Stephen Bayley

Is it farewell to the handshake?

The universally recognised gesture of greeting can be traced to the ninth century BCE, says Ella Al-Shamahi. But Covid has put it in jeopardy

Donald Trump and Emmanuel Macron shake hands at the Nato summit in Brussels, May 2017. Credit: Getty Images

  • The Handshake: A Gripping History

    Ella Al-Shamahi

    Profile, pp. 176, £10

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Ross Clark

Why didn’t the Tories nationalise the railways?

Ross Clark
The Conservatives can crow all they like about the benefits of privatisation – and make whatever claims they like about tickets being more expensive, and services worse, were the railways to be brought back under public ownership. But there is little getting away from the fact that Labour’s policy of progressive renationalisation of train services by

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