Boris Johnson has chosen the wrong lodestar. He should look to an earlier wartime premier. Continue reading
Category Archives: History
Our Man in Malaga
SIMON MATTHEWS on a rediscovered British account of the Spanish Civil War that eclipses Orwell. Continue reading
Imperial nonfiction: Boys’ Heroes
ALWYN TURNER reads the books that inspired his granddad. Continue reading
Sporting comebacks II
PAUL SAFFER on how sport came back with renewed purpose after its suspension in WW2. Continue reading
Sporting comebacks I
As sport returns from its spell on the bench, PAUL SAFFER looks at how it came back after World War I. Continue reading
‘Fearful of the future’
Spam fritters, Vera Lynn & a grumpy Polly Toynbee – ALWYN TURNER remembers the 50th anniversary of VE Day. Continue reading
‘This is no time for football’
Football has been criticised for its response to COVID-19 but PAUL SAFFER finds an echo from a global crisis a century ago. Continue reading
‘We broke all the rules’
A Minister for Testing? There is a precedent, says ROGER HERMISTON. Continue reading
Ancient liberties placed in pawn
Have we been here before? asks ROGER HERMISTON. For 2020, read 1940… Continue reading
Calling all cliches: Making Britain great again
How long have we been promising ourselves that we can make Britain great again? Continue reading
‘A poor choice of costume’
Prince Harry, Holocaust Memorial Day and Labour antisemitism – ALWYN TURNER remembers January 2005. Continue reading
The Prophetess of Exeter
Joanna Southcott died in 1814, and still the world hasn’t ended, notes ALWYN TURNER. Continue reading