Books
P is for Plum Pudding
Jonathon Green reviews A Place for Everything: The Curious History of Alphabetical Order by Judith Flanders
American Dirty Tricks
When white American author Jeanine Cummins wrote a novel about Mexican refugees a critical firestorm erupted
Blown fusionism: is a common enemy enough?
Ed West, Small Men on the Wrong Side of History
Culture Coaches
As The Critic enters into the podcasting business, Dominic Green surveys the world of motivational, self-affirming podcasts
Picturing Colonial Africa
Alexander Adams reviews Postcards from Africa: Photographs of the Colonial Era, by Christraud M. Geary
Discussing Magic
Jeremy Black reviews The Decline of Magic: Britain in the Enlightenment, by Michael Hunter
British Crime Classics
Jeremy Black’s recommendations for a murderous British genre
Of mice and writing advice
Tibor Fischer reviews Consider This by Chuck Palahniuk
Inveterate ignoramus
Christopher Bray reviews History and Imperialism by Louis Althusser
American idealists in hell
Roland Elliott Brown reviews The Russian Job by Douglas Smith
Most Read
Tame Impala fails to impress
unconquered by a
taste of Crusader food
Gary Stevenson is wrong about wealth taxes
The popular economist is irritating, but more importantly he is mistaken
Why they hated Ann Widdecombe
Fair-minded people could agree or disagree with her opinions. Left-wing bigots hated her for not abandoning them
What is wrong now was wrong before
Julia Gillard should not pretend that the “unintended consequences” of the gender debate were unknowable
Ethnic minorities are abandoning Labour
It is not just Muslim voters who have been abandoning the Labour Party
We must save the right to smoke
Liberals must not put down the sword against paternalism
Why the establishment hates X
It can be used to spread misinformation and abuse, yes, but it can also expose inconvenient facts
Why we should explore space
Space exploration lifts the human spirit: rather than asking “Why?”, we should ask “Why not?”
We need to make a better case against Magic Monetary Theory
Simplistic rebuttals help MMT endure. We need better arguments
Whip smart
Threatening the whipping system would be alarmingly stupid
Towards an allied civil society network in Europe
The Trump Administration is turning its attention to Europe’s civic institutions
Critical briefing: EU-Taliban talks
As European governments harden their approach to migration, Brussels has taken the extraordinary step of negotiating directly with Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers
The Hollywood starlet and the immigration albatross
Free marketeers were too content to ignore the negative externalities of immigration
Reform’s man in Makerfield
An interview with Rob Kenyon about online controversies and national priorities
Too starstruck to see Marilyn’s faults
Only Some Like It Hot endures, though not because of anything Monroe does in it
Like a homecoming
A haunted house