Civilisation
The Ministers of Sound
From the Beatles and Wilson to Bono and Blair, the rise of rock stars to power and influence has tempted leaders all over the world to cultivate them – even at the risk of ridicule
Jon Snow and the Gilded Cage
Channel 4 News’s anchorman has to disguise his political bias as neutrality, a pretence that is both insidious and unmanly
Mozart and the Mob
Despite the name, television drama The Sopranos has nothing to do with opera – or does it?
Ordeal by Greek Myth
History Lesson: A Race Odyssey by Mary Lefkowitz
All the Nice Girls Love a Poet
The latest literary biopic, The Edge of Love, presents Dylan Thomas as a dreary boorish philanderer, not a great writer
All Satirical Passion Spent
Thatcherism provoked great TV but the makers of Headcases are too liberal, too condescending and not nearly angry enough
Not a Clash of Civilisations
Worlds at War: The 2,500-Year Struggle between East and West by Anthony Pagden
The Art of Being English
Cold Cream by Ferdinand Mount
Empire of the Bun
The Hamburger: A History by Josh Ozersky
The Wrong Idea of a University
Higher education has been hijacked by the quangocracy: teaching is neglected, research is distorted by bogus assessment methods, and trust in professional judgement is gone
Why Remoaners should back Boris
“Boris, ironically, now offers Remoaners the best chance of a soft Brexit, or at least a sensible one. And to those who want a second referendum—’the people’s vote’—there may even be a chance of that too.”
On the road
“In the summer of 1980, in the grip of some Kerouac-ish fantasy, I opted to hitch-hike from Laredo to New York”
Discovering the Great War of China
A third of a million Chinese labourers helped the Allies defeat the Kaiser, but their huge unsung contribution ended in betrayal