Contents

arts & books 71 The kindness of witches

What made Stieg Larsson Sweden’s biggest ever literary phenomenon? andrew brown 72 The sound and the fury Richard English’s book corrects

regulars 10 Prospect recommends The pick of the month’s events. 14 Diary

Who brought down the Wall? Plus brian eno on the death of uncool, edward skidelsky’s new column & stephen nickell on pensions. 20 Letters

plus stephen collins’s cartoon strip.

opinions 22 The price of peace To win in Afghanistan, we’ll have to

start bribing. alex de waal 23 The mother of all paradoxes Stronger maternity rights may not

help women. catherine hakim 25 Hazy politics, man Drugs adviser David Nutt’s sacking.

I have a secret sportscar. cover story34 How dictators watch us on the web The internet is often said to weaken the grip of authoritarian regimes. But it doesn’t. evgeny morozov plus exclusive survey: Twitter is a tool for the chattering classes, p37

william cullerne bown 26 How green are your beans? Eat more African veg. mark ashurst 27 Let’s talk about sex

New sex ed plans. elizabeth pisani 28 Neither shy, nor retiring Blair will be back. anthony seldon 29 Everyday philosophy

recent misperceptions of terrorism. malise ruthven 74 Cultural notebook Days of the undead. sam leith 75 Tales of talent and cruelty

A new biography of John Cheever fails to link the man to his art. william skidelsky 76 The constitution will be televised

science & technology 62 Short and tweet

Is our attention span shrinking? john naish 63 Lab briefing philip ball 64 Heavy metal China has a troubling monopoly of

rare earth metals. robin powell 65 Say what?

and finally 93 Enigmas & puzzles ian stewart 93 Coming up & online 94 The generalist didymus 95 The Prospect listfeatures40 The lion and the tiger Armenia excels at chess. How did this tiny country become a giant at the game? david edmonds 46 The good cops of Nablus Peace has broken out in the West Bank city. nathan shachar 50 How to shrink the banks Let’s slim down the banks instead of bailing them out. jonathan ford & peter thal larsen 54 Little England’s biggest boy Jeremy Clarkson voices the grievances of millions. john lloyd 58 The last of the history men Only one remaining dramatist tackles the recent British past— Stephen Poliakoff. david herman

New web software is changing the way we create language. jim giles 66 The month ahead anjana ahujacolumnIStS 8 If I ruled the world Stop trying to give me a receipt!

Why Law & Order rules. joy lo dico 78 Performance notes

What’s ENO for? martin kettle 80 Private view

A museum of everything. ben lewis 82 No gangster

An ex-offender’s life. danny kruger 82 The fine art of breakfasting Three diary extracts. ian irvine 83 Widescreen

I saw Saw VI. mark cousins

FICTION 84 The Not-Dead and the Saved The winning short story from the

VS Pritchett Memorial prize. kate clanchy

nigel warburtoncorrespondents30 Washington watch Petraeus for president. renegade 31 Brussels diary Benelux sinks Blair. manneken pis 32 China café Bureaucracy gone mad. mark kitto

william davies 12 Political notes The Tories and Europe.

anne mcelvoy 68 Sporting life

Formula One has got to stop. david goldblatt 89 These islands

A dog named nigger. dom tunon 96 Dear Wilhemina

december 2009 · prospect · 5