Books furnish a room, but statues furnish a city. What would London be without Eros, Nelson or (for my money) Boadicea galloping to confront the Roman invaders, at the northern end of Westminster...

Quebec's separatists had won

What is the fascination of murder trials? I like to think it isn't just ghoulishness, or there-but-for-the-grace-of-God. A big trial, reported in loving detail, tells you how someone died. But more...

OJ Simpson had been convicted

Howard Davies, the former director-general of the CBI, recently delivered a series of broadcasts on the state of British business. This is an edited version of his final talk, on links between...

Last week an overseas student invited me over to her flat for dinner. As soon as I walked through the door I noticed a very meaningful atmosphere. Instead of dining t?te-? -t?te, she hand-fed me...

On coming to terms with my stepfather

A hierarchy has been established, now that the printed word has become electronically portable. Fax is good, e-mail is bad, typewritten letter is better, hand-written best. Thoughts committed to the...

Which of the following statements is true? "The chances of social mobility in the UK match those in the United States and Japan." "British society is no more open now than it was at the time of the...

If Charter 88 weren't so holier-than-thou I'm sure I would not have been quite so irritated to discover that their Web page (www.gn.apc.org/charter88) is: (a) provided by GreenNet and (b) very hard...