Magazine

Jung Chang and her husband Jon Halliday are leading authorities on Mao, while Simon Sebag Montefiore has published two major works on Stalin. With Standpoint editor Daniel Johnson, they discuss the two communist dictators who were responsible for up to 100 million deaths

Standpoint’s source in the UK Ministry of Defence reveals a culture that is actively ‘anti-military’

‘To point a finger at “bankers” (whatever the word means) is as dangerous as stigmatising racial or religious minorities’

‘Europeans see Israel as a reminder of the demons of their own past, but it has also been presented as the cause of terrorism’

‘Some artists have finally had the courage to admit that they are scared. But we need them to do better than that. We need people with a voice to show that they aren’t scared’

‘To defend and celebrate Western civilisation is not merely desirable; it is imperative’

Daisy Waugh eavesdrops on the chattering classes

British newspaper writing is famously more vigorous and readable than its American equivalent. But this comes at a price: there’s a good chance that anything you read in a British newspaper isn’t true.

The new transatlantic buzzword is actually a very old one — ancient Greek, in fact. Thumos is defined by Robert Kagan as “a spiritedness and ferocity in defence of clan, tribe, city, or state”.

One of the most important contributions which Britain made to the prosperity of the world in the 19th century was the repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846.