Issue 146
May 2008
Contents
England's history boy
24th May 2008 — Issue 146Melvyn Bragg's celebrity means that his novels are not usually taken seriously by critics. But his widely read sagas of family and place, depicting a vanishing England, make him one of the most important national novelists we have
Here comes the second world
24th May 2008 — Issue 146From Asia to eastern Europe to Latin America, middle-income countries are growing increasingly assertive. These "second-world" states are forging links among themselves and are adept at playing off first-world powers against each other
What genes remember
24th May 2008 — Issue 146Many geneticists now think that the behaviour of our genes can be altered by experience—and even that these changes can be passed on to future generations. This finding may transform our understanding of inheritance and evolution
Christopher Hitchens
From '68 agitator to staunch supporter of George W Bush's Iraq war—what explains Hitchens's political journey? I spent three days with him in Washington trying to find out
Comment (3)In search of lost Tyne
24th May 2008 — Issue 146Newcastle has been rebranded from a city of heavy industry to a raucous capital of culture. But in leaving its grittier past behind, how much has the place lost?
1968: liberty or its illusion? 1
24th May 2008 — Issue 146Many 68ers now feel ambivalent about their heritage. Was too much of value discarded? Were the hippies just carriers of a new strain of capitalism? What was the silent majority thinking? Prospect writers give their views
Is democracy winning?
24th May 2008 — Issue 146Is the world reverting to a struggle between great powers? Or is the democratising spirit of 1989 still alive?
1968: liberty or its illusion? 2
24th May 2008 — Issue 146Many 68ers now feel ambivalent about their heritage. Was too much of value discarded? Were the hippies just carriers of a new strain of capitalism? What was the silent majority thinking? Prospect writers give their views
1968: liberty or its illusion? 3
24th May 2008 — Issue 146Many 68ers now feel ambivalent about their heritage. Was too much of value discarded? Were the hippies just carriers of a new strain of capitalism? What was the silent majority thinking? Prospect writers give their views
1968: liberty or its illusion? 4
24th May 2008 — Issue 146Many 68ers now feel ambivalent about their heritage. Was too much of value discarded? Were the hippies just carriers of a new strain of capitalism? What was the silent majority thinking? Prospect writers give their views
The good fight
Contrary to received wisdom, the protracted nature of the Democratic campaign is probably good news for the party—whoever wins the nomination
The Hitchens out-takes
Christopher Hitchens on the sectarian left, his relationship with his brother, and more
Hurdles on J Street
America's new liberal Israel lobby could change the middle east debate in Washington. But it faces major obstacles
Duncan Fallowell interviewed
The novelist, travel writer and Prospect contributor on his writing strategies, how he met Warhol, and why he is the first travel writer who is not a wanker
Rehabilitating Carson
Why do some people continue to hold Rachel Carson responsible for millions of malaria deaths?
We are all Kemalists
Turkey's supposedly antagonistic "democratic Islamists" and "authoritarian secularists" are actually cut from the same cloth
DDT works
Contra John Quiggin and Tim Lambert, DDT is usually the most cost-effective anti-malaria treatment, and remains scandalously underused
What I learned in Belfast
24th May 2008 — Issue 146Of course the Northern Ireland conflict was unique. That doesn't mean it holds no lessons for other trouble spots
Safe as houses
24th May 2008 — Issue 146There may be a hiccup this year, but in the long term house prices will continue their upward march
Our lobby, his lobby
24th May 2008 — Issue 146The Israel Lobby authors reply to Gershom Gorenberg's criticisms in the last issue of Prospect
Return of the spoken word
24th May 2008 — Issue 146Inspired by hip hop and Yeats, a new generation of performers is helping to revitalise poetry
More mayors for England
24th May 2008 — Issue 146English mayors are popular and successful. The government should legislate to introduce more of them
Shia intelligence
24th May 2008 — Issue 146Patrick Cockburn's politics may be misguided, but he is a reporter and analyst of the first order. His biography of Iraq's foremost Shia power-broker is by far the most useful book about post-Saddam Iraq, and helps us to better understand the country's faltering progress towards democracy
Ageing mirthlessly
24th May 2008 — Issue 146Despite an array of puns and jokes, David Lodge's new novel contains uncharacteristically few laughs. All the same, it is a quietly brilliant study of deafness, death and linguistics
The digital spectrum
24th May 2008 — Issue 146Is the web 2.0 revolution making us more co-operative, or is it turning us into vulgar narcissists who can't relate to one another? Three recent books offer differing views of what technology is doing to our humanity
Ireland's Bono boomers
24th May 2008 — Issue 146David McWilliams astutely analyses the flaws in Ireland's recent economic miracle. But his more eccentric speculations on Irish identity and the future of the diaspora should be treated with caution
Private view
A gorgeous show of nature paintings from the "age of discovery" reveals some surprising parallels with the strategies of artists today
Performance notes
If even a Michael Berkeley-Ian McEwan collaboration can't find funding, there must be a real problem with the way we do contemporary opera
Smallscreen
Set in the swinging, sexist 1960s, Mad Men lets us relish political incorrectness safely. Meanwhile, advertising today could be entering a golden age
Living on
24th May 2008 — Issue 146Francis is married to Judith, but the woman he really loves is Anne. The trouble is, Anne is dead
Matters of taste
Finding out whether the fish in restaurants is "sustainable" is harder than you'd think. Plus, it's a good time to start foraging—I found wild garlic, and cooked up a storm
Washington watch
Would Clinton quit the race if she got to be Senate majority leader? The media and McCain's secrets. Plus, what are Condi's chances of being McCain's running mate?
This sporting life
Despite Britain's triumph in Manchester, cycling remains an overlooked sport in this country. Yet many things are more important than sport, as a sad event reminds me
Lab report
Lisa Jardine is the right woman for the HFEA. Pfizer fails to rewrite the rules of science. And sentimentality has deprived Nasa of a highly capable head of science
Brussels diary
Peter Mandelson appears to have blown any chance of staying on for another term as trade commissioner. So what will he have to show for the last four years in Brussels?
China café
My new neighbour holds a meeting for local officials—and pulls off an eco-triumph. The diesel wars are hotting up. Plus, I won't be mentioning a certain province
