The Spectator

From the archives: The loss of the Titanic

On Sunday, it’ll be 100 years to the day since RMS Titanic sank during its maiden voyage. To mark the occasion, here is a piece about the disaster that appeared in The Spectator at the time: The loss of the ‘Titanic’, 20 April 1912 The appalling loss of life in the ‘Titanic’ and the story

Interview: Ed Vulliamy and the Bosnian Genocide

In June 1991 while working as a reporter in Rome, Ed Vulliamy received a phone call from his editor at the Guardian asking him to the travel to the neighbouring Balkan states to check out something strange that was happening in the region. Vulliamy spent the next few years immersed in the Bosnian War, the

Shelf Life: Nigel Havers

Nigel Havers is in the hotseat this week. He tells us about his intimacy with the Racing Post and his dreams of playing Casanova. You can catch him tonight in Corrie. 1) What are you reading at the moment? Fifty Shades of Grey – EL James 2) As a child, what did you read under the

The decline of the spirit

In celebration of the feast of Easter, we’ve dug out this profound leader from March 1975, which looks at the ever-evolving relationship of church and state.  The Church, the State and the decline of the spirit, The Spectator, 29 March 1975 Spring is a time of rebirth; yet it is also the time of the

Letters | 7 April 2012

Generation wars Sir: Viva Carol Sarler (‘Battle of the generations’, 31 March)! I don’t think I’ve ever read anything as ridiculous as Daniel Knowles’s babblings, which merit a strong riposte. It is galling to read a 24-year-old simplistically categorise all of we ‘baby-boomers’ (I was born in 1946) as the people responsible for today’s economic

Barometer | 7 April 2012

Sinking feelings Some conspiracy theories on the sinking of the Titanic: — The disaster was planned by a bunch of Jesuits, Captain Smith of the Titanic included, intent on bumping off Benjamin Guggenheim, Isa Strauss and Jacob Astor, who opposed the establishment of the US Federal Reserve and therefore impeded Jesuit efforts to control the global

Portrait of the week | 7 April 2012

Home Nick Clegg, the deputy Prime Minister, said he could not support as they stood government plans to hold in camera civil court cases involving secret intelligence. The government also proposed changing the law to allow it to monitor the telephone calls, emails, texts and visits to websites of everyone in the country. UK Biobank