Contents COLUMNS Letters 8 Helen Joyce The morality of altruism 6 Sounding Board Fergus Butler-Gallie: The deep wisdom of rootedness 9 Woman about Town Sarah Ditum: Frock right off 10 Nova’s dia r y The only way is up 11 Serious business Ned: The City lights are dimming 15 Anna Pasternack Conscious decoupling 19 Law Yuan Yi Zhu: The Post Offi ce scandal 28 My Woke World Titania McGrath: Plagiarism: a racist weapon 35 Everyday Lies Theodore Dalrymple: Taking Pride 39 Arty Types D.J. Taylor on Jamie Tradescant 47 Johnny Leavesley Saving my own bacon 48 Romeo Coates All small talk 76 Adam Dant on … Ghosts of olde London 52
FEATUR E S Why the Intellectual Dark Web has failed Henry George argues that IDW ideologues lack the coherent vision and political nous to turn their ideas into action 13 Bring back the Law Lords Yuan Yi Zhu: says the Supreme Court has eroded parliamentary sovereignty 16 Let’s at least agree rape is wrong Victoria Smith says the fundamentals of feminism are under attack from within feminism itself 30
This month’s cover is illustrated by Barr y Falls
WAR IN UKRAINE The paper tiger and the Russian bear Patrick Mercer warns a supine NATO will not drive Putin’s army from Ukraine 20 How the Ukraine delusion may end Curt Mills says Biden might entertain peace to boost his election chances 24 Send the tools to finish the job Daniel Johnson says the West again becomes the “arsenal of democracy” 26
Preaching to a dwindling choir Andrea Valentino on the struggles of America’s Episcopalian Church 32 Profile: Salvador Allende The Chilean “martyr” who refused to bend in the face of economic chaos 36 Godfather of British geopolitics Jeremy Black on the groundbreaking global thinking of Edwardian academic Halford Mackinder 40 The end of Pevsner Charles Saumarez Smith fears the monumental record of British buildings is in danger of being abandoned 42 How the internet killed The Simpsons Nicholas Clairmont calls time on the colourful residents of Springfield 44
The spectre of the past J.S. Barnes argues the great English ghost story is rooted in nostalgia for a more elegant time 49 STUDIO William Cook: The art of Caspar David Friedrich 54
BOOKS Jeremy Jennings: The End of Enlightenment : Empire, Commerce, Crisis by Richard Whatmore 58 John Ritzema: After Elizabeth: Can The Monarchy Save Itself? by Ed Owens 60 Theodore Nash: The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien: Revised and Expanded Edition by Humphrey Carpenter and Christopher Tolkien 61 Tista Austin: The Visionaries: Arendt, Beauvoir, Rand, Weil and the Salvation of Philosophy by Wolfram Eilenberger 63 Samuel Rubinstein: The Genius of Israel: The Surprising Resilience of a Divided Nation in a Turbulent World by Dan Senor and Saul Singer; Israelis and Palestinians: From the Cycle of Violence to the Conversation of Mankind by Jonathan Glover 64 Fiona McAnena: Fair Play: The Battle for Women’s Sport by Sharron Davies with Craig Lord 66 Jaspreet Singh Boparai: Social Justice Fallacies by Thomas Sowell 67 Christopher Silvester: The Not Quite Prime Ministers: Leaders of the Opposition 1783-2020 by Nigel Fletcher 69 Peter McDonald: The Globemakers: The Curious Story of an Ancient Craft by Peter Bellerby 70 Haydn Middleton: Living The Beatles Legend: The Mal Evans Story by Kenneth Womack 71 Patrick Kidd: Hope and Glory: Rugby League in Thatcher’s Britain by Anthony Broxton 72 John Self : Wild Houses by Colin Barrett ; The Vulnerables by Sigrid Nunez; About Uncle by Rebecca Gisler 73 THE SECRET AUTHOR Where has all the money gone? 75
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THE CRITIC 4 FEB 2024
