How to tell a revelation from stale old gossip, p16

THE WEEK

5 Leading article 9 Portrait of the Week 11 Diary Susannah Herbert 12 Politics James Forsyth 13 The Spectator’s Notes 16 Barometer 18 Ancient and modern 21 Rod Liddle 25 James Delingpole 27 Hugo Rifkind 29 Letters 32 Any other business Martin Vander Weyer

Other men’s flowers, p37

Flavours of the year, p39

BOOKS & ARTS

14 Five gold rings In 2012, Olympic functionaries will be treated like kings Ed Howker and Andrew Gilligan 16 The sensational truth

What WikiLeaks revealed about the British press Anne Applebaum 18 The ultimate test China’s exams show why our pupils are falling behind Oliver Lewis 22 Scents and nonsense New rules are robbing traditional perfumes of nuance Melanie McDonagh Books 34 Philip Hensher Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert, translated by Lydia Davis 37 Mary Keen on gardening books 38 Andrew Rosenheim Saul Bellow: Letters, edited by BenjaminTaylor Alistair Elliot ‘Was that Ratko?’: a poem 39 Fay Maschler on cookery books 40 Marcus Berkmann on quirky books

41 Jane Ridley The King’s Speech, by Mark Logue and Peter Conradi Bookends Simon Baker

Cover by Morten Morland. Drawings by Michael Heath, Castro, Holland, Bernie, Grizelda, Nick Newman, Kipper Williams, RGJ, Len, Hawker, Cookson, Dorrance, Adam Singleton and Paul Wood. www.spectator.co.uk To subscribe to The Spectator for £104 a year, turn to page 56 Editorial and advertising The Spectator, 22 Old Queen Street, London SW1H 9HP, Tel: 020 7961 0200, Fax: 020 7961 0250, Email: editor@spectator.co.uk (editorial); letters@spectator.co.uk (for publication); advertising@spectator.co.uk (advertising); Advertising enquiries: 020 7961 0219 Advertising fax: 020 7961 0020 Subscription and delivery queries Spectator Subscriptions Dept., 800 Guillat Avenue, Kent Science Park, Sittingbourne ME9 8GU; Tel: 01795 592886 Fax: 0870 220 0290; Email: spectator@servicehelpline.co.uk Newsagent queries Spectator Circulation Dept, 22 Old Queen Street, London SW1H 9HP, Tel: 020 7961 0200, Fax: 020 7961 0057, Email: dstam@spectator.co.uk Distributor COMAG Specialist, Tavistock Works, Tavistock Road, West Drayton, Middlesex UB7 7QX Vol 314; no 9511 © The Spectator (1828) Ltd. ISSN 0038-6952 The Spectator is published weekly by The Spectator (1828) Ltd at 22 Old Queen Street, London SW1H 9HP Editor: Fraser Nelson

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the spectator | 11 December 2010 | www.spectator.co.uk