Issue: June 2020
An opera critic in lockdown
The critic, like a used-up traveller in ladies’ corsetry in a Fifties film, is enjoying a happy furlough
Without a hitch
Hannah Betts on a coronavirus upside: no bridezilla weddings
Rescue specialist
He had a particular skill with those who had fallen foul of the system
Old school reformer
Eric understood that the system had to stop being a relic of the past
Master of judgement
Jacob Rees-Mogg remembers a man who knew how to handle people
Fair cop
When he gave you a punishment he’d ask if you agreed it was fair
Authoritative not Authoritarian
His Scottish Presbyterian view was not hierarchical
Trust that sustained a community
The main thing about Sir Eric Anderson was his integrity
A living justification for the Union
Eric was at ease with England, yet contributed something which England alone could not provide
The fascism of POG-shaming
Mussolini may have had his flaws, but at least he didn’t diet
Most Read
American strategy in Iran is wiser than it seems
President Trump’s intervention will leave the world safer than it was
Saint Nicola
Nicola Sturgeon wants sympathy for her husband’s crimes—but after years spent avoiding awkward questions, her latest reinvention may be the hardest sell yet.
The lonely death of Henry Nowak
We must draw lessons from a horrendous and disgraceful case
Rewatching the English
English identity has become too surreal and discomfiting to define
A failed war on fags
The black market has taken over the tobacco trade Down Under
The old age elephant in the room
Does Andy Burnham seriously think that he can fix social care?
Britain should speak up for Egypt’s persecuted Christians
We should oppose blasphemy laws at home and abroad
Against the censorious right
Miriam Cates is wrong about free speech and anonymity
The next chapter for The Critic
A request — and an opportunity!
Literature amid lies
Leonardo Sciascia sought justice in the face of cynicism
A step forward for academic freedom
It is time to take the fight to censoriousness in higher education
Brave new world or fools’ paradise?
For Dubai’s quarter of a million British expats, the Iran war is a mere blip in a luxurious lifestyle
On Britain as a capitalist command economy
It is neither neoliberal nor socialist but a secret third thing
The trains have to run
Populists have had success in persuading people that they can govern — but can they actually govern?
Don’t panic about “Angry Young Women”
Despite everything, most people are still fairly normal
First-place Finnish
Shostakovich: Symphony 1; Moscow Cheryomushki (Philharmonia Records)