`Oh, it's you, Gordon. For a moment you gave me quite a start.' S hares slumped and the pound strength- ened as Mr Gordon Brown, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, made unclear...

Telephone: 0171-405 1706; Fax 0171-242 0603 FALLING IN LOVE AGAIN 1_, ike Gannex raincoats, Acas and Incomes policies, the Commonwealth was one of those institutions ridiculed...

Mr Blair's government is in danger of suffering a horrible fate BRUCE ANDERSON G ordon Brown and Robin Cook are both clever men. Mr Cook may not look like a foreign secretary...

T here's nothing quite so satisfying as a good row among Christians. Shedding all Pretence of turning the other cheek and stripping off all claims to charity, the God- f earing...

Paging Mr Widmerpool (or Ms — or indeed Lady) FRANK JOHNSON W hatever the other critiques which Channel 4's version of A Dance to the Music of Time arouses, everyone seems to...

Alice Thomson examines the modern myth that only appearances count in politics CONSERVATIVES increasingly see poli- tics as a bad B-movie, with their party lead- er as the...

Profile: Charles Whelan, spinner, drinker, ex-communist, but neither fool nor fall guy AND NOW for a case story of spin doctor- ing. Charles Whelan, spin doctor to the...

. . . not Mr Brown. That's the reality which Mr Brown is reluctant to THE WHISPERED word around White- hall is that the Prime Minister wants to make the long-awaited statement...

Alistair Horne offers a Briton's view of India after Indian views of Britain during the Queen's visit MY FATHER spent 22 years of his life in India, ultimately as a nabob of...

Alice Miles on why New Labour's Britain has no place for a Harold Robbins He saw as he approached the bed the quick- ening of her breath as her legs parted slight- ly. The...

Michael Heath

Lord Carrington talks to Petronella Wyatt about Robin Cook, the India visit and politicians who 'come out' SOME of us had suspected from the start that Robin Cook might not be...

A rising political star in Moscow impresses John Weightman on television and in print ALTHOUGH my professional concern has always been with French culture, I have long had a...

Edward Heathcoat Amory on how Tory Central Office is trying to stop Beckenham's candidate being too famous HOWEVER stellar their careers, the 126 Conservative MPs who lost in...

THE other day I got one of those silly invitations allowing me to bring a 'sig- nificant other'. 'That lets me out, then,' my husband remarked in his bid-for- humour voice....

Anton La Guardia on an incident arousing traditional claims of Jewish women corrupting Muslim men Jerusalem IN a country where sex rarely creates a scandal, the story of the...

How to save yourself 51 trips to the library . . or over £41 on The Spectator If you're forced to share The Spectator with fellow students, then you'll know how difficult it...

Mark Honigsbaum questions the authenticity of a newly 'discovered' account of a 13th-century journey to the East DAVID Selboume is a respected scholar and Jewish thinker. For...

Season of mists, mellow fruitfulness and reassuring thoughts about destiny PAUL JOHNSON A week ago, our garden was like the Ama- zonian forest, luxuriating in dark, dense...

Sir: George Galloway (Letters, 4 October) trumpets the alleged moral superiority of those who espouse 'pro-Palestinian posi- tions'. 'Israel', he writes, condemning the entire...

Sir: Like your contributor, Anna Reid, (`Among the Pied Piper's children', 18 October), I have also very recently visited the 'Saxon' churches and towns of Transyl- vania. Anna...

Sir: Robert Rhodes James's voice (Not as nice as all that', 18 October) was a refresh- ing antidote to the ludicrous outpourings of grief and expressions of hagiographic ado-...

Sir: It was with some pride and consider- able amusement that we read Stephan S hakespeare's article (`Old Britain, new history', 11 October). Mr Shakespeare a . Ppears to argue...

Sir: It is depressing that Irish history is so consistently painted in black and white. In Dublin, I listen sadly to the nationalist (increasingly nationalist, I would say) ver-...

the appalling pogrom perpetrated against the Jewish people in Limerick in 1904 extended to include the Protestant people throughout what is now the Republic, this depraved...

Sir: No wonder the Queen's visit to India has turned out to be an unmitigated disaster. Such an outcome is highly likely when domestic constituencies are permitted to have more...

Sir: In his Diary of 27 July 1996, Keith Waterhouse reported that he had 'received a begging letter from a student hoping to do an MA degree course in "playwriting studies" '....

Sir: Late as it may be, I cannot let Mr Hop- per's letter (23 August) be the last word on Californian wine. Without a doubt, this wine is the most overpriced, overrated drink...

Sir: Many of your loyal readers who live far from the metropolis have a clear picture of the identity of regular contributors to your papers: Petronella Wyatt, Paul Johnson,...

Sir: Your leader on the Internet (11 Octo- ber) was uncharacteristically ill-informed and curmudgeonly. That many people use it to find pornographic images is no more an...

Let's hope some rival tabloid doesn't hide cameras in the Sunday Mirror editor's flat STEPHEN GLOVER L ast week Bridget Rowe, editor of the Sunday Mirror, had a walk-on part...

1998 Diary and Wallet The Spectator 1998 Diary, bound in soft dark navy blue leather, is now available and at the same prices as last year. Laid out with a whole week to view,...

Why Tories should join enthusiastically in abolishing hereditary peers PEREGRINE WORSTHORNE I n all countries elites are unpopular, but in Britain they are particularly...

Shiva Naipaul was one of the most gifted and accomplished writers of our time. After his death in 1985 at the age of 40, The Spectator established an annual prize in his memory....

The Water of Life "Some spirits are timerous, others feel the need for disguise, but whisky is bold and proud". Michael Jackson The World Guide to Whisky Enjoy tasting some of...

PLEASE COMPLETE THIS COUPON TICKING BOXES FOR PRODUCT CHOICE, FILLING IN THE AMOUNT PAYABLE FOR EACH PRODUCT AS WELL AS THE TOTAL FOR ALL PRODUCTS ORDERED. The Spectator will...

Between the phobes and the philes Michael Portillo MAJOR: A POLITICAL LIFE by Anthony Seldon Weidenfeld, £20, pp. 512 I n about 1988, when John Major was Chief Secretary to...

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Nicholas Farrell MUSSOLINI by Jasper Ridley Constable, £25, pp. 430 hough Italy is awash with them, there have been few biographies of Mussolini in English — some half a dozen...

Sitin Simon SAFETY FIRST by Paul Anderson and Nyta Mann Granta, £9.99, pp. 464 T his is not at all the book I expected. Paul Anderson and Nyta Mann are keen to point out that...

Andrew Barrow A DEAN'S DIARY: WINCHESTER, 1987-1996 by Trevor Beeson SCAT Press, £19.95, pp. 234 T his is rather a curate's egg of a book, extremely good in parts but terribly...

Kenneth Baker MAX BEERBOHM'S CARICATURES edited by John Hall Yale, £.30, pp. 224 M ax Beerbohm has a significant position in the development of English caricature because...

Jane O'Grady TRUTH: A HISTORY by Felipe FernandezArmesto Bantam, £12.99, pp. 257 T here is no such thing as truth,' says the contemporary relativist, and thus con- tradicts...

Anthony Blond WHO'S REALLY! WHO by Richard Compton Miller Harden's Books, £6.99, pp. 354 Languid Lothario. This caddish merchant banker is the archetypal equal opportunities...

Norman Lebrecht A GENIUS IN THE FAMILY: AN INTIMATE MEMOIR OF JACQUELINE DU PRE by Hilary du Pre and Piers du Pre Chatto, £16.99, pp. 426 T here have been good music biogra-...

A choice of over 100,000 books — including those reviewed in this issue Telephone: 0541 557288 Facsimile: 0541 557225 E-mail: telegraph @bms.ftech.co.uk We accept payment by...

Carole Angier THE READER by Bernhard Schlink Phoenix House, £12.99, pp. 216 A t first this seems a simple, intriguing little tale. But be warned. It does to you what history...

P. J. Kavanagh FIFTY YEARS OF EUROPE: AN ALBUM by Jan Morris Viking, £20, pp. 376 T his agreeably old-fashioned, almost H. V. Mortonesque collection of pen pictures begins with...

Richard Lamb HOW WE SQUANDERED THE REICH by Reinhard Spitzy, translated by Geoffrey Waddington Michael Russell, £19.95, pp. 392 M any readers will be shocked and resentful...

Nigel Ryan PERSONA GRANADA by Denis Forman Andre Deutsch, £17.99, pp. 333 W hen Sidney Bernstein was nearing 90 the staff at Granada's London head- quarters would greet him,...

Main de Botton THE KEY OF THE TOWER by Gilbert Adair Secker, £12.99, pp. 176 I t is tempting to argue that Gilbert Adair is a very underrated novelist but it is proba- bly...

Ian Ousby ALBERT CAMUS: A LIFE by Olivier Todd, translated by Benjamin Ivry Chatto, £20, pp. 435 N othing, Albert Camus once said, was more absurd than to die in a car crash....

Max Egremont THE RED HAT I t's the sort of thing every solitary tourist longs to happen, and it never does,' John Bayley's narrator says of making love with an unknown person...

Have poets become too boring? Poetry is in danger of becoming institutionalised, an inoffensive fringe activity, says Harry Eyres T he scene is the Groucho Club, the time early...

Cinderella's instrument Robin Holloway C inderella of the orchestra, butt of a growing subculture of silly jokes, the viola, gentlest and most intimate of instruments, is at...

Seamless flow Giannandrea Poesio Z est, stamina and enthusiasm are sel- dom found in the contemporary ballet world, which seems to be dominated by so- called 'employees of the...

Snake in the Grass (Old Vic) My Boy Jack (Hampstead Theatre) It isn't fair Sheridan Morley T he very first image in Roy MacGre- gor's Snake in the Grass at the Old Vic shows...

Wilde (15, selected cinemas) Inning Oscar Mark Steyn R esponding to a US Customs official with an insouciance few of us would risk, Oscar Wilde had nothing to declare but his...

Plato was right Michael Tanner S cottish Opera's revival of Peter Grimes, with an almost entirely new cast, made for a powerful evening at the Festival Theatre in Edinburgh....

Voices of the people Michael Vestey A book about the history of the tape- recorder is, on the face of it, not an entic- ing prospect, even to those of us who've used such...

Vicious circle Simon Hoggart A y'll give you sem information you mey not knew — the two dorgs are nemmed Dukey and Jane.' The British Movietone News announcer's voice was the...

Dream on Al an Judd C Cheered as ever by proximity to opu- lence and privilege, I wondered at dusk through London's Green Park as the lights came on in those expensive and...

Blenheim bash Taki But before I tell you about the blast, a few words about George Livanos. His father was the biggest ship-owner during the golden period of shipping. Mr...

Ten to Follow Robin Oakley Comforting, then, to turn home thoughts from abroad (Maputo racetrack being no longer operative) to this year's Ten to Fol- low for the jumps. And...

Hidden treasure Leanda de Lisle cm en like mushrooms,' one of our NSPCC committee members announced during a policy discussion about salads. I can't say whether she's right or...

Into the void Andrew Robson IT is not often that the trump suit is men- tioned for the first time at the seven level. And it is even rarer that the player bidding the suit...

published at £7.95 — is its breadth. It does not limit itself to recent- ly opened, fashionable restaurants serving modem, state-of-the-art cuisine, but also deals with tried...

i U RA $1,GIE sISL' SCOTCH LLIIISCI ISLE OF j U RA SINGLE MALT SCOTCH LLXISKI COMPETITION Tennysonian mode Jaspistos IN COMPETITION NO. 2005, reading `bar' for 'barge' in...

Peter the great Raymond Keene A NEW Russian star has appeared, namely Peter Swidler, reigning Russian champion, co-victor at the powerful Tilburg tourna- ment and also...

In the spirit and metre of Chaucer, but not in his language, you are invited to supply a portrait (maximum 16 lines) of a modern 'pilgrim', whether, literally, to Lourdes, or to...

I N NEIR T U T S I E del P A 131113 E R AN CM UCKS I ANDDRAK Is Is The components of Real Madrid, a famous SOCCER TEAM (33/9) based at the BERNABEU (34) stadium, were...

A first prize of £30 and a bottle of Graham's Late Bottled Vintage 1991 Port for the first correct solution opened on 10 November, with two runners-up prizes of £20 (or, for UK...

Just not cricket Simon Barnes THE BEST cricket story of the past season was unquestionably the row between Marl- borough and Radley, two public schools that fell out over the...

Q : We were recently invited by a very old friend to spend a few days with him and his wife. We were made most welcome except for the fact that we had to sleep on a very narrow,...