Policy Failure
A story suggesting that a political mess in Britain has the capacity to get a lot worse, and looks back to the 1930s, a time when foreign policy also dominated British politics.
The Dreamings of Dominic Cummings
A story that starts by visiting St Albans in Hertfordshire, a place where “voters and the local MP are out of sync on the wedge issue of the day”. It maps out the town and its inhabitants, as seen through the lens of Dominic Cummings’ strategic vision.
The Two Jacobs
James Meek on the dual characters of Jacob Rees-Mogg and their impact on Brexit Britain. Jacob 1 – “a member of Parliament performing a rolling re-enactment of steak-and-kidney-pudding Edwardian Britishness”, and Jacob 2 – “master of the spreadsheet…shrugging off the opening and closing of factories in this or that country as no more than the fluttering of gills on Mammon’s throat.”
Operation Columba
The story of the pigeon reveals a far more fascinating animal than their present urban representatives would suggest. They’ve in fact played various helpful roles in human existence since they were first domesticated by the Sumerians four thousand years ago. This piece examines a World War II plan that used them to gather intelligence and spread misinformation.
House-Cleaning
A story that examines the Trump presidency to date, and weighs up his future prospects. The final sentence sums it (and him) up rather well – “Re-election seems just as likely as impeachment. He is fighting for his life, and he would rather sue than settle.”
The Vice President’s Men
A look at the small off-the-record team under George H.W. Bush’s command when he was Vice President, formed in response to concerns around an ineffectual national security approach under Ronald Reagan.
Why the richest woman in Britain changed her will 26 times
The story of Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, currently being portrayed on screen by Rachel Weisz in the awards season contender The Favourite.
Here was a plague
A sobering, finely wrought and hugely powerful narrative of the Aids epidemic in the 1980s.
You Are the Product
John Lanchester reviews three books on social media, the war for attention, and Silicon Valley giants. His conclusion? “I am scared of Facebook”.
Big Man Walking
“Not many people change the world. Fewer still are thanked for it.” – Neal Ascherson reviews a biography of Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union, who joined that small group when he helped to bring about its end.