14 MAY 1983

Page 3

Facing the people

The Spectator

I n her conduct over the calling of the general election, Mrs Thatcher has given herself a quite unnecessary amount of trou- ble. Having got it into her head that she was a...

Page 4

The election

The Spectator

Any old iron? Jo Grimond `flood evening. As you know, I have V.J long been determined to hold the general election as soon as was decent and before the glow of that amazing...

Colin Welch's column w ill be resat.° next week.

The Spectator

Page 5

Notebook

The Spectator

T his, according to Mr Michael Foot (and also, for that matter, according to Mr Jo Grimond on the opposite page), is a 'cut- and-run' election. Mr Foot repeats the ex- pression...

Subscribe

The Spectator

UK Eire Surface mail Air mail 6 months: £15.50 1R£12,75 £18.50 £24.50 One year: £31.00 1R135.50 E37.00 f4R.00 Cheques to be made payable to the Spectator and sent to...

Page 6

Another voice

The Spectator

Father Murphy's caper Auberon Waugh • Lourdes, High Pyrenees O ne must not gloat. A week of pilgrim- age to this Marian shrine with 575 Catholics from the north of England —...

Page 7

The forgery trail

The Spectator

Timothy Garton Ash Berlin A s Stern magazine accuses its own star-reporter of fraud, two major questions about the 'Hitler diaries' remain to be answered. 'Whodunnit?' is the...

Page 8

Two kinds of truth

The Spectator

Andrew Brown Stockholm There are two words for 'Truth' in 1 Russian: 'Istina', which means 'What actually is', and 'Pravda', which has more the sense of 'What ought to be'....

Page 10

Cowboys and computers

The Spectator

Richard West Tucson, Arizona A the 'Old Tucson' village built nearby for the filming of movie and TV westerns, the tourists are able to watch each afternoon a re-creation of...

Page 14

The sandmen of Knutsford

The Spectator

Roy Kerridge A day of unending dreariness, grey clouds and shuttered shops, the new May Bank Holiday seemed to stretched into eternity. Some London parks held People's...

Page 15

One hundred years ago

The Spectator

The French are furious under an idea that the British Government is favouring the construction of a British Canal through the Isthmus of Suez. They think the credit of their...

Page 16

More victims of Yalta

The Spectator

David Carlton F or some years I have felt uneasy about 1' the way in which a number of publicists have raged against the British wartime policy of forcibly returning Russian...

Page 18

The press

The Spectator

Rupert of the Rhine Paul Johnson O n the occasion of its 10,000th edition, the Observer received an unexpected birthday present in the total disarray of its chief competitor...

Page 23

Lichen lore

The Spectator

Sir: It is pleasing to read townsman Roy Kerridge being observant of the countryside on his trip to the Hebrides (7 May). He should be informed, however, that the lichens he saw...

The cost of broadcasting

The Spectator

Sir: In his article 'Room for improvement' (7 May) on the Government's proposals for cable, Paul Johnson asks: 'If it is right to charge people to see, for example, the Grand...

Lapsed

The Spectator

Sir: Mr Mugger idge doubts the religious ap- plication of Graham Greene's reported self- d escription in 'a small miracle of grace for We who are semi-lapsed' (23 April). But...

Pornuclear

The Spectator

Sir: James Hughes-Onslow in his admirable report (30 April) draws attention to the goings-on of Professor Singer at al at the Monash Bioethics Centre. I wonder what he thinks...

Old hotels

The Spectator

Sir: Richard West is able to assure Walter Kendall that the Moskva Hotel still func- tions in Belgrade. So too does Sofia's Hotel Bulgaria. Like the Pera Palace in Istanbul it...

Liverpuddle

The Spectator

Sir: Eric Heffer's article defending Liver- pool against Richard West (16 April) is a fine example of the sentimentality that has replaced thought among Labour politi- cians. To...

Letters

The Spectator

Boer war baby Sir: I so enjoyed Arthur Marshall's review Of Dr Cottle's book Names (7 May) which, I n turn, I expect to enjoy. I wonder if either gentleman has ever encountered...

Page 24

Books

The Spectator

Forty thousand molehills John Stewart Collis Man and the Natural World: Changing Attitudes in England 1500-1800 Keith Thomas (Allen Lane £14.95) W hen a professor gives...

Page 25

Madness and authority

The Spectator

Anthony Thwaite Robert Lowell: A Biography Ian Hamilton (Faber & Faber £12.50) I rk 1966 Robert Lowell remarked in a letter: 'John B. in his mad way keeps talking about...

Page 26

Stories galore

The Spectator

Marghanita Laski Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter Mario Vargas Llosa (Faber £7.95) T he belief that the craft of narrative fic- tion is alive, well, and putting on flesh in...

Page 27

Ali in love

The Spectator

Francis King Porky Deborah Moggach (Cape £7.95) S ince the days of the Pharaohs, the Cenci and Byron, incest has come down in the world. Like bingo, dog-racing, going on...

A hero of our time

The Spectator

John Jolliffe Memoirs Petro G. Grigorenko Translated by Thomas P. Whitney (Harvill Press £15) I n the years between 1967 and 1977 General Grigorenko was the most for- nudable...

Page 28

Lady Flabella

The Spectator

Elizabeth Jenkins Silver Fork Society 1814-1840 Alison Aldburgham (Constable £12.50) w eek by week the Radio Times batters the readers' consciousness with a new wave of...

Page 29

'Give 'm hell'

The Spectator

Louis Heren Tumultuous Years Robert J. Donovan (Norton £13.95) I can think of no other American president who was savaged as much as Harry Truman. Andrew Johnson, who...

Page 30

Cricket

The Spectator

Alan Gibson Wisden 1983 Edited by John Woodcock (Macdonald £9.95, £8.95) T he editor of Wisden has been putting on a little weight lately. Only last week one of my...

David Williams

The Spectator

D avid Williams, who died last week aged 73, will be much missed in the Spec- tator offices. Every week or two, he would shamble in to see if there was a book worth reviewing, a...

Page 31

Dance

The Spectator

On the move Julie Kavanagh I n the Red Book (so called because it looks like a Covent Garden programme) the indispensable travel-performance- rehearsal-schedule-cum-Baedecker...

Arts

The Spectator

Slaughterhouse Gavin Stamp Alfred Waterhouse 1830-1905 (Heinz Gallery) Alfred Waterhouse 1830-1905 (Heinz Gallery) A fred Waterhouse continues to present Problems of...

Peter Ackroyd will resume his cinema column next week.

The Spectator

Page 32

Theatre

The Spectator

Doctrinaire Giles Gordon The Body (RSC: The Pit) The Adventures of Jasper Ridley (Half Moon) Mister° Buffo (Riverside Studios) West (Donmar Warehouse) Tbsen memorably said...

Page 33

Art

The Spectator

Hot cakes John McEwen Bruce McLean: recent sculptures and paintings (Whitechapel Art Gallery till 5 June) Terry Atkinson: work 1977 — 1983 (Whitechapel Art Gallery till 5...

Page 34

High life Hanky-panky Taki

The Spectator

New York I n the late autumn of 1976 the senior Senator from Massachusetts arrived m Athens, Greece, accompanied by his usua l large entourage as well as his nephew, Joe. The...

Television

The Spectator

Predictable Richard Ingrams M ichael Foot was due to appear on Pan- orama on Monday, the day on which Mrs Thatcher finally gave away the Election Date. The announcement came as...

Page 35

Low life

The Spectator

Dear Diary Jeffrey Bernard I Was deeply disappointed that Hitler's diaries turned out to be fakes but I wasn't in the least surprised. He was far too u nstable, I thought, to...

Postscript

The Spectator

On women P. J. Kavanagh I n an apparently authoritative article on the treatment of schizophrenia there was the following astonishing remark: ... the fact that women run a...

Page 36

No. 1266: The winners

The Spectator

Jaspistos reports: Competitors were asked for riddles (with answers) in the same 1.0 :,_ 113 as 'Why is a raven like a writing-desk?, me bird and the domestic object varying...

Competition

The Spectator

No. 1269: Night thoughts Set by Jaspistos: At Grangewood School (the setting of the current West End PIO Daisy Pulls It Off) one of the subjects. for the Poetry Competition is...

Chess

The Spectator

Wonder women Raymond Keene Dia Cramling has dominated news about women's chess ever since her exploits at last year's Lloyds Bank Masters. During the Lucerne Olympiad even...

Page 37

Solution to 604: What's in a name?

The Spectator

002VNtrIFJELL , A , ONIA1P C R . 0:S 0 rr E Gk.% HIEII NI' E 0 E_ LI E I OsEj EI FIROUGHYEELLSIAi S 8 . 714 P T 1 RIO L L OWED R 1'6 U L A T HOOFUS: I E R A R6 PFbrA V...

Crossword 607

The Spectator

A prize of ten pounds will be awarded for the first correct solution Opened on 31 May. Entries to: Crossword 607, The Spectator, 56 Doughty Street, London WelN 2LL. 1...

Page 38

Portrait of the week

The Spectator

T he Prime Minister put an end to tedious conjecture in the press by asking the Queen's permission to dissolve Parliament on Friday so that a general election may be held on 9...

Books Wanted

The Spectator

THE WAY OF INDIVIDUATION by Jolande Jacobi. Mrs Pickering, 21 Lielfield Drive, Ledgley Park, Prestwick, Manchester. Tel: 061 798 9582 eves or weekends. THE COMING RACE by Lord...