POLITICS Don't be a lot of Newts - that's the lesson from America for the Tories (and Mr Redwood) BRUCE ANDERSON Two general conclusions about Britain can be drawn from the...

FALLS ROAD MEETS MANAGUA Henry Patterson on Irish revolutionary tourists who misunderstand both Ireland and a country such as Nicaragua THE BELFAST accent was clearly...

L E T T E R S Just a little bomb Sir: How many more apologists for the German nation proudly following the Nazis? Mr Lamb's letter (2 November) - 'for the want of a little...

Anti-Lottery winner? Sir: I bet Alasdair Palmer thought he'd won the Lottery in a way, being given my book Living on the Lottery to review (Books, 2 November). It gave him a...

The original Boylett Sir: There is no doubt whatever that 'Mr Boylett' was the original of 'E.L. Wisty' (Books, 2 November). When Peter Cook's enormous talent exploded over...

Spare us this hack Sir: A.A. Gill ('Provincial, po-faced, Pooterish', 2 November) obviously considers himself to be a cut above businessmen, solicitors and other dull members...

Kind words Sir: I have agreeable recollections of dining in New York with Alexander Schdnburg (mother of the two children of your Greek gossip columnist, Taki) whose noble...

A gloomy view Sir: In his review of The Queen (Books, 19 October), David Sexton reprimands me for not offering any 'revelations' (I think he means sex), and takes me to task...

Loafing about in Venice I Sir: How perfectly extraordinary that Jeffrey Bernard (Low life, 2 November) of all people could find in Venice nowhere 'to simply hang about, hang...

A people apart Sir: Mr Paul Johnson pays a moving and well-deserved tribute to the work of the Christian Brothers (And another thing, 12 October). I regret all the more his...

Christie's cavortings Sir: Does Christie's actually employ staff who advocate cycling and roller-blading in the royal parks? (Diary, 26 October). I I am sure your diarist has...

New Victorianism Sir: We frequently hear of the 'new puritanism'; for example, Gavin Stamp wrote of 'the new puritanism that would ban alcohol' ('The car: for and against', 19'...

Quod est demonstrandum Lucy Hughes-Hallett BORN TO REBEL: BIRTH ORDER, FAMILY DYNAMICS AND CREATIVE LIVES by Frank J. Sulloway Little Brown, £20, pp. 640 'How extremely...

Campus and courtroom Harriet Waugh THE LAWS OF OUR FATHERS I by Scott Turow Vikmg, £16, pp. 534 Scott Turow's new legal thriller (he made his name with Presumed Innocent),...

I plonk, therefore I am Andro Linklater AN INTELLIGENT PERSON'S I GUIDE TO PHILOSOPHY by Roger Scruton Duckworth, £12 95, pp. 164 Scruton is a ginger-haired plonker who makes...

Stop the Week, I want to get off Keith Waterhouse SKIP ALL THAT: MEMOIRS by Robert Robinson Century, £15.99, pp. 230 If the word 'urbane' did not already exist, it would have...

Hiding from the glare of morality Richard Shone FRANCIS BACON by Michael Peppiatt Weidenfeld, £20, pp. 366 IErancis Bacon was one of the most arresting personalities in...

Strictly for the boys John Hare THE BUCHAN PAPERS by J. D. F. Jones Harvill, £9.99, pp. 250 I thought I'd try my hand with this firstperson and unpublishable tale - anything...

Theatre The Entertainer (Hampstead) Death of a Salesman (National) Seedy story Sheridan Morley To Hampstead from Jill Fraser's courageous, constantly threatened (currently...

Dance Choregraphes du XXe Sikcle (Paris Opera) Intoxicating parade Giannandrea Poesio Despite the current craze for rediscovering and reconstructing ballets from a not so...

Opera Don Giovanni (Covent Garden) A dark Don Michael Tanner This revival of Don Giovanni at the Royal Opera House in Johannes Schaafs production was to have been conducted...

Cinema Michael Collins (15, selected cinemas) Rationale for terrorism Mark Steyn IAl~ichael Collins is the thinking man's Die Hard - Dail Hard maybe, given the protagonists'...

Arts diary Lottery obsession John Parry J had a meeting with Mrs Bottomley this week and she talked in subdued fashion about her experience with the Treasury at her annual...

Television Time travel Simon Hoggart This past week has been a chance to ponder television of the past, present and future. The past has been represented by Robert Hughes's...

Radio Voices of America Michael Vestey W ho listens to the radio in America? I ask friends. Nobody, they reply - except in cars. While this might be true of most men, many...

The turf Chancellor's duty Robin Oakley Wv~ill Hush Puppy Man prove a winner for racing in the 3.30 at Westminster on 26 November? The Chancellor of the Exchequer, who will...

High life Bad behaviour Taki New York I cannot make up my mind what is more I grotesque. Michael Jackson becoming a father, or the Draft Dodger winning a second term. 'I...

Low life Honour and glory Jeffrey Bernard I had hoped very much that Beryl Bainbridge might win the faintly ridiculous Booker Prize. She had given me a copy of Every Man for...

SPECTATOR WINE CL UB Preparing for Christmas Auberon Waugh The Avery's Christmas offer is traditionally the one at which the panel works hardest, with four or five tastings...

SPECTATOR SPORT Passionate about cricket Simon Barnes THE latest reports on Geoffrey Boycott will come as no surprise to the graphologist who undertook a blind tasting of his...