July/August 2010 Issue 24

C A R R I L HO

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I L LU S T R AT ION

C OV E R

Manchester Square 5 CounterpointsBrit-freeBasra;Airbrushing oppression; Mama grizzlies; Northern frights; Cross at St George; Unaccountable 8

Columns Jurisprudence Joshua Rozenberg has his day in court 14 On the contrary Lionel Shriver defends her creation of a crossbow-killer 15 Marketplace Tim Congdon deplores the continuing persecution of bankers 16 Guest Speaker Gisela Stuart urges Germany to leave the euro 17 Points East & West Emanuele Ottolenghi says Turkey has no right to claim the moral high ground 18 Living History Michael Burleigh assesses the place of morality in time of war 19 The Outsider Douglas Murray argues that old political labels don’t apply to Geert Wilders 20 European Eye Mara Delius tells a tale of two presidents 22 The Mole Our insider in the celebrity kitchen charts the fall to earth of a Michelin star 24

Web Sightings Frances Weaver compares disasters that befall writers, past and present 25 Letters Woes of the West; Fitting in; The real nasty parties 26

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The maestro of his own fate Daniel Johnson examines Mahler’s tortured emotional life, his meeting with Freud and his musical legacy 56

Git Lit Why old age is all the rage Piers Paul Read provides a novel insight into our ageing population 54

This is how to set schools free, Mr Gove Chris Woodhead wants schools to set their own admissions policies 44

Text Geoffrey Hill: “I’m wired weird”, interview plus new poems 86

Feature History’s greatest Ponzi scheme Conrad Black deplores the behaviour of America’s bankers and politicians 48

Dispatches Ben Judah goes in search of the Yeti in Tajikistan 28 Katherine Bergen in Bahrain tracks the rise of women in politics and society 32

Dialogue Challenges for the Atlantic coalition William Kristol and Tim Montgomerie compare the problems facing the conservative movement in the US and the UK 34 Features Europe’s long road to the mosque Walter Laqueur considers the long-term impact of Islam on the continent 40 We have to be ready for anything Alexander Woolfson calls for a defence strategy fit for a great power 46 The healing power of forgiveness Peter Stanford witnesses a daring new prison rehabilitation project 52

Civilisation Critique Lesley Chamberlain explores the influence of Berlin on Nabokov 60 Books Noel Malcolm on Faith and Power: Religion and Politics in the Middle East by Bernard Lewis; Brian Allen on Caravaggio: A Life Sacred and Profane by Andrew GrahamDixon; Caroline Moore on The Making of the British Landscape by Francis Pryor; and Louis Amis on The Lost Books of the Odyssey by Zachary Mason 63

Film Peter Whittle says Woody Allen has got lost on the Upper West Side 68

Wireless Nick Cohen takes on the former Marxists of The Moral Maze 69

Music Jessica Duchen fears the demise of the piano recital 71

Art Michael Prodger is intrigued by a new exhibition that puts fakes under the microscope 72

Theatre Minette Marrin is enchanted by a reworking of All My Sons 73

Cosmos Neil Scolding ponders the facts of artificial life 75

TextNigel Biggar What are universities for? 76 Allan Massie Forbes at the Festival: A short story 80 Imagination Party Lines by Daisy Waugh; Whatever by Peter Blegvad: The Saga of Smit & Smule continues 93

Drawing Board Paula Rego Pastel, pencil and etching 94 Overrated/Underrated Saul Alinsky by Melanie Phillips Harvey Mansfield by Tim Fuller 96 Chess Dominic Lawson profiles three musical grandmasters 98

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