From Kitsch to Cool: Picasso and Modern Art
Marxist art historians cherish his Cubism, but he later became a true artist, not just a modernist
Politics, Ideas and the Arts
Erdogan’s Folly
For the neo-Ottoman Turkish Prime Minister, the project for Gezi Park is an iconic step towards the return of a muscular Islamic state
Rude Britannia II
The incompetence of the UK Border Agency has cost me thousands and, ultimately, seen me deported. Even their own staff concede they don’t know what they’re doing
No French Please
Sacre bleu! Why bother learning any French when in France you’ll just be humiliated? Let’s study Mandarin, or Arabic, or Spanish in schools instead.
Airtime To Fill
Twenty-four-hour news coverage should have ushered in a new age of investigative, in-depth journalism. Instead, it’s banal, repetitive and slack
Hands Off Judges
The 'modernising' of the judiciary by politicians, and their insistence judges be cosy with senior civil servants, undermines a centuries-old institution
Poetic Injustice
The Arts Council is no longer subsidising poetry publishers but giving direct grants to poets instead. The result: the death of the enriching working relationship between editor and poet
A World of Flowers
A poem composed in the aftermath of the death of Drummer Lee Rigby in Woolwich
A Toast To Civilisation
We asked our readers to come up with a cocktail recipe that best reflects Western civilisation. The winning drink is both fortifying and delicious
Publisher Be Damned
The feud at Germany’s most respected publishing house reads like a passage from Vanity Fair written by Thomas Mann
Syria Isn’t Bosnia: Don’t Arm the Rebels
Assisting the Free Syria Army to overthrow Assad by force will only lead to further religious persecution, torture and death
Obama’s Secrets Start Unravelling
'When the leaders of China and the US met in June, one was accused of serious civil liberties violations, the seizure of journalists' phone and email records and the use of state