New year predictions, p24 & p27

Into Africa, p46

The original celebrity politician, p35

5 Leading article 9 Portrait of the Week 11 Diary Harry Mount 12 Politics James Forsyth 15 Barometer 17 Rod Liddle 18 Ancient and modern 23 Matthew Parris 24 James Delingpole 25 Letters 27 Any other business Martin Vander Weyer

14 Russia’s new dissidents Is Putin finally facing a real opposition? Anne Applebaum 16 The audacity of Obama

The President is posing as the ‘fair shake’ candidate Freddy Gray 18 The missionaries are coming

The Catholic Church in England is full of foreign priests Dennis Sewell 19 Julia Copus

‘Memories, When Fixed’: a poem 20 On the wrong track

Will High Speed 2 be the downfall of David Cameron? Melissa Kite 22 Meryl, me and Mrs T In conversation with Phyllida Lloyd,

director of The Iron Lady Lloyd Evans

Boks 30 Philip Hensher Body of Work, edited by Giles Foden 32 David Crane Lisbon, by Neill Lochery Thomas Hodgkinson Shock Value, by Jason Zinoman 33 Jane Brown on futuristic architecture 34 William Leith The Locked Ward, by

Dennis O’Donnell 35 Jane Ridley John Bright, by Bill Cash 36 Stuart Wheeler Taking a Stand, by Juan E. Méndez

John Greening ‘Compleat’: a poem 37 Ysenda Maxtone Graham The Legacy of Hartlepool Hall,

by PaulTorday Bookends Lewis Jones

Cover by Christian Adams. Drawings by Michael Heath, Castro, Ian Tovey, Holland, Paul Wood, Bill Proud, Tom Husband, RGJ, Adam Singleton, Nick Newman, Bernie and Grizelda. www.spectator.co.uk To subscribe to The Spectator for £104 a year, turn to page 11 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 317; no 9566 © 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

6

the spectator | 31 December 2011 | www.spectator.co.uk The pick of Picasso, p38

Silence is golden, p41

Arts 38 Andrew Lambirth Exhibition highlights of 2012 40 Theatre Richard II; Herding Cats

Lloyd Evans 41 Cinema The Artist

Deborah Ross Opera Wagner and Verdi Michael Tanner 43 Radio Kate Chisholm 44 Television Simon Hoggart Culture notes Scott Jordan Harris Travel Extra 46 Ride of a lifetime

A horseback safari Charles Moore 50 Return to Zimbabwe

Kate Eshelby 53 Man against mountain

Tackling the black runs James Delingpole 54 First steps on skis

Johnnie Kerr

55 Breaking the ice Alaska looks best by ship

Patrick Allitt 58 Cruising for Christmas

Life 63 High life Taki Low life Jeremy Clarke 65 Real life Melissa Kite Bridge Janet de Botton And finaly . . . 66 Chess Raymond Keene 67 Competition; Crossword 68Status anxiety Toby Young Dave Michael Heath 69 Sport Roger Alton Your problems solved Mary Killen 70 Food Tanya Gold Mind your language Dot Wordsworth

It is one thing to join a Facebook campaign, quite another to have your face smashed into a wall Anne Applebaum, p14

Nearing the end, Nancy Mitford said she would give anything for one last day of hunting. As I fly over those hedges, I know exactly what she meant Melissa Kite, p20

As we sang, I looked around in the darkness at the sporadically illuminated faces, and I was overcome with love for every one of us, even for myself Jeremy Clarke, p63

Contributors

Anne Applebaum is a columnist for the Washington Post, and a contributing editor of The Spectator. Her Gulag: A History won a Pulitzer Prize in 2004.

Dennis Sewell is the author of Catholics: Britain’s Largest Minority and a contributing editor of The Spectator.

the spectator | 31 December 2011 | www.spectator.co.uk

Jane Ridley is a senior tutor at the University of Buckingham. Her biography of Edward VII is out next year. Stuart Wheeler is a businessman and politician. He is treasurer of Ukip.

Ysenda Maxtone Graham’s most recent book is Mr Tibbits’s Catholic School.

7