The Spectator

Wednesday

The Spectator

Marcus Berkmann’s choice of stocking fillers

From our UK edition

If you’re short on ideas for minor Christmas presents, then you can’t do better for expert guidance than read Marcus Berkmann’s choice of stocking fillers from last week’s issue of the Spectator magazine. There can be few phrases in the language more debased than ‘Christmas gift book’. (Well, ‘friendly fire’, maybe, or ‘light entertainment’.) Needless

The Spectator

The greats we hate

From our UK edition

Craig Brown Which classic work do you think this comes from? ‘Her teeth were white in her brown face and her skin and her eyes were the same golden tawny brown. She had high cheek-bones, merry eyes and a straight mouth with full lips. Her hair was the golden brown of a grain field that

Sunday

The Spectator

Patrick Moore’s great contemporaries

From our UK edition

Sir Patrick Moore, the astronomer, died this morning aged 89. He featured on The Spectator’s power list of over-80s, published last year. Here are the other scientists listed in the category. Bernard Lovell, by Martin Rees Bernard Lovell ranks as one of the great visionary leaders of science. Along with others of his generation, the

Friday

The Spectator

University personal statements under attack, but who actually writes them?

From our UK edition

The Sutton Trust today criticised the system of personal statements for university admissions, as they favour well-connected children from private schools. Spectator readers might not be surprised by that, though: in September Molly Guinness revealed in the magazine that those who can afford to often contract the writing of the statement out to graduates for

Thursday

The Spectator

Bonsai

From our UK edition

‘It’s for the connoisseur who appreciates really tiny amounts of growth.’