British History
There is another side to the “Stakeknife” story
The security forces might have made mistakes but their work was still invaluable
David Olusoga is misrepresenting British history
His new series brushes over facts which might confuse its black-and-white narrative
In praise of plucky Brits
Remembering Robin Smith and an old valiant breed of British sportspeople
In defence of the Town and Country Planning Act
The essentially valuable function of the planning system has been subverted by its inheritors
Forty years of mistakes in Northern Ireland
Unionists were abandoned in 1985 and are being abandoned now
A transcendent life
James Stevens Curl’s 2018 demolition of the Modernist experiment signalled the return to high culture
Winston Churchill was not Tony Blair
The great wartime prime minister was a complex thinker as well as a complex man
Calling bullshit on “The Marbles”
A new documentary about the Elgin Marbles offers cinematic skill and historical bias
Slaves’ descendants don’t deserve reparations
A new book fails to make a rational or moral case for reparations
Lessons for restoration from the Wiltshire wilderness
We must reacquiant ourselves with the spirit of English history
Most Read
Gary Stevenson is wrong about wealth taxes
The popular economist is irritating, but more importantly he is mistaken
Tame Impala fails to impress
unconquered by a
taste of Crusader food
Why they hated Ann Widdecombe
Fair-minded people could agree or disagree with her opinions. Left-wing bigots hated her for not abandoning them
Ethnic minorities are abandoning Labour
It is not just Muslim voters who have been abandoning the Labour Party
How to fix the economy
A repentant ex-financial trader tells all
Strange new world
A new art history hinges on a proleptic reading of Edwardian history
The great recoupling
Our politicians have a bizarre sense of costs and benefits when it comes to energy
Gregory Halting
Procrastinator extraordinaire
The global migration compact trap
The UN migration compact may be non-binding, but its political effects are very real
Bring back literary vendettas
Grub Street thrived when
there was an “establishment”,
movements and feuds
The trains have to run
Populists have had success in persuading people that they can govern — but can they actually govern?
The Bible in the dock
Free speech for Christians is still under assault
Whip smart
Threatening the whipping system would be alarmingly stupid
The last of the fine arts
Hockney insisted on doing exactly as he pleased — and his cigarettes were as much a part of his artistic philosophy as his paintbrush.
The tyranny of memes
Modern would-be assassins are products of the internet
Kemi at the crossroads
Kemi Badenoch cannot tell everybody what they want to hear