Diplomatic baggage, p14

THE WEEK

3 Leading article 7 Portrait of the Week 9 Diary Petroc Trelawny 10 Politics James Forsyth 11 The Spectator’s Notes 17 Rod Liddle 18 Ancient and modern 22 Mind your language 25 Matthew Parris 26 James Delingpole 29 Letters 30 Any other business Martin Vander Weyer

An artist’s eye on the spies, p44

12 Return of the Special Relationship As America’s love of Obama fades,

its affection for Britain is resurfacing Dan Jones 13 John Whitworth ‘The Sleepers’: a poem 14 Killer clowns

We allowed the absurdity of Libya’s rulers to obscure their brutality Justin Marozzi 18 Time for a Mormon president Why the Latter-day Saints make perfect politicians Philip Delves Broughton 20 The Diana of Jordan Queen Rania’s westernised glamour is far from an advantage at home Mary Ann Sieghart 22 New football fans start here If you’re ever going to watch a match, I know just the ticket David Horspool

BOOKS & ARTS

Books 34 Barry Unsworth The Pursuit of Italy, by

David Gilmour 36 Andrew Taylor Recent crime novels 37 Victoria Glendinning Edith Sitwell, by Richard Greene 38 Matthew Dennison Today, by David Miller Colin Falck

‘Reunion Photo’: a poem 39 Peter Parker The Founding Gardeners,

by Andrea Wulf

40 Deborah Devonshire Beautiful Chickens,

by Christie Aschwanden 41 John de Falbe The London Satyr andThe Lives of the Savages,by Robert Edric Bookends John Farndon

Cover by Morten Morland. Drawings by Michael Heath, Castro, Ian R. Tovey, Holland, Adam Singleton, Nick Newman, Geoff Thompson, Bernie, Grizelda, Richard Jolley, NAF, Russel Herneman, Mazurke, Phillip Warner, Nick Downes. www.spectator.co.uk To subscribe to The Spectator for £104 a year, turn to page 29. 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 9523 © 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 | 5 March 2011 | www.spectator.co.uk Chicken surprise with the Dowager Duchess of

Devonshire, p40

FINE Arts SPECIAL 42 Interview with Alan Reynolds Andrew Lambirth 44 Painting James Hart Dyke 45 Exhibitions

Peter Frie: Last Summer Angela Summerfield 47 Vinum Nostrum

Roderick Conway Morris 48 Jiro Osuga: Tokyo

Laura Gascoigne 49 Internet art Niru Ratnam 52 Opera Parsifal

Michael Tanner 53 Dance I Don’t Believe in Outer Space

Giannandrea Poesio 54 Theatre Frankenstein

Lloyd Evans 55 Cinema The Adjustment Bureau

Deborah Ross 56 Radio Kate Chisholm 57 Television Simon Hoggart Culture notes George Hull

A giant of the Tokyo scene, p48

LIFE

Life 63 High life Taki Low life Jeremy Clarke 64 Real life Melissa Kite 65 The turf Robin Oakley 66 Motoring Alan Judd 67 Bridge Janet de Botton Mini-bar Simon Hoggart

And finaly… 68 Chess Raymond Keene 69 Competition; Crossword 70 Status anxiety Toby Young Dave Michael Heath 71 Sport Roger Alton Your problems solved Mary Killen

The latest in cool transport, p66

For Blair, these revolting people stride the world stage and are therefore serious, like him – not ordinary, like the rest of us Rod Liddle, p17

If there is anything Mormons love as much as marrying young and having children, it is graduate business studies Philip Delves Broughton, p18

As soon as I realised my lucky whip was missing, I should have put the horse back in her stable… Melissa Kite, p64

Contributors

Petroc Trelawny (Diary, p. 9) is a BBC Radio 3 presenter who also writes about music, books and travel.

Mary Ann Sieghart (‘Queen’s gambit’, p. 18) is a columnist for the Independent and chairs the Social Market Foundation.

the spectator | 5 March 2011 | www.spectator.co.uk

David Horspool (‘Best shot’, p. 22) is history — and sport — editor of the Times Literary Supplement.

Victoria Glendinning (Books, p. 37) is the author of Edith Sitwell: A Unicorn among Lions (1981). Her next book is a biography of Thomas Stamford Raffles.

Deborah Devonshire (Books, p. 40) is the author of Counting My Chickens and Other Home Thoughts.

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