Leaving London behind, p31

Faces of war, p46

Arts 43 Lloyd Evans The glorious silliness of the Cultural

Olympiad 44 Opera Don Giovanni; Manon/La Traviata

Michael Tanner 45 Cinema Salmon Fishing in the Yemen

Deborah Ross 46 Exhibitions The Face of Courage:

Eric Kennington, Portraiture and the Second World War Andrew Lambirth 48 Theatre Long Day’s Journey into Night;

Oedipussy Lloyd Evans 49 Television Simon Hoggart 51 Radio Kate Chisholm Culture notes Lloyd Evans

LIFE

Life 55 High life Taki Low life Jeremy Clarke 56 Real life Melissa Kite 57 Long life

Alexander Chancellor Bridge

Janet de Botton

And finaly . . . 58 Chess Raymond Keene 59 Competition; Crossword 60 Status anxiety

Toby Young Dave

Michael Heath 61 Sport Roger Alton Your problems solved Mary Killen 62 Food Tanya Gold Mind your language Dot Wordsworth

Sketches from a North Korean prison camp, p39

Confected public grieving and irrational, incandescent fury when it is questioned have become a thing of our times Rod Liddle, p17

Although physical competition is a minor concern, the Olympics still tests human prowess in three main areas: advertising, pharmacology and municipal logistics Lloyd Evans, p43

I have hated Soho since I saw a man punch his way out of a brothel and a prostitute buy a cuddly toy that was bigger than she was Tanya Gold, p62

Contributors

Patrick Marnham, who considers the French elections on p. 14, is a writer and biographer, and a former literary editor of The Spectator.

Florence King, whose books include Memoirs of a Failed Southern Lady, lives in Fredericksburg, Virginia, and writes for National Review. On p. 22, she reveals Americans’ secret longing for an NHS.

the spectator | 21 april 2012 | www.spectator.co.uk

Michael Howard is a leading authority of military history and was educated at Christ Church, Oxford; he reviews Judith Curthoys’s history of the institution on p. 36.

Sara Maitland has lived a solitary life on Skye and is the author of A Book of Silence. On p. 40, she considers Bernie Krauss’s theories about the noises of nature.

Matthew Dennison’s The Twelve Caesars will be published next month by Atlantic Books. On p. 41, he evaluates the latest attempt to continue E.F. Benson’s ‘Lucia’ novels.

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