Exercises in politics, p12

The blossoming of William Nicholson, p41

Cursed by Gordon Brown, p18

5 Leading article 9 Portrait of the Week 11 Diary Anthony Horowitz 12 Politics James Forsyth 13 The Spectator’s Notes 17 Rod Liddle 18 Barometer 27 Ancient and modern 28 Hugo Rifkind 30 Letters 33 Any other business Martin Vander Weyer

14 Tyrants’ little helpers Politicians can still retire into a growth industry: PR for dictators Daniel Kalder 15 Oliver Comins ‘Orchard (10th

Hole, 148 yards)’: a poem 18 Get well, Adele

A heroine of our time Luke Coppen 21 Crossed wires

The trouble with private utilities Ross Clark 22 Call me crazy

But please don’t ask me to ‘embrace my diagnosis’ Peter Smith 24 The generation game

Don’t blame pensioners Dennis Sewell 27 So annoying

Why do people start every sentence with ‘so’? Mark Mason

Boks 36 Sam Leith Martin Amis, by Richard Bradford 38 Eric Christiansen My Dear Hugh, edited by Tim Heald 40 Andrew Rosenheim Steve Jobs, by Walter Isaacson 41 Jane Brown William Nicholson, by Patricia Reed 42 Cressida Connolly Why Be Happy When You Could Be

Normal?, by Jeanette Winterson 43 Ian Thomson Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of

Forgetfulness, by Alexandra Fuller Christopher James ‘The Brother’: a poem 44 Richard Davenport-Hines Afterword, edited by Dale Salwak Ian Sansom The Marriage Plot, by

Jeffrey Eugenides 45 Melanie McDonagh The Empire of Death, by

Paul Koudounaris

Cover by Christian Adams. Drawings by Michael Heath, Castro, Simon Farr, Ian Tovey, Bernie, RGJ, Adam Singleton, Grizelda, Holland, Geoff Thompson, Nick Newman, Bill Proud, Paul Wood, Mazurke. www.spectator.co.uk To subscribe to The Spectator for £104 a year, turn to page 30 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 9558 © 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 November 2011 | www.spectator.co.uk