The wisdom of someone who has lived a little is at the heart of the verse of the ancient poet who was adopted as the mascot of the Enlightenment

There is a jarring disconnect between Michel Houellebecq’s critiques of sexual liberation and his dissolute lifestyle

Builders have to meet ever proliferating regulations while single-issue pressure groups wield an effective veto

A new generation of radicals in France see their political mission as nothing less than saving European civilisation

The Covid inquiry could help improve our response to the next crisis, but is not asking the right questions

Inflated Mau Mau death figures based on incorrect statistical projections have now become accepted as “fact”

Their lurid covers were catnip to bloodthirsty, impressionable teenagers

The Wicker Man is an ironic masterpiece that exposes the paradox of paganism

Britain’s population is rapidly growing but the authorities seem implacably opposed to building new houses

Once lauded as one of the most charming historic cities in England, Cambridge is being ruined by architectural monstrosities and ill-thought-out traffic schemes