The Isles are Full of Big Noises
The Orkney islanders have their doubts about Scottish independence
Politics, Ideas and the Arts
Strangers in their own Holy Land
The embattled Christian communities in Bethlehem and Nazareth
Two Generations Lost to Communism
50 years of Communism have left Cuba poorer than ever
This Expat Paradise is a Woman’s Nightmare
Dubai may be a popular holiday destination but it is also a human rights quagmire for women
The Russians Are Coming
'Like everyone else in Kiev my friend has been having nightmares'
Hunting the Lynx with the Old Believers
'The first who came to Tuva had come in search of Belovode: a mythical Russian utopia that peasants believed existed out in Siberia'
Cold Comfort On Global Warming
'The main action in Warsaw was to agree on a successor to the Kyoto Protocol, but the disagreements are longstanding, fundamental and intractable'
The Rise and Rise of Marine Le Pen
'Ever since its creation in 1972 the Front National has baffled commentators. No one seems able to decide what the party stands for or where it came from'
True Grits
'We drove into Breaux Bridge, “the crawfish capital of the world”, and the place was shrouded in an early dusk: it was hurricane season'
From Eastern Europe to the East End
'There is a whole Eastern European city of half a million people in London. More than 80 per cent have arrived since 2004. It is a city working in basic jobs, with
On Pilgrimage with the Hasids
'Uman has been called the Hasidic Mecca and the Hasidic Glastonbury. Overwhelmingly, however, the pilgrimage is rejected as “un-Jewish”, even by other ultra-Orthodox Jews'
Teaching China’s Anglophiles
'One student identified himself as working class and a member of the Communist Party. I was, however, surprised to see a copy of Roger Scruton’s Meaning of Conservatism bulging out of his