Issue: November 2024
The Lost Gardens of London
The war between city and greenery is eternal; the concrete and asphalt seeks open land to engulf
Plane English
On pyjamas and private jets
Art of the deal
A simple sale, with money changing hands, was out of the question
Complex fractions
Where is the joy and the reward of owning a fractional share in individual art?
The big picture
A story of modern Britain, a moral tale, of venality, hubris and fraud
Belle époque on a plate
The Goring offers a level of enchantment seldom found in the environs of Victoria Station
One of the greats
Bathos, fatalism, heartbreak: these are the pillars of a MacColl song
Robot recipes
Against cooking by algorithm
A passionate battler for buildings
A manichaean choice between the organic adaptation of old buildings and the beauty of the new
Lightweight Kate Winslet
Our most versatile of English roses must accept that one role is beyond even her
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
Self’s the man
Will Self can be absurd and obnoxious — but also highly entertaining and insightful
It’s high time we banned dogs
The tide is turning against these slobbering beasts
Gentrification? Better than deprivation
Elephant and Castle has been radically spruced up, but not everyone is happy about it
Where are all the ambitious Scots?
Whole sectors were once dominated by Caledonian migrants
Jolly boating weather
The Gondoliers, English Touring Opera, Hackney Empire
Devolution has been a disaster
Wales, and the United Kingdom at large, are weaker for the devolution project
The chairwoman of the board
A story driven at a whip-crack pace, pulsing with manic energy and nail-biting
Homage to Zaporizhia and Sumy
Horror continues in Ukraine — but the tide could be turning
Leaving it all in the ring
The great British bullfighting hopeful, Alexander Paul
Exiles from the Rainbow nation
Race, land and why white South Africans are leaving their homes behind
Why are doctors special?
Doctors have a lot less to complain about than other workers