Ian Birrell 
Africa’s Afghanistan
For centuries, the people of Timbuktu have sought guidance from their Sufi saints. They took pride in the mausoleums of these medieval Muslim holy men, who spread their faith around… Read more
Big charity
The aid business has grown fat. It’s time there was proper scrutiny Such a simple question: should Oxfam spend a couple of hundred pounds a month opening up the swimming… Read more
Hell or high water
As his battered bomber hurtled towards the Pacific in May 1943, Louis Zamperini thought to himself that no one was going to survive the crash. If he had had the… Read more
The making of the coalition
David Cameron was despondent on the evening of 10 May. Although the election result was pretty much as he had predicted privately, he feared that his ‘big, open and comprehensive… Read more
That turbulent decade
On 2 January, 1980, a new decade was ushered in with a strike by steelworkers. It was their first national stoppage for half a century, and after three tense months… Read more
Caught in the crossfire
Maqbool Sheikh dreaded hearing a knock at the door of his home. For he was the most intimate witness to one of the world’s most enduring and forgotten conflicts, the… Read more
The hell I share with David Cameron
My daughter suffered two seizures the other night. One was shortly after midnight, the other a couple of hours later. Having been away on business the previous night, it was… Read more
Latest blogs
- IMF verdict on the UK economy: the good, the bad, and the ugly Isabel Hardman
- The West wants chunks of Apple Steerpike
- Michael Sandel interview: the marketization of everything is undermining democracy JP O'Malley
- Nick Clegg: I’m the grown-up in this Coalition Isabel Hardman
- Same Sex Marriage Bill: how MPs voted The Spectator
- Gay marriage easily passes third reading vote in the Commons James Forsyth
- Labour claims credit for gay marriage bill Isabel Hardman
