Fox tales, p45

Playtime is over, p12

THE WEEK

3 Leading article 7 Portrait of the Week 9 Diary Gideon Rachman 10 Politics James Forsyth 11 The Spectator’s Notes 18 Barometer 17 Rod Liddle 21 Mind your language 23 Hugo Rifkind 31 Letters 32 Any other business Martin Vander Weyer

Top of the popes, p34

12 The new alliance Britain and France take the lead in Libya Anne Applebaum 13 Hot shots with cold feet We have never had more firepower,

or less willingness to use it Paul Kennedy 14 Alan Dixon

‘Young Beggar in Andalusia’: a poem 18 The greatest living pianist Why he Grigory Sokolov no longer plays in Britain James Rhodes 20 The Gorbachev files

Soviet secrets he’d rather forget Pavel Stroilov 22 The two Libyas

Restoring an ancient partition Peter Jones 24 Amateur hour

Professionalism isn’t everything Ed Smith 28 Abu Dhabi notebook

Jeff Randall

BOOKS & ARTS

Books 34 Paul Johnson The Popes, by John Julius Norwich;

The Journey of the Popes, by Gerard Noel 36 Anne Chisholm A Widow’s Story, by

Joyce Carol Oates Alan Brownjohn

‘Love Poem’ 37 Michael Jacobs

Wild Coast, by John Gimlette Margaret MacMillan Bismarck,

by Jonathan Steinberg 40 Fay Maschler

Other People’s Money, by Justin Cartwright Bookends Mark Mason 41 Jeremy Treglown on the Penguin

Mini Modern series 42 Life and letters Allan Massie

Cover by Stephen Collins. Drawings by Michael Heath, Castro, Ian Tovey, Richard Jolley, Nick Newman, Bernie, Geoff Thompson, Grizelda, Adam Singleton, Holland, Len Hawkins, Wilbur and NAF. www.spectator.co.uk To subscribe to The Spectator for £104 a year, turn to page 37 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 315; no 9526 © 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 | 26 March 2011 | www.spectator.co.uk ‘Arrgh! Not the budget!’, p10

Landscape with vague sense of distant menace, p47

LIFE

Arts 43 Interview Niamh Cusack Lloyd Evans 44 Olden but golden Charles Spencer 45 Opera Fantastic Mr Fox; Il Tabarro; Gianni

Schicchi; Rodelinda Michael Tanner 46 Theatre In a Forest Dark and Deep; The Holy

Rosenbergs Lloyd Evans 47 Exhibitions Restless Times: Art in Britain

1914–45; The Class of. . . ; Denis Wirth-Miller Andrew Lambirth 48 Cinema Submarine Deborah Ross 49 Theatre Triple Bill; Black and White

Giannandrea Poesio 50 Radio Kate Chisholm Television James Delingpole 52 Gardens Ursula Buchan Culture notes Nicola McCartney Life 65 High life Taki Low life Jeremy Clarke 66 Real life Melissa Kite 67 Mini-bar offer Simon Hoggart Bridge Susanna Gross And finaly . . . 68 Chess Raymond Keene 69 Competition; Crossword 70Status anxiety Toby Young Dave Michael Heath 71 The Wiki Man Rory Sutherland Your problems solved Mary Killen

Contributors

Anne Applebaum (p. 12) is a columnist for the Washington Post and a former deputy editor of The Spectator.

Ed Smith (p. 24) is a former England cricketer and author of On and Off the Field.

Jeff Randall (p. 28) is a presenter for Sky News and a columnist for the Daily Telegraph.

This is one of those times when I feel estranged from the country and not comprehending of what we are doing and why we are so gung-ho for it all Rod Liddle, p17

For once I wasn’t depressed that 98 per cent of the audience were in their eighties, or kept their mobile phones on James Rhodes, p19

‘Yes,’ I cried, slamming my hand down on the counter at Currys like Meg Ryan in When Harry Met Sally. ‘Yes! Yes! Yes! Do it!’ Melissa Kite, p66

Michael Jacobs (p. 37) is the author of Andes, published last year by Granta.

Margaret MacMillan (p. 37) is the author of books including Peacemakers and The Uses and Abuses of History.

the spectator | 26 March 2011 | www.spectator.co.uk

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