The vandals have come for Roald Dahl. His books for children are to be cleansed of their ‘offensive’ content. Sensitivity readers – what we used to call censors – have been employed to pore over his works and expurgate any word or passage that might hurt a kid’s feelings. If you … | Continue reading
The author's private life, revealed in letters and a kiss-and-tell | Continue reading
A collection of essays examines many different approaches to the subject — from recounting archival fact to exploring what is only obliquely implied | Continue reading
The Booker has put the short back into shortlist – and about time too | Continue reading
It may have been eclipsed as reference material, but it’s still a valuable indication of the general knowledge of past generations | Continue reading
Menus are not merely functional lists – they are self-advertisements, exhibitions, seductions and, occasionally, objects of desire | Continue reading
With four minutes to go, Boris Johnson ran in. I was already concerned – maybe more concerned than Boris. It was an awards ceremony at the Hilton, Park Lane. The room was packed with financial people in bow ties. It was a couple of years before Johnson became Mayor of London. At … | Continue reading
At 5.30 p.m. this evening, PayPal notified me that it has restored all three of the accounts it cancelled a couple of weeks ago – the accounts for the Daily Sceptic, the Free Speech Union and my personal account. In all three cases, the email read as follows:We have continued to … | Continue reading
RomeGiorgia Meloni’s spacious office, on the top floor of Palazzo Montecitorio – Italy’s House of Commons – has large French windows that adjoin its own huge rooftop terrace with spectacular views of the Eternal City. You could hold the party of the century up there if you were s … | Continue reading