Darwinian Disbelief
Kristina Carlson's Mr Darwin's Gardener proves that the God debate still generates copy and sells books
Politics, Ideas and the Arts
Washington Reds
The characters are duplicitous, torturing sexual predators selling Western secrets to the KGB: the baddies, right? Not in The Americans
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
Royal Age Concern
The monarchy is in rude health but increased longevity could paradoxically spell the end of royal rule
Trudeau Nouveau
The Leader of the Canadian opposition is a lightweight liberal fantasy. If he were to become PM his lack of resolve would be disastrous