17 DECEMBER 1988

Page 4

PORTRAIT OF THE WEEK

The Spectator

Act of God A rush-hour rail crash near Clapham Junction, south London, left 33 people dead and 113 injured. It was attributed to a faulty signal circuit. Common Market ministers...

Page 5

The Spectator, 56 Doughty Street, London WC1N 2LL Telephone 01-405

The Spectator

1706; Telex 27124; Fax 242 0603 TIME FOR ICONOCLASM AINT RAISA' gasped the banner headline on the front page of Monday's Today. Underneath was a huge photo- graph of Mrs...

THE SPECNOR

The Spectator

SUBSCRIBE TODAY — Save 15% on the Cover Price! RATES 12 Months 6 Months UK 0 £49.50 El £26.00 Europe (airmail) 0 £60.50 0 £31.00 USA Airspeed 0 US 199 0 US$50 Rest of Airmail...

Page 6

POLITICS

The Spectator

Mr Gorbachev announces a birth: will Pinochet be the godfather? NOEL MALCOLM E ND (the journal of the European Nuclear Disarmament movement) had a cover picture earlier this...

Page 7

DIARY G. M. TAMAS

The Spectator

T he most interesting news to come out of England this year — apart from the two dons who actually came to blows over the merits of Moll Flanders, splendid fellows — was the...

Page 8

ANOTHER VOICE

The Spectator

'It appears to have been a mugging which went tragically wrong' AUBERON WAUGH I have been haunted by a sentence which I read in the Sun on Saturday. My country edition led...

Page 9

THE CRACKS IN THE ICON OF GORBACHEV

The Spectator

Mr Gorbachev has appointed himself the evangelist ' earthquake has shown up his weakness and intolerance Moscow THE passage of a new, ostensibly more democratic, constitution...

Page 10

One hundred years ago

The Spectator

WE have received three or four letters complaining that we have not noticed Lord Salisbury's blunder at Edinburgh in calling Mr Dadabhai Nourojee a 'black' man. It is not our...

Page 11

A GANGPLANK FOR THE BOAT PEOPLE

The Spectator

Peter Gill reports on the British repatriation policy for those who escape Vietnam EVER since North Vietnamese tanks rol- led into Saigon and the last anti-communist president...

Page 12

WITCH-HUNTERS SABOTAGED

The Spectator

Mark Almond recounts an attempt to stop academics discussing Hitler and Stalin `APPARENTLY this man compares Hitler with Stalin.' That was not Erich Honeck- er's outraged...

Page 13

A STRIKING MUDDLE

The Spectator

Diana Geddes on the current confusion and disorder in France Paris 'WHO would have thought that we would see a Socialist government bringing in the police and the army to help...

Page 15

THE DISSENT OF MOUNT CARMEL

The Spectator

Christopher Howse examines the case of the nuns who are holding out for a harder life THE black and white of a nun's habit behind a heavy-barred grille made a good photograph...

Page 16

WHY BRITAIN IS NO DEMOCRACY

The Spectator

Anthony Barnett explains why Charter 88 should be a rallying point BRITAIN is a gloriously democratic coun- try was the reply from Downing Street to an American reporter who...

Page 19

WITHIN A CITY WALL

The Spectator

Wallace Clark looks at the 300th anniversary of the siege of Londonderry There is a green hill far away. Without a city wall, Where the dear Lord was crucified, Who died to...

Page 25

BANGING THE BINS OF HISTORY

The Spectator

the United States giving Gorby more than his due THE events taking place in the world today are sufficiently striking in them- selves, I should have thought, to make hyperbole...

The Spectator regrets that it has now sold out of

The Spectator

diaries for 1989

Page 27

Wilcox's winner INMOS is the most successful privatisation there has

The Spectator

ever been — successful for us as the sellers, that is. This magical electronic chip-shop, set up in the days when govern- ments thought they could spot industries on which the...

Goodwill written off

The Spectator

NO wonder the City has been plunged into seasonal gloom and is purging goodwill from its balance-sheets. Goodwill (this is my contribution to accountancy) is the difference...

Seasonal fluctuations

The Spectator

NEW from City and Suburban this year is a selection of useful and acceptable gifts. (I prefer this 'genteel phrase to the Financial Times's nouveau-riche heading, 'How to spend...

CITY AND SUBURBAN

The Spectator

The Government kicks the dog to teach its inflated cat a lesson CHRISTOPHER FILDES h is week brings the figures the Chan- cellor tells us to watch. The Retail Prices Index...

Page 30

THE ECONOMY

The Spectator

The sting what does the good JOCK BRUCE-GA RDYNE Mr Lawson's sentiments precisely, I imagine. Sales advertisements appearing in Oxford Street even before the Christmas...

Page 31

LETTERS

The Spectator

Hospital malaise Sir: In Jock Bruce-Gardyne's article `Mr Lawson buys off the dentists and opticians' (5 November), he expects but derides the probability that all the £2...

Sir: Nikolai Tolstoy is right to dwell in detail on

The Spectator

the fate of Cossacks and others repatriated to certain death in the USS1k. at the end of the war; however, this should be less to ascribe blame than to learn the lessons of...

Chinese history

The Spectator

Sir: It's good to see Auberon Waugh (Another voice, 19 November) taking an interest in Chinese affairs, but I'm sorry that he has swallowed the guff about '5,000 years of...

Party and religion

The Spectator

Sir: Your correspondence about bringing British national parties into the Northern Ireland arena raises the question, 'Who and how many are the Catholic unionists in the...

War crimes

The Spectator

Sir: Alistair Home excoriates Nikolai Tol- stoy for 'all the trouble he had caused' (Letters, 19 November) but he has no harsh words for successive British governments which...

World Service

The Spectator

Sir: When I read John Tusa's letter to you (3 December) about the World Service I thought at first that I had strayed to the pages of the New Statesman. Obviously Tusa will...

Page 32

Practice

The Spectator

Sir: In your leading article 'To be precise' (19 November) I was pleased to read once again in your pages a plea for the English language. The sentence which struck me most...

Dothekids

The Spectator

Sir: The article by Alexandra Artley (`Kids' Stuffing', 12 November), in which she praises the idea of teaching the mean- ing of words alongside their practical application,...

Scripture knowledge

The Spectator

Sir: Kingsley Amis suggests that his 'Pro- ject Outlawing Tintinnabulation In Pubs, Hotels And Restaurants' would be im- possible because nobody has heard of Potiphar (`Sod the...

Staggering

The Spectator

Sir: As an ordinand in training for the priesthood at one of the 'frightful' theolo- gical colleges collectively condemned by Ferdinand Mount in his review of Dr Gareth...

Six-footer

The Spectator

Sir: Some of the hexameters in your competition (5 November) were ingenious. Nash was right, though: The Hexamiter verse I graunt to be a Gentleman of an auncient house (so is...

Bodily functions

The Spectator

Sir: My 13-year-old daughter would like to point out to Auberon Waugh (Another voice, 26 November) that it is a nonsense to refer to a 'two-parent-but-no-children household'. Is...

Wee Frees

The Spectator

Sir: It is right to point out (Diary, 12 November) that the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland, to which the Lord Chancellor belongs, is not the 'Wee Frees'. But the church...

`...and statistics'

The Spectator

SPEAKING of sheets, did you know that Andrex sell enough toilet paper each year to build Mount Everest? (Epson photocopier advertisement, the Guardian, 28 September). Have...

Page 33

BOOKS

The Spectator

An agonist who ran to suffering David Gilmour F ew people have been subjected to such extremes of judgment as T. E. Lawrence. Churchill regarded him as 'one of the greatest...

Page 34

Ivory tower goes into orbit

The Spectator

John Biffen THATCHERISM S hortly we reach the tenth anniversary of Margaret Thatcher's Conservative gov- ernment. There is a veritable growth indus- try in publications...

Page 35

Lying under the greenwood tree

The Spectator

Frances Spalding A RING OF CONSPIRATORS: HENRY JAMES AND HIS LITERARY CIRCLE, 1895-1915 by Miranda Seymour Hodder & Stoughton, £17.95 pp.327 H enry James's asssociation with...

Explaining the undead

The Spectator

Anthony Daniels VAMPIRES, BURIAL AND DEATH by Paul Barber Yale, £14.95, pp.224 T here is a je ne sais quoi about death. Young doctors soon come to recognise it, even without...

AMONG NEXT WEEK'S CONTRIBUTORS John Bayley on naval warfare Raynaond

The Spectator

Carr on sporting art Max Egremont on English country houses

Page 36

Billiards and curling win

The Spectator

John McEwen SPORT AND THE ARTIST, VOLUME I: BALL GAMES by Mary Ann Wingfield The Antique Collectors Club, £29.95, pp. 359 B all games, on the evidence of this book, have not...

Page 37

More than a Green Mouth

The Spectator

David Profumo FORGOTTEN LIFE by Brian Aldiss Gollancz,111.95, pp.284 T hey hate me!', cries Sheila, the phenomenally successful author of science fantasy, as she reads her...

Prying is a pleasure

The Spectator

Francis King A MIND AT EASE: BARBARA PYM AND HER NOVELS by Robert Liddell Peter Owen, .£13.95, pp.143 R obert Liddell, now in his 81st year, was a close friend of four of the...

Page 38

Humorous Books

The Spectator

Failures more attractive than success Richard Ingrams W hat an opportunity has been missed with The Essential Osbert Lancaster (Bar- rie & Jenkins, £15.95, pp.192)! Someone...

Page 39

Art Books

The Spectator

Volumes at an exhibition David Ekserdjian h e most obvious way to organise the shopping list for the annual Christmas round-up of art books is chronologically, but all that...

Page 40

Born to be King, he almost was

The Spectator

Kevin Sharpe CHARLES EDWARD STUART: A TRAGEDY IN MANY ACTS by Frank McLynn Routledge, £24.95, pp. 640 I t is the legendary figures, larger than history, who are only with the...

Page 41

ARTS

The Spectator

Exhibitions 1 The rush on Russian Giles Auty Russian Paintings (Roy Miles Fine Paintings, till 22 December) Russian Paintings (Century Gallery, till 20 February) A s the...

Page 42

Theatre

The Spectator

Smelling a Rat (Hampstead) Cupboard lovers Christopher Edwards h is is the latest in a line of plays devised by Mike Leigh in collaboration with a cast. The actors are given...

Page 43

Exhibitions 2

The Spectator

Views of war Gavin Stamp W ar can inspire, or generate, great art. The Imperial War Museum surely houses one of the finest and most repre- sentative collections of...

Page 44

New York theatre

The Spectator

Rumors (Broadhurst Theatre) Farce master Douglas Colby T he initial half-hour of Rumors, Neil Simon's 23rd comedy but his first venture into farce, is moderately amusing in...

Photography Towards a Bigger Picture, Part II (V & A,

The Spectator

till 15 January) Eye- Francis Hodgson B eing a museum curator is one of those difficult professions in which the skilful marshalling of other people's talents pro- duces a...

Page 45

Pop music

The Spectator

Christmas crackers Marcus Berkmann W ith Christmas looming in its usual dispiriting way, it's time to start thinking of those records you're going to buy for yourself rather...

Page 46

Television

The Spectator

Summoned by birds Wendy Cope I . n a week of disasters I have spent several hours looking at scenes of horror and tragedy with a growing sense of inadequacy. Something in me...

High life

The Spectator

May the best queen win Taki G New York ood old Prince Philip. By pronounc- ing that wives and hookers are one and the same he said what I've been trying to tell the world...

Page 47

Low life

The Spectator

Eastern Promise Jeffrey Bernard S peaking as a man with little faith I find this whole business of Christmas one hell of an inconvenience. It must be even worse for a turkey....

Page 48

Home life

The Spectator

Nappy Christmas Alice Thomas Ellis I remember Caroline remarking once with quiet sincerity that she hadn't got a grain of cuddly granny in her. We were discussing the prospect...

Page 49

Single quinta ports

The Spectator

PORT is odd in so many ways. In Bor- deaux or Burgundy, the idea that a single vineyard wine is inferior to a blend of several vineyards runs counter to the most sacred spirit...

Page 51

Imperative Cooking:

The Spectator

HOW BIGBIG is your repertoire? My mater- nal g reat- g randmother's was 14. She oper- ated a menu which was the same every week but chan g ed from summer to winter. Festivities...

How to save yourself 51 trips to the library ..

The Spectator

. or almost £30 on The Spectator If you're forced to share The Spectator with fellow students, then you'll know how difficult it can be to track a copy down. Now you can save...

Page 52

COMPETITION

The Spectator

Tata Ltd Jaspistos I n Competition No. 1553 you were asked to write a report, after a particularly difficult assignment, by an employee of an agency which provides...

CHESS

The Spectator

Henceforward Raymond Keene I n Alan Ayckbourn's futuristic new play, whose title I have borrowed to head this week's article, at one point a character asks why humans are...

Page 53

Solution to 886: Vice squad

The Spectator

oria E ' S , T 1 . 1 ' E s S Ilia Bala nail• AE E T H nrIEICEI _fl n w A i A T 0 R E 117131 FIE 01313113121 ij al 8 E T ACMIglii!!!I ann El 0 12 I E N L D i E rt - ii c Ind A...

No. 1556: Domestic bliss

The Spectator

Sickeningly sentimental and unreal scenes of family life are associated with Victorian fiction. An extract, please (maximum 150 words), from a contemporary novel with the same...

CROSSWORD

The Spectator

A first prize of £20 and two further prizes of £10 for the first three correct solutions opened on 9 January. Entries to: Crossword 889, The Spectator, 56 Doughty Street, London...

Page 55

BOOK HERE FOR A WORLD OF TRAVEL

The Spectator

From Graham Greene at Dien Bien Phu to Peter Acicroyd in Greenland, or from John Betjeman on never having been to Venice to Jeffrey Bernard cruising in Norway, here is a...

BOOK OF CROSSWORDS

The Spectator

The Spectator enjoys a high reputation for its crosswords, which attract a large weekly postbag. This collection of 100 puzzles fea- tures the work of their three resident...