Damian McBride: A Cautionary Tale
Did Gordon Brown’s aide receive moral formation at Peterhouse, Cambridge? If not, why not?
Politics, Ideas and the Arts
Crying Wolf And Playing Chicken
David Runciman’s history of democracy occasionally succumbs to a Tocquevillian penchant for paradox, but his argument is brilliantly and convincingly delivered
The Philosopher and His Scholar
Noel Malcolm's magisterial new edition of Hobbes's Leviathan is a fine example of why, in the 21st century, scholarship still matters
The Few Who Rule The Many
Alan Ryan’s colossal new history of political thought is an ambitious but engaging piece of scholarship
Canada’s Crusader for Conservatism
'What is the secret of Stephen Harper's success in a liberal society? Refusing to be bogged down by ideology and giving people what they want'
Taking a Liberty
The financial crisis has produced a new wave of young libertarians but these radicals champion freedom over and above virtue
Freedom of the Press Now Concerns Us All
The censorious among us can seize on vast amounts of online evidence and use it to ruin the lives of citizens at random
Paths to Democracy, Catholic and Secular
Setting the tone of Catholic political thought for three centuries, it is in France where one uncovers the roots of the separation of Church and State
Steyn Power
Iconoclastic commentator — and hate-figure of the Left — Mark Steyn should be celebrated for his refusal to kow-tow to the liberal intellegentsia's consensus
Interpenetration
The utopian Labour peer's new science of happiness is doing wonders for its inventor
Cuddly or Creepy?
Ed says he loves your children as much as you do: a claim at once vacuous and disturbing
The Lesson of Oz
"Australian politics is in turmoil of a type and intensity not seen for 70 years"