Contents arts & books 73 The dandy of Strawberry Hill The reopening of Horace Walpole’s home should restore his celebrity. duncan fallowell 75 The making of the middle east A new history of the Arabs is a regulars 8 Prospect recommends The pick of the month’s events. 14 Diary triumph. kishwer falkner 76 Cultural notebook

Why aeroplanes are retro. sam leith 77 The return of the master

Martin Amis rubbishes JM Coetzee, plus brian eno on intellectual chic, edward skidelsky on denial & stephen nickell on the Tobin tax. 20 Letters plus stephen collins’s cartoon strip.

opinions 24 The Blair mission

He never lied about WMD. richard sanders 25 A truly ethical foreign policy

Why Britain should give cash to Iceland. mark hannam 26 Gloom is good Being grumpy helps you think better.

glenda cooper 26 The libel myth The English press has greater

I don’t want to buy a home. cover story42 Mash the state Can Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the web, reinvent British government? james crabtree & tom chatfield freedom than it claims. james price 27 What would Byzantium do? The ancient empire has useful lessons

Martin Amis’s new novel is a return to form. tom chatfield 78 The next big thing science & technology 66 No end of the affair

Infidelity may be partly down to biology. andrew g marshall 67 Lab briefing philip ball 68 Back to the moon The new space race.

william cullerne bown 69 Go figure The web may revolutionise the way and finally 93 Enigmas & puzzles ian stewart 93 Coming up & online 94 The generalist didymus 95 The Prospect listfeatures Urban life 34 For richer, for poorer My plan to help the world’s poor by building new cities. paul romer 39 How slums can save the planet What squatter cities can teach us about urban living. stewart brand Plus 48 Strangers in their own land The quiet disaffection of southeast England. michael collins 54 The philosophy of Myleene Klass Is it ever right to take the law into your own hands? nigel warburton 58 The struggle for Iran’s soul The country is torn by conflicting views of what it means to be an Iranian. christopher de bellaigue 62 Will China clean up its act? The Chinese green industrial revolution. jonathon porritt

Watch out for Argentinian painter Guillermo Kuitca. ben lewis 80 Guilt, victimhood and the

German ’68ers A new book charts the descent of the German left. david aaronovitch 81 Smallscreen The best sitcoms. peter bazalgette 82 Yearning for chaos An ex-offender’s life. danny kruger 82 Of truth and beauty Two diary extracts. ian irvine 83 Widescreen A reply to Colin MacCabe’s article on the UK Film Council. charles gant

FICTION 84 Other people’s gods A new story by naomi alderman for Afghanistan. edward luttwak 28 Everyday philosophy Censorship. nigel warburtoncorrespondents30 Washington watch The Dems and the senate. renegade 31 Brussels diary Spain’s presidency. manneken pis 32 China café A land with no pop music. mark kitto 33 Letter from Dublin we solve maths problems. jim giles 70 The month ahead anjana ahujacolumnIStS 6 If I ruled the world

Quiet please. andrew martin 12 Political notes Fantasy PMs. anne mcelvoy 18 Crisis watch Fixing finance. simon johnson 71 Sporting life

Winter Olympics. david goldblatt 96 Dear Wilhemina

Irish hypocrisy. colin murphy february 2010 · prospect · 3