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Can’t get her out of my head, p16 ‘You’ll never believe what my house is worth’, p28 THE WEEK Drake’s progress, p50 BOOKS & ARTS 3 Leading article 6 Portrait of the Week 9 Diary Ballet and bomb shelters Christina Lamb 10 Politics Boris’s fighting talk Katy Balls 11 The Spectator’s Notes A stupid use of ‘apocalyptic’ Charles Moore 15 Rod Liddle Bad songs for a good cause 18 Ancient and modern Ship shape 19 Douglas Murray The dishonesty of our age 20 Barometer WAG rules, new arrivals and cryptocurrency 23 Mary Wakefield The madness of ‘emotional support animals’ 26 Letters Russian culture, the menopause and Eccles cakes 28 Any other business How far will house prices fall? Frankly, don’t ask me Martin Vander Weyer 12 Zelensky’s choice Can Ukraine force Russia to negotiate? James Forsyth 13 Briege Duffaud ‘I’m Watching the Midday News’: a poem 14 Parting shot The truth about my brother-in-law’s hair Ivo Dawnay 16 Sex, drugs and Sartre Why is a brilliant BBC serial kept in its most secret vaults? Peter Hitchens 18 Voice of concern The creep of nannying announcements Laurie Graham 20 Roman myths Italy’s growing opposition to Nato Nicholas Farrell 22 Cold Turkey Why is Erdogan resisting Nato’s expansion? Owen Matthews 24 Changing channels The television will be revolutionised James Heale BOOKS 30 Sara Wheeler Russia: Revolution and Civil War 1917-1921, by Antony Beevor 32 Craig Raine Rapture and Melancholy, by Edna St Vincent Millay, edited by Daniel Mark Epstein Horatio Clare Desperate Remedies, by Andrew Scull 33 Kate Womersley How to Prevent the Next Pandemic, by Bill Gates; Preventable, by Devi Sridhar 34 Lynn Barber Anna, by Amy Odell N.S. Thompson ‘Sleepers’: a poem 35 Matthew Reisz Alice’s Book, by Karina Urbach; My Grandfather’s Knife and Other Stories of War and Belonging, by Joseph Pearson 36 Jamie Collinson Sea of Tranquility, by Emily St. John Mandel 38 Jonathan Boff The Greatest Raid, by Giles Whittell Cover by Morten Morland. Drawings by Michael Heath, Castro, Mark Wood, Kipper Williams, Bernie, Robert Thompson, Adam Singleton, Dredge, Nick Newman, Wilbur, Grizelda, Matt Percival. www.spectator.co.uk Editorial and advertising The Spectator, 22 Old Queen Street, London SW1H 9HP, Tel: 020 7961 0200, Email: letters@spectator.co.uk (for publication); advertising@spectator.co.uk (advertising); Advertising enquiries: 020 7961 0128 Subscription and delivery queries Spectator Subscriptions Dept., 17 Perrymount Rd, Haywards Heath RH16 3DH; Tel: 0330 3330 050; Email: customerhelp@subscriptions.spectator.co.uk; Rates for a basic annual subscription in the UK: £111; Europe: £185; Australia: A$279; New Zealand: A$349; and £195 in all other countries. To order, go to www.spectator.co.uk/A263A or call 0330 3330 050 and quote A151A; Newsagent queries Spectator Circulation Dept, 22 Old Queen Street, London SW1H 9HP, Tel: 020 7961 0200, Fax: 020 7681 3773, Email: dbrown@spectator.co.uk; Distributor Marketforce, 161 Marsh Wall, London, E14 9AP. Tel. 0203 787 9001. www.marketforce.co.uk Vol 349; no 10,108 © The Spectator (1828) Ltd. ISSN 0038-6952 The Spectator is published weekly by The Spectator (1828) Ltd at 22 Old Queen Street, London SW1H 9HP Editor: Fraser Nelson 4 the spectator | 21 may 2022 | www.spectator.co.uk

Can’t get her out of my head, p16

‘You’ll never believe what my house is worth’, p28

THE WEEK

Drake’s progress, p50

BOOKS & ARTS

3 Leading article 6 Portrait of the Week 9 Diary Ballet and bomb shelters

Christina Lamb 10 Politics Boris’s fighting talk

Katy Balls 11 The Spectator’s Notes

A stupid use of ‘apocalyptic’ Charles Moore 15 Rod Liddle

Bad songs for a good cause 18 Ancient and modern

Ship shape 19 Douglas Murray

The dishonesty of our age 20 Barometer WAG rules, new arrivals and cryptocurrency 23 Mary Wakefield

The madness of ‘emotional support animals’ 26 Letters Russian culture, the menopause and Eccles cakes 28 Any other business

How far will house prices fall? Frankly, don’t ask me Martin Vander Weyer

12 Zelensky’s choice

Can Ukraine force Russia to negotiate? James Forsyth 13 Briege Duffaud

‘I’m Watching the Midday News’: a poem 14 Parting shot

The truth about my brother-in-law’s hair Ivo Dawnay 16 Sex, drugs and Sartre

Why is a brilliant BBC serial kept in its most secret vaults? Peter Hitchens 18 Voice of concern

The creep of nannying announcements Laurie Graham 20 Roman myths

Italy’s growing opposition to Nato Nicholas Farrell 22 Cold Turkey

Why is Erdogan resisting Nato’s expansion? Owen Matthews 24 Changing channels

The television will be revolutionised James Heale

BOOKS 30 Sara Wheeler

Russia: Revolution and Civil War 1917-1921, by Antony Beevor 32 Craig Raine

Rapture and Melancholy, by Edna St Vincent Millay, edited by Daniel Mark Epstein Horatio Clare

Desperate Remedies, by Andrew Scull 33 Kate Womersley

How to Prevent the Next Pandemic, by Bill Gates; Preventable, by Devi Sridhar 34 Lynn Barber

Anna, by Amy Odell N.S. Thompson

‘Sleepers’: a poem 35 Matthew Reisz

Alice’s Book, by Karina Urbach; My Grandfather’s Knife and Other Stories of War and Belonging, by Joseph Pearson 36 Jamie Collinson

Sea of Tranquility, by Emily St. John Mandel 38 Jonathan Boff

The Greatest Raid, by Giles Whittell

Cover by Morten Morland. Drawings by Michael Heath, Castro, Mark Wood, Kipper Williams, Bernie, Robert Thompson, Adam Singleton, Dredge, Nick Newman, Wilbur, Grizelda, Matt Percival. www.spectator.co.uk Editorial and advertising The Spectator, 22 Old Queen Street, London SW1H 9HP, Tel: 020 7961 0200, Email: letters@spectator.co.uk (for publication); advertising@spectator.co.uk (advertising); Advertising enquiries: 020 7961 0128 Subscription and delivery queries Spectator Subscriptions Dept., 17 Perrymount Rd, Haywards Heath RH16 3DH; Tel: 0330 3330 050; Email: customerhelp@subscriptions.spectator.co.uk; Rates for a basic annual subscription in the UK: £111; Europe: £185; Australia: A$279; New Zealand: A$349; and £195 in all other countries. To order, go to www.spectator.co.uk/A263A or call 0330 3330 050 and quote A151A; Newsagent queries Spectator Circulation Dept, 22 Old Queen Street, London SW1H 9HP, Tel: 020 7961 0200, Fax: 020 7681 3773, Email: dbrown@spectator.co.uk; Distributor Marketforce, 161 Marsh Wall, London, E14 9AP. Tel. 0203 787 9001. www.marketforce.co.uk Vol 349; no 10,108 © The Spectator (1828) Ltd. ISSN 0038-6952 The Spectator is published weekly by The Spectator (1828) Ltd at 22 Old Queen Street, London SW1H 9HP Editor: Fraser Nelson

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the spectator | 21 may 2022 | www.spectator.co.uk

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