History Joys
A new wave of rarefied history is the perfect antidote to the ubiquitous TV-celeb historians
Politics, Ideas and the Arts
What’s the Score?
Far from being a diluted form of the orchestral work, piano transcriptions often reveal hidden depths to old favourites
Legends of the Urban Landscape
A provocative new book by Jonathan Meades asks us to reassess the value of the under-appreciated metropolitan environment
Reach For the Sky
While woeful arts coverage on ITV and the BBC looks beyond saving, the two Sky Arts channels offer brave, and often unpredictable, film-making
Festival of Britain
For too long the Proms showcased foreign music. Now, under Roger Wright, it is well and truly a Great British festival
Norman Wisdom
The Normans embellished Saxon churches but they also built their own, and there is nowhere better to admire their artistry than Herefordshire
Real Men Don’t Use Brylcreem
Public displays of emotion, sequins, ear studs and nancy boy’s clothes: where have all the men’s men gone? You may remember a few years ago a magnificent rebuke issued to Lord Mandelson
A Voice of Pure Gold
Kathleen Ferrier's wonderful career was cut short by her death at 41 in 1953. Thankfully plenty of the contralto's songs were committed to vinyl
Native Tongue-tied
Learning a foreign tongue opens up an entirely new spectrum of cultural rewards, yet state schools are failing to emphasise their importance
Oh, What a Lovely War
Nostalgia for the war runs deep in our cultural memory; Matthew Sweet's new book shows why
Game Over
Despite the current success of England's test team, the county game is at an all-time cricketing low. It needs a dramatic overhaul
Pevsner’s Monument
Nikolaus Pevsner was the man who catalogued England. His project is well worth another read