cereal. For...

Low life Props Jeffrey Bernard The General Household Survey, published last Tuesday, finds that a quarter of all men aged over 18 are heavy drinkers. This is disturbing news...