Contributors

Philip Booth is Editorial and Programme Director of the Institute of Economic Affairs and Professor of Insurance and Risk Management at Cass Business School. Michael Burleigh’s latest book, Moral Combat: A History of World War II, will be published in April. Sarah Butterfield has had shows at the Cadogan Contemporary, and has exhibited at Agnews and the Royal College of Art. Nick Cohen is a columnist for the Observer. His collection of essays, Waiting for the Etonians, was published last year. Hugh Curtiss was a monk for several years in the 1960s and ’70s before leaving to be a farm labourer. He is now a spiritual and business consultant. Mara Delius writes for the culture section of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. She lives in Berlin. Jessica Duchen blogs on music at standpointmag.co.uk/Jessica-duchen Joseph Epstein’s new collection, The Love Song of A. Jerome Minkoff and Other Stories, is to be published this year. Michael Gove MP is Shadow Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families. John Gross is a former editor of the TLS. His latest book, The New Oxford Book of Literary Anecdotes, is now out in paperback. Miriam Gross was formerly books and arts editor of the Sunday Telegraph. Fisun Güner writes arts features and reviews for the New Statesman, Metro and the arts website www.theartsdesk.com Julian Jackson is Professor of History at Queen Mary University, London. He is the author of The Fall of France and France: The Dark Years 1940-44. His most recent book is Living in Arcadia: Homosexuality, Politics and Morality in France from the Liberation to Aids. Clive James’s most recent books are Cultural Amnesia: Notes in the Margin of My Time, and a fifth volume of memoirs. Ben Judah is a freelance foreign correspondent specialising in Russian affairs. Dominic Lawson is a columnist for the Sunday Times and the Independent. Noel Malcolm is a Senior Research Fellow at All Souls College, Oxford. Minette Marrin is a broadcaster and columnist for the Sunday Times. Allan Massie’s most recent books are Surviving and The Thistle and the Rose. Douglas Murray is the director of the Centre for Social Cohesion. Michael Nazir-Ali was Bishop of Rochester until last September. He is the author of numerous books and articles on religion, including Conviction and Conflict: Islam, Christianity and World Order. He devotes himself to defending persecuted Christians. Archbishop Vincent Nichols is the Archbishop of Westminster, President of the

Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales and spokesman for the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales. He was formerly Archbishop of Birmingham. Emanuele Ottolenghi is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defence of Democracies. Michael Prodger is literary editor of the Sunday Telegraph. Geoffrey Robertson QC is Head of Doughty Street Chambers and author of The Tyrannicide Brief and Crimes Against Humanity. Mark Ronan is Honorary Professor of Mathematics at University College London, and author of Symmetry and the Monster. Joshua Rozenberg writes a legal blog at standpointmag.co.uk/law. Charles Saumarez Smith is Secretary and Chief Executive of the Royal Academy of Arts. A former director of the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery, he has recently published The National Gallery: A Short History. Lionel Shriver’s new novel, So Much for That, will be published by HarperCollins in March. Berenika Stefanska is a graduate of Pembroke College, Cambridge, and the School of Oriental and African Studies, London. Barton Swaim works as a speechwriter. He is the author of Scottish Men of Letters and the New Public Sphere, 1802-1834. David Wark holds the Chair in High Energy Physics at Imperial College London. Daisy Waugh writes novels and a column in the Sunday Times Magazine. Frances Weaver is Standpoint’s web editor. Peter Whittle is film critic on the Arts Show on BBC Radio 2. David Womersley is the Thomas Warton Professor of English Literature at the University of Oxford. Chris Woodhead is chairman of Cognita and a former Chief Inspector of Schools. His latest book is A Desolation of Learning: Is This the Education our Children Deserve? Geza Vermes, Professor Emeritus of Jewish Studies at Oxford, is the leading authority on the Dead Sea Scrolls. His new books, The Story of the Scrolls and Jesus: Nativity—Passion—Resurrection, are due out this year. Special thanks to Will Robinson, Berenika Stefanska and Isaac Bate

Letters Standpoint welcomes letters to the Editor. Write to: Standpoint, 11 Manchester Square, London W1U 3PW or: letters@standpointmag.co.uk Please include your address and telephone number.

Standpoint

Julian Jackson

Michael Nazir-Ali

Fisun Güner

Joseph Epstein

Geoffrey Robertson

Charles Saumarez Smith

Ben Judah

Miriam Gross

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Counterpoints Blond’s encyclical; Swiss minarets; Expert opinions; Civil drivel; A friend in death; Culinary disaster in Provence 10 Columns On the contrary Lionel Shriver considers the dangers of writing a “relevant” novel 17

Jurisprudence Joshua Rozenberg assesses the effectiveness of public inquiries 18

Marketplace Tim Congdon asks if Ben Bernanke has forgotten Milton Friedman’s message 19 Living History Michael Burleigh speaks up against the academic hegemony of the Left 20 The Outsider Douglas Murray is bored to death in Brussels 21 Points East & West Emanuele Ottolenghi says we can forget about peace in the Middle East this year 22 European Eye Mara Delius in Munich is optimistic about the future of literary criticism 23 Your call is important to us Miriam Gross is frustrated by M&S incompetence 24 Web sightings Frances Weaver considers Cuba’s response to a blooming blogosphere 25 Letters Cameron’s compassion; Poorly politicians; Inflating the facts 26 Dispatches Ben Judah in Siberia confronts Russia’s past as he searches for the Gulag 28 Features The French path of most Resistance Julian Jackson examines the conflicts and collusions of the wartime underground 48 An end to the myth of the tortured soul Fisun Güner says the new Van Gogh show at the Royal Academy enables us to reassess the artist 52

Coverlines Give us back our liberties Geoffrey Robertson QC backs David Cameron’s British Bill of Rights 38

Dialogue Will the Tories give us the schools we deserve? Michael Gove and Chris Woodhead discuss the Conservatives’ plans for far-reaching education reform 32

Features ‘This society is not secular’ Daniel Johnson interviews the new leader of the English Catholic Church, Archbishop Vincent Nichols 44

Why the Afghanistan appeasers are wrong Michael Nazir-Ali believes that military disengagement will only mean victory for the extremists 40

Jesus in the eyes of Josephus Geza Vermes proposes a fresh interpretation of the Jewish historian 54 Civilisation Critique Nick Cohen Reader’s guide to Thatcherism: why we should re-read Eighties fiction 60 Cosmos David Wark elucidates a new Britishpioneered form of nuclear power 64 Books Paul Johnson on Bite the Hand that Feeds You: Essays and Provocations by Henry Fairlie and Best Seat in the House by Frank Johnson; John Gross on The Letters of T. S. Eliot: Volume 2: 1923-25; Noel Malcolm on The Italian Inquisition by Christopher F. Black; Louis Amis on Nazi Literature in the Americas by Roberto Bolaño; and Justin Marozzi on The Museum of Innocence by Orhan Pamuk 67

Film Peter Whittle is struck by the authenticity of a cinematic portrayal of bereavement 74 Television Nick Cohen says British thrillers on screen refuse to acknowledge the existence of Islamic terrorism 75 Music Jessica Duchen celebrates the internet’s effect on classical music 77 Art Michael Prodger enjoys a fresh showcasing of familiar Impressionists 78 Theatre Minette Marrin Alan Bennett and Timberlake Wertenbaker both depict artists on stage—with contrasting results 79 Text Charles Saumarez Smith The Institutionalisation of Art in Early Victorian England 80 Joseph Epstein Danny Montoya, a new short story 84 Clive James Four new poems 90 Imagination Party Lines Daisy Waugh on the great state school dilemma; Whatever by Peter Blegvad The Saga of Smit & Smule continues 93 Drawing Board Sarah Butterfield From London to Antibes—mixed media paintings 94 Overrated/Underrated Mary Kay-Wilmers/Nancy Sladek by Daniel Johnson and Allan Massie 96 Chess Dominic Lawson on the soul-destroying ordeal of being a loser 98 www.standpointmag.co.uk

COVER ILLUSTRATION by andré cariliho

January/February 2010

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