Moscow Martyr
David Cameron's forthcoming visit to the Kremlin should not just be another exercise in deferential "diplomacy"
Politics, Ideas and the Arts
Euro Soap Opera
Angela Merkel and Jean-Claude Trichet recently attended a premiere of Tannhauser in Bayreuth but their own lives are more like an operatic melodrama
Uncharitable Act
Britain's claim to be the world's foremost philanthropic nation is under threat under George Osborne's new reforms
Novel Idea
A new online scheme is taking publishing back to its roots, bringing authors closer to their readerships
Crossroads
Book review of A Pilgrim in Spain by Christopher Howse
Interpenetration
The utopian Labour peer's new science of happiness is doing wonders for its inventor
Shock Value
For all the Arts community's grandstanding about its political value, none of its number was brave enough to protest the late, great M.F. Husain's plight
Cuddly or Creepy?
Ed says he loves your children as much as you do: a claim at once vacuous and disturbing
Seeing it Through
Osama Bin Laden's death gives credence to the Bush administration and American conservatives who fought against al-Qaeda
Royal Flush
Liberal objections to the British monarchy overinflate its symbolic significance
Is Suicide Selfish?
Suicide may be driven by noble feelings, but as two recent works of German fiction highlight, it should never be celebrated A curious aspect of the euthanasia debate is the cunning with
Object Lesson
The recently deceased music-loving Sony boss Norio Ohga cared more about the art than the money