The Spectator

Birdsong

From ‘Literature and Soldiers’, The Spectator, 19 June 1915: In this war some of the most moving poetry has been written by young soldiers. The most vivid accounts of fighting have been extracted from soldiers’ letters. These were certainly not written without a close companionship with letters. We wonder how many torn and thumbed copies of

The Spectator at war: Law of the sea

From ‘The American Note’, The Spectator, 19 June 1915: Mr. Wilson recognizes the existence of a painfully simple issue. The issue is between the German submarines and international law. Consent to the continuance of German submarine warfare as now practised means the abolition of international law at sea. Mr. Wilson understands that he must choose

The Spectator at war: Men of letters

From ‘Literature and Soliders’, The Spectator, 19 June 1915: In this war some of the most moving poetry has been written by young soldiers. The most vivid accounts of fighting have been extracted from soldiers’ letters. These were certainly not written with- out a close companionship with letters. We wonder how many torn and thumbed

The Spectator at war: The high cost of living

From ‘News of the Week’, The Spectator, 19 June 1915: In the British section of the western theatre of war our troops have taken the offensive to the west of La Bassée and to the east of Ypres. In the La Bassée district on Tuesday evening they won several trenches, but these trenches were retaken

The Spectator at war: Polysyllabic passion

From ‘Longs and Shorts’, The Spectator, 12 June 1915: Names of things in constant use should never be too long. The cinematograph has inevitably dwindled into the “cinema,” while young America calls these shows the “movies.” But the passion for polysyllables, though considerably abated, has not died out of the Press. (How could it, when

The Spectator at war: Writing home

From ‘Convalescents—Some Portraits’, The Spectator, 12 June 1915: No. 12. hardly spoke any French. He was very fat, middle-aged, and placid, his face perfectly round, and his whole form almost spherical. A farthing and a penny and two matches could be arranged to form an excellent representation of his silhouette. We discovered that he was

The Spectator at war: The Industrial Reserve

From ‘The Industrial Reserve’, The Spectator, 12 June 1915: The Industrial Reserve (227 Strand, W.C.), which was started eight weeks ago, and has already placed over nine hundred men in useful employment, directly or indirectly concerned with war work. These men are for the most part drawn from classes who do not ordinarily come into

Letters | 11 June 2015

The long arm of the FBI Sir: The White House may be less willing than it was to play the role of the world’s policeman in international affairs, but the FBI seems eager to be the world’s cop. No doubt, as Martin Vander Weyer has noted (Any other business, 6 May), the US Attorney General