E dward Gibbon would recognise it: the air of decadence, the smell of death which hangs over the New Labour empire this week. The impotence of Emperor Blair is a pitiful sight....

Secretary of State for Work and Pensions after it was revealed that he had taken a directorship in a DNA-testing company called DNA Bioscience, after resigning from his previous...

to get you, and someone’s definitely out to get us. Last week the Palestine hotel, home to many journalists here, was almost demolished by a particularly telegenic truck bomb....

A t least this time we were spared the self-pitying squealing about only doing what he had for the ‘little lad’. But even though David Blunkett walked the plank he still...

the unsurpassed beauty of its painting and architecture from 1350–1550, I wonder about the odd mixture of features which characterises a high civilisation. This includes: 1. A...

By mid-century, the world’s population will be 50 per cent higher than it is now, says Richard Ehrman , but the boom will come from developing countries, not Europe, and...

Paul Mervis says we cannot stop the Iranians acquiring the Bomb, but they would be mad to use it I t is the habit of the Iranians to use hyperbole in everyday speech, a courtly...

John Dodd on the ignorance, humbug and dodgy statistics behind the drive to ban smoking in pubs I f this increasingly intolerant government resembles anything from history, it...

Jonathan Mirsky says that the state visit to Britain of China’s President is no cause for celebration W hen China’s President Hu Jintao sits next to the Queen at her state...

Alasdair Palmer says the religious hatred law is unnecessary because Muslims and others are already protected T he Lords did their best to amend the Religious Hatred Bill last...

The word panjandrum has been popping up recently. I have noticed it from the pens of Andreas Whittam Smith, Andrew Graham-Dixon, Brian Sewell, Simon Hoggart and funny old Roy...

Philip Oppenheim on guilt-stricken consumers who boost the profits of supermarkets and middlemen F airtrade is the new cricket. It’s official. Fairtrade has been declared a...

Theodore Dalrymple reports on the disturbances in Clichy-sous-Bois, following the death of two young thieves Les Vans, Ardèche F or a patriot like me, it is a great...

I have long thought that Alan Greenspan would have made a passable Dalai Lama. Those gnomic utterances, that air of inner calm, that instant access to a deep well of...

M y old tutor, A.J.P. Taylor, used to say, ‘The only lesson of history is that there are no lessons of history.’ Not true. History does not exactly repeat itself, but there...

From Dr Jeremy Stocker Sir: Andrew Gilligan (‘A terrifying plan for nuclear strikes’, 29 October) is being unduly alarmist about the future of Britain’s small nuclear...

From David Woodhead Sir: Your leading article (29 October) is scornful of Labour’s vocabulary of school reform, in particular its use of the term ‘independent state...

From Dr D.W. Wheeler Sir: Alasdair Palmer is right (‘Killing old people’, 29 October); sometimes we treat the elderly very badly and sometimes, but not always, geriatric...

From Sir Peregrine Worsthorne Sir: In my memoir, Tricks of Memory , published as far back as 1992, after expressing regrets for that unfortunate Sunday Telegraph profile on...

From Nick Prest Sir: Writing as someone who has been in a senior position in the UK defence industry, I do not recognise the picture painted by Richard North (‘Europe is...

From Nicholas Farrell Sir: Ian Thomson states (Books, 22 October) that ‘these days’ it is ‘fashionable’ to portray Benito Mussolini as a ‘decent fellow’, and cites...

From Dr Bill Macmillan Sir: It is not the case, as Simon Jenkins asserts (‘Independence for Oxford’, 29 October), that the vice-chancellor, John Hood, believes in principle...

From Harry Bott Sir: Bruce Anderson, in the closing paragraph of his article promoting David Cameron (Politics, 29 October), suggests that David Davis is ‘chippy, nasty,...

I reported here in the summer on the bid by the upmarket retailer Cameron and Osborne to take over the ailing Conservative party in competition with Davis’s, which prides...

The President of the United States is not a communist, says John Laughland , but his belief in a global democratic revolution is inspired by Marxist thinking E ver since the...

Benet Simon can resist the latest wonder from Apple — but only just T he spirit of Christmas this year belongs to Apple. The new iPod has just hit UK shops and every teenager...

Michael McMahon T he Benedictines are named after St Benedict, the Bridgettines are named after St Bridget, and the Chocolatines are named — by me, anyway — after an...

Sophia Hesselgren T he nose apologises: he has a cold. ‘And for me, losing my smell is like ... ’ his arms hover in front of him — ‘... being blind. Blind!’ We are...

Rory Knight Bruce E veryone should have a talisman personal, meaningful or useful, a symbol by which we measure our worth to ourselves. In Graham Greene’s The Comedians the...

John Laughland A s someone who hates sport, even I have to admit that not all sports are the same. There are some which are elegant, like cricket, and some which are highly...

Matthew Bell A mature friend claims that the greatest favour anyone can do for his or her friends and family is to die without publishing a single book — no novel, no...

Michael Heath A couple of years ago I was in New York with my arm candy, plus friends and offspring, checking out the Chelsea area and SoHo with its hip residents, rats and...

Lucy Vickery ‘D uring 30 years as a practising herbalist I’ve cured myself of three terminal illnesses and I’ve done more colon cleanses than I can count,’ writes...

Geoffrey Wheatcroft POSTWAR by Tony Judt Heinemann, £25, pp. 878, ISBN 0434007498 ✆ £20 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870 429 6655 I n 1945, Europe lay prostrate after the greatest...

Oliver Gilmour T HE V IRTUOSO C ONDUCTORS : T HE C ENTRAL E UROPEAN T RADITION FROM W AGNER TO KARAJAN by Raymond Holden Yale, £22.50, pp. 370, ISBN 0300093268 ✆ £18 (plus...

Jane Gardam C ATCH M E W HEN I F ALL by Nicci French Penguin/Michael Joseph, £12.99, pp. 304, ISBN 0718145216 ✆ £10.39 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870 429 6655 T hrillers now come...

Roger Lewis M ICHAEL C AINE : A C LASS A CT by Christopher Bray Faber, £20, pp. 358, ISBN 057121682X ✆ £16 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870 429 6655 I sn’t it peculiar when people...

David Crane I t is difficult to put a finger on the reason, but there has always seemed something particularly dismal about the Gunpowder Plot. There is obviously a lot to be...

William Feaver STRANGELAND by Tracey Emin Sceptre, £14.99, pp. 288, ISBN 0340769440 ✆ £11.99 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870 429 6655 R eaders may sympathise with Tracey Emin. Her...

Simon Jenkins C ITY OF C ITIES by Stephen Inwood Macmillan, £25, pp. 537, ISBN 0333782879 ✆ £20 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870 429 6655 H istories of Victorian London now come two...

Graham Stewart G REAT L IVES : A C ENTURY OF O BITUARIES edited by Ian Brunskill HarperCollins, £20, pp. 465, ISBN 0007201680 ✆ £16 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870 429 6655 L et us...

Byron Rogers C HARLES BL C AMILLA by Gyles Brandreth Century, £20, pp. 368, ISBN 1844138453 ✆ £16 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870 429 6655 D elicate confections, these biographies...

John de Falbe T HE B ROOKLYN F OLLIES by Paul Auster Faber, £16.99, pp. 304, ISBN 0571224970 V £13.59 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870 429 6655 T here is a delightful moment in this...

James Buchan O SAMA : T HE M AKING OF A TERRORIST by Jonathan Randal I. B. Tauris, £15, pp. 346, ISBN 0375708235 V £12 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870 429 6655 O sama: The Making of a...

Lucy Beresford A NTHOLOGY OF A PPARITIONS by Simon Liberati Pushkin Press, £12, pp. 139, ISBN 1901285588 ✆ £9.60 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870 429 6655 T ake Harold Pinter:...

Why did we go there after dark To carve our initials in the bark, Why was daylight not for us But bittersweet and dangerous? Why did the innocence of trees Bring my conscience...

Susan Hill T HE H IGHEST T IDE by Jim Lynch Bloomsbury, £10.99, pp. 256, ISBN 0747578443 V £8.79 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870 429 6655 T here are some classic novels about a boy...

David Pryce-Jones T HINKING A LOUD : T HE B EST P ROSPECT , 1995-2005 edited by David Goodhart Atlantic, £19.99, pp. 320, ISBN 1843544814 ✆ £15.99 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870...

Robert Edric N O C OUNTRY FOR O LD M EN by Cormac McCarthy Picador, £16.99, pp. 309, ISBN 0330440101 ✆ £13.59 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870 429 6655 S even years after the...

Digby Anderson C. S. L EWIS by Michael White Abacus, £10.99, pp. 268, ISBN 0349116253 ✆ £8.79 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870 429 6655 T HE N ARNIAN by Alan Jacobs SPCK, £12.99,...

Anthony Daniels D ICTATORS ’ H OMES by Peter York Atlantic Books, £14.99, pp. 119, ISBN 184354430X ✆ £11.99 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870 429 6655 E veryone loves a good...

Rupert Christiansen T HE M EANING OF R ECOGNITION : N EW E SSAYS , 2001-2005 by Clive James Picador, £14.99, pp. 367, ISBN 033044025X ✆ £11.99 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870 429...

Tiffany Jenkins believes that ‘placemaking’ advocates are in danger of social engineering ‘P lacemaking’ is the big new idea that will transform communities....

Andrew Lambirth Rubens: A Master in the Making National Gallery, until 15 January 2006 Sponsored by Shell T he National Gallery really is a remarkable place. In addition to...

Michael Tanner Osud; Le Villi Vienna State Opera Don Carlos Welsh National Opera, Oxford I don’t usually associate the Vienna State Opera with adventurous programming, but...

Mark Steyn Elizabethtown 12A, selected cinemas ‘T he motto of the British Air Force Special Services,’ announces Orlando Bloom, ‘is, “Those who risk, win”.’ Close...

Giannandrea Poesio Birmingham Royal Ballet Sadler’s Wells Theatre T he preservation of national choreographic heritages has long been a concern of those who fear...

Charles Spencer I t comes as something of a shock to realise that I have known Liz Anderson, this magazine’s admirable arts editor, for almost 20 years. We first met in 1987,...

Stuart Nicholson A lmost without anybody noticing, the London Jazz Festival, which opens on 11 November and continues full pelt until 20 November, has grown in stature and...

Lloyd Evans And Then There Were None Gielgud Flanders Mare Sound Theatre The Brothers Bullion Rooms T en strangers having a black-tie dinner in an airport lounge. That’s the...

Peter Phillips W hen I am asked what I do, I say I am a musician. The response is invariably, ‘Which instrument do you play?’ When I say I conduct, I am aware that I have...

Michael Vestey T wo of the journalistic Johnsons graced the airwaves last month — Frank, the former editor of this magazine, and Boris, the present incumbent: Frank on Radio...

James Delingpole F or some time now I have been aware that there was something badly wrong with my life without ever being quite able to put my finger on exactly what. Now,...

Taki U nlike Peregrine Worsthorne, I thought the Duff Cooper diaries were interesting and terrific, and also made me envious as hell. Oh, to have lived back then. People sure...

Jeremy Clarke T he active volcano Stromboli, one of the Aeolian islands, rises out of the sea off the north-east coast of Sicily. It is forbidden to make the three-hour trek to...

FRANK KEATING H aving cruelly blackwashed the combined British Isles Lions tourists just four months ago, New Zealand’s athletic young rugby sadists are back in the old...

on site following private views in art galleries. May I suggest the very same practice might well reverse the decline in numbers of young people attending classical concerts?...

moved to a very beautiful part of the country and have been inviting people down from London to stay for the weekend. Our problem is that many of our friends have young children...