Ruling the waves

Tim Winton is a prodigy among novelists, publishing his first novel when barely out of his teens and one of the great masterpieces of world fiction when only just 30. Like many such novelists — Thomas Mann and Javier Marias come to mind — his later work has tended to explore exquisite technical points, inviting

Fighting his corner

This author said of her biography of the wealthy Siegfried Sassoon, ‘A study of his life is a study of an age’. So is this one, from another aspect, deep down among the poverty of Jewish immigrants at the end of the 19th century, and it is warming to learn how the more successful of

Last but not least | 30 April 2008

‘Love is but a frailty of the mind when ’tis not to ambition joined.’ So Thomas Seymour, destined to be Catherine Parr’s fourth and last husband, expressed a notion taken as read in Tudor families of sufficient standing to seek social and financial ladders to climb. Catherine understood the ways of the world. When at

Rating the Presidents

Shamelessly plundering the idea from Norm, it’s time for an exciting new development here at Debatable Land HQ: Polling! Yes, indeed… And given that this is a Presidential election year in the United States, what better way to begin than by conducting a Presidential poll? We are familiar with polls in which historians rank US

Alex Massie

When Colour Is Worth 10,000 Words

Marty Peretz links to this Daily Mail account of an exhibition of photographs taken in wartime Paris which is, for obvious reasons, a matter of some debate in France. And yes, the photographs are shocking. Just not in the way in which either Peretz or the Mail seem to think they are. The Mail headline,

Alex Massie

The Starboard Enterprise

Understatement of the Day: Learning a valuable lesson from his predecessors, Friedman is an incrementalist. “I want to talk about what to do this year, not how to colonize the galaxy…There aren’t that many people who are wiling to drop their lives and move to the ocean.” The always-estimable Katherine Mangu-Ward has much more on

Alex Massie

Your Obesity Epidemic Explained

This paragraph tells you most of what you need to know: The Scottish Government wants all primary schools to offer two hours of physical activity for all children each week – but figures from 2005 show that 5% of primary schools were meeting the provision. I suppose the situation may be better in secondary schools

Alex Massie

The Future is Specialised

Matt Yglesias is absolutely right: The newspaper, as an institution, is an odd one — an enormous bundle of disparate kinds of content whose rationale for existing has to do with the economics of printing and distributing cheap paper and ink on a daily basis. In an online world, the economics are different and argue

Listen Live: Has America lost its moral authority?

Few questions have divided opinion as much as this one in recent years, Tonight, Spectator.co.uk broadcasts a debate on this topic featuring an all star set of speakers. Arguing for the motion are Matthew Parris, Will Self and John Gray. Opposing it are Simon Schama, Howard Jacobson and Martin Amis. You can listen to it

Fraser Nelson

Brown plans a by-election bounce

Labour’s losing no time on the Crewe and Nantwich by-election – due three weeks on Thursday (May 22). I suspect they believe this will be a much-needed fillip to Brown. Sure, Gwyneth Dunwoody had a 7,000 majority – but it’s the type of seat Cameron needs if he is to win the kind of majority

Fraser Nelson

Mervyn King reveals truth behind Treasury spin

Remember when Alistair Darling “announced” the £50 billion loan package to banks? That time he summoned banks to a meeting saying he wanted better fixed-rate deals and mortgage holidays “in return” for this scheme? He was talking through his hat. He has this morning been rumbled by Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank of England,

Fraser Nelson

Osborne didn’t strike out

I’m not so sure that George Osborne did gaffe when he hinted yesterday that he’d crack down on the power of public sector unions. Labour is stoking the row. But if this provokes Brown to pose as the strikers’ friend, then good luck to him. I know which side the public will be on. In

James Forsyth

Hoey’s status uncertain

This morning, Boris Johnson announced that Kate Hoey would be his advisor on sport and the Olympics, making Hoey’s attempt to pass off her planned appearance with Boris at a ballet school in her constituency as nothing unusual appear distinctly disingenuous. Hoey’s status in the Labour party is now uncertain. Boulton and Co reports that

James Forsyth

Physician heal thyself

After Nick Clegg yesterday, it was David Cameron’s turn to do The Today Programme pre-local election interview this morning. John Humphrys was in particularly combative form, interrupting at every opportunity. But the whole technique descended into farce when Humprhys asked Cameron if he had failed to meet his promise to end Punch and Judy politics.

Fuelling conflict

Jerusalem, Israel Forget Scotland – the fuel crisis we’ve really got to keep our eyes on is in the Gaza Strip. Israel stopped supplying fuel to the Hamas-controlled region a few days ago, in retaliation to an attack by Palestinian militants. The resultant shortages are causing many Gazan services – including bakeries and farms –

What’s the deal with Syria?

Jerusalem, Israel Syria received top-billing in our meeting with the Israeli prime minster’s spokesman – Mark Regev – in Jerusalem this morning. Sadly, though, he was tight-lipped about that intriguing Israeli strike on a Syrian nuclear facility. How much did the Americans know? “No comment”. Was there a risk of wider conflict? “No comment”. Wha…? “No

War Minus the Shooting is Not Actually War

It is a truth universally acknowledged that the pundit seeking heft to support his argument must eventually turn to George Orwell. This is, for sure, often a wise decision since much the most remarkable aspect of Orwell’s writing is how much of it remains vivid and even valid today. But not all of it since