Margate Rendezvous
For J.M.W. Turner it wasn't only the beauty of the Kentish coast that attracted him, but also that of a buxom hotelier
Politics, Ideas and the Arts
Italian Insouciance
The over-generous Italian welfare state means that for all the belt-tightening, most people in the country still enjoy la dolce vita
Gift for Greece
Spirit of London 2012? The best thing that could happen to the Olympic Games would be to send them home
Out of the Fire
Was Jean Sibelius's newly discovered Eighth Symphony destroyed in one of the composer's notorious drunken rages?
Survivor of Stasiland
The death of Christa Wolf has left Germany bereft of a powerful bridge of literary consciousness, whose universal work could talk to a once-divided nation
Powell’s Penpal
A new limited-edition paperback documents the charming correspondence between US book collector Robert Vanderbilt and Anthony Powell
Fussball über alles
The German film Der Ganz Grosse Traum shows the delightful story of the first Anglo-German conflict (football match, that is)
Racing Certainty
The euro's life began in doubt and has ended in crisis; thank god we never threw our pound into the pot
Picking Losers
Harriet Harman's obsession with female-only quotas would only stricture the free market and ignores the realities of successful business
Lost Property
In Kalkan, Turkey, the British tourists that fall for dubious property bargains have only their poor taste to blame
Parfit Gentil Geeks
Chivalry as a code of manners isn't dead; rather, its Christian credentials perished centuries ago
Deadly Silence
If the French satirical magazine firebombed by Islamists had been British, our officials would have said nothing