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No. 2 gone, No. 1 to go
The SpectatorIt is something that President Nixon has managed to find a Vice-President who (presumably) is free from the taint of corruption and malpractice and who is also politically...
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The flawed nobili of Heath at bay
The SpectatorThere is a kind of nobility about the prospect of himself the Prime Minister demonstrates. Man to himself is always a large prospect, and when a man is a ruler then the prospect...
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Wilson and the Arabs
The SpectatorSir: It seems that Mr Harold Wilson puts grievous responsibility for the recent Arab-Israeli war on Arabs only. Whose responsibility are the 1948, 1956 and 1967 wars? In 1948...
Hijacks
The SpectatorSir: Could you explain to the incredulous how you ascribe the closing of the Schanau transit camp to "piracy of the air." Or is the Chopin Express a hovertrain? W. Griffiths 22...
Market and Marxism
The SpectatorSir: C. J. Arthur (October 13) tells us to forget EEC "quibbles about the margins of national sovereignty" and to vote to keep out Labour's Marxist programme. But in a few...
Arms for Israel
The SpectatorSir: That the Foreign Office should prohibit the export of arms to the Arab aggressors is right and proper, but their denial to Israel, siirrounded by enemies and fighting for...
View from Jerusalem
The SpectatorFrom the Hon. Terence Prittie Sir: Nearly one week of war now in this place, and little sign of a quick ending. For the people of Israel it has been a week full of tragedy —...
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•
The SpectatorBattersley , saxiom Sir: We seem to be on the verge of discovering a new educational truth which in years to come may well be known as " Hattersley's Axiom." "A good potato...
Brickbat for Jenkins
The SpectatorSir: May I protest against Clive Jenkins' review of Eric Silver's book on Vic Feather (October 6)? Surely readers of The Spectator are entitled to e xpect that the reviews it...
Bouquet for Juliette
The SpectatorI hope you will not be disappointed if I say that it is my habit to turn first tO the column written by your lady racing correspondent. How encouragi ng when I saw that she had...
Double standards
The SpectatorSir: The point which Mr Philip Baker overlooks (October 13) is that Rhodesia was, and in theory still is, a British colony. Recognition of full independence would have to...
Schools' democracy
The SpectatorSir: In reply to Mr Chambers (Letters, October 6), at Kirkdale School the children do participate in making decisions about the school's central curriculum; and they don't...
Smoking •
The SpectatorSir: In my letter which you very kindly print today you have truncated the penultimate sentence which should have read: "the truth surely is that there is no such thing as a...
From Dr John A. H. Wylie
The SpectatorSir: Non sequitur and error fucatus suffuse Mr Chowdharay-Best's brief letter (13.10.73). A noble pipe of port even if, in its maturity, it were imprudently imbibed with copious...
Indivisible faith
The SpectatorFrom the Revd John H. Bishop. Sir: The reviewer of Vedanta for the Modern Man (September 8) is less than plain. He is fully entitled to express his liking of Vedanta, the...
Stoned
The SpectatorSir: While sharing Mr J. G. Watson's distaste (Letters. October 6) for pseudo, unmusica' "criticism" such as that Stones article, I feel that it's a non-sequitur for him to...
'Sir: Mr Watson sees in Duncan Fallowell's article on the
The SpectatorRolling Stones' concert the "total abnegation of the critical Function" . and the loudness of the music, he feels, is evidence of its worthlessness (Letters, October 6). Mr...
Sir: I don't follow my own remarks about Mr Fallowell's
The Spectatorears being "all but inaudible." I meant that a military band would not have rendered his ears numb. I trust he can still answer my question (or three) — he will, won't he? John...
Gruntled
The SpectatorSir: Egoistic correspondent Nicholas Twells's abreactive criticism (June 23 and October 13) might have psychotherapeutic advantages, but a pity that The Spectator should provide...
Edward Francis Burney
The SpectatorSir: I am doing research on the artist Edward Francis Burney (1760-1848) and wonder if perhaps any of your readers may have drawings, notes, letters or papers which relate to...
Defending the Dean
The SpectatorSir: It seems that to pour scorn on the Dean of St. Paul's is becoming a passport to respectability. I know nothing about the Dean's Greek scholarship, but perhaps it is no...
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A Blackpool Conference Notebook
The SpectatorIT IS appropriate when beginning a notebook devoted to the Tory conference to recall a — quoting the title of the memorial pamphlet just published by the Conservative Political...
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Political Commentary
The SpectatorAttack and counter-attack Patrick Cosgravel T he personal attack, like the argument ad hominem, is one of the most difficult weapons to use in British politics. True, harsh e...
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The Middle East
The SpectatorOptions for peace Joel Cohen As I write, the outcome of the fourth Arab—Israeli war is still unclear. The Israeli determination to survive and the Arab determination to...
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The Dalai Lama
The SpectatorDoomed leader of a doomed nation George Patterson The first ever visit of a Dalai Lama (god-king) of Tibet to the West began in Europe in September and culminates in Britain...
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Rhodesia
The SpectatorNo university discrimination C.C.G. Cumings In 1942 a Royal Commission under Mr Justice Asquith inquired into the principles which should guide the development of universities...
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Air Transport
The SpectatorFlights of fancy David W. Wragg Euro-knocking has almost become a national pastime, replacing the uncertainties of the weather and the ineptitude of politicians as topics of...
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Africa
The SpectatorOne beggar riding Molly Mortimer The unreality of African economics is epitomised in Lesotho. A mini-mountain in the Middle of South Africa, it is a nightmare of...
Motor Show Postscript
The SpectatorA car for the millenium Oliver Stewart Is there anything new? I'm beginning to doubt it. I am not thinking of our annual motor show publicity dose of ' cars of the future' but...
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Medicine
The SpectatorHow crazy can we get? John linklater For the general practitioner to give useful and wholesome advice in his counselling role as a family doctor, he must himself be guided by...
Religion
The SpectatorThe other side of the medal Martin Sullivan Enoch is a good Biblical name. ' Dedicated' is one meaning given to it. Perhaps Mr Powell's mother had some special religious hopes...
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Gardening
The SpectatorPlanting evergreens Penis Wood Unlike deciduous plants evergreens do not have a pronounced dormant period — their activities are only slowed down at low temperatures and When...
The Good Life
The SpectatorBulldog reading Pamela Vandyke Price The soft underbelly of the French gastronomic press would appear to have received a nipping from the recent feature in the Times by the...
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Juliette's Weekly Frolic
The SpectatorThoroughly disillusioned by the performance of Sky Fever, the price of Katie Cecil and the non-appearance of Silk Stocking, my fillies let me down in a big way at Ascot. In...
The way it was
The SpectatorBenny Green Not long ago Frank Swinnerton's The Georgian Literary Scene reappeared as a paperback and no doubt commended itself to all those students who in the normal run of...
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Richard Luckett on the world of J. R. R. Tolkien
The SpectatorIn a decently ordered world — a world, that is, Which comported itself according to the dictates of the better class of middlebrow fiction — it is inconceivable that in the...
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A good time for a survey
The SpectatorElaine Moss As reviewers of children's books we are in danger of becoming the least important link in the long chain between the author and the Child reader: our influence is...
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Fiction for older readers
The SpectatorIsabel Quigley T eenagers are quite a recent invention, like t elevision or astronauts; in fact I well r emember when they didn't exist. Even at the right age I was never one...
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Fiction for younger readers
The SpectatorLeon Garfield Good books for the nine to eleven year olds are thin on the ground. It would seem that the more ambitious toilers in the vineyards of Children's Literature look...
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Fiction for very young readers
The SpectatorEdward Blishen A person of that order of well-guarded gravity that sometimes comes halfway between thirty and forty caught me reading, for review, the latest (reissued) Graham...
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Fantasy and legend
The SpectatorJohn Rowe Townsend After six dormant years, the Garner volcano has erupted at last. In the fairly small (adult) world of those concerned with children's books, this has to be...
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Books of fact and information
The SpectatorPeggy Heeks While specialists on children's fiction busily contest its potential readership (Is Watership Down a book for children; are Garner and Mayne now writing for anyone...
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Paperbacks for children
The SpectatorAnne Wood The appearance of The Faber Storybook 'edited by Kathleen Lines in a cheap edition at £1.50 seemed something of a breakthrough in paperbacks at the time, about...
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Picture books
The SpectatorBrian Alderson In all the arguments and counter-arguments about children and literacy one claim generally stands unquestioned: that it is highly desirable for children to be...
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Poetry for children
The SpectatorAlan Tucker , What the child sees out of the window is an alien planet, a moonscape. It is planet earth — a dump. Some are born at home wherever they are, but many are not: the...
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Shorter Notices
The SpectatorThe Funny Little Woman Arlene Mosel (Longman £1.50) An unusual tale, for 6-8 year olds, about a little woman in old Japan who lives in a cottage cooking rice dumplings. She...
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Shirley Robin Letwin on individuality and ideology
The SpectatorLaw, Legislation and Liberty F. A. Hayek (Routledge and Kegan Paul £3.00) Reason and Compassion Richard S. Peters (Routledge and Kegan Paul £1.80) Professor Hayek and Professor...
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In which we
The Spectatorserve Peter Ackroyd Plough over the Bones David Garnett (Macmillan £2.50). Quite a Good Address Douglas Hayes (Macmillan 12.95) Nothing and a Shade John Ginger (Gollancz...
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All in the family
The SpectatorA.L. Rowse r,tie Ceeils of Hatfield House, David Cecil ( C onstable £4.50) What a pleasure it is to read a book on a really rewarding subject, by a writer who Tows how to make...
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Androgyny and languor
The SpectatorRichard Shone Burne - Jones Bill Waters and Martin Harrison (Barrie and Jenkins E10.50) It is extremely tempting to make fun of Burne-Jones but easier to really have a laugh...
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King Leviathan
The SpectatorPhilip Ziegler George IV Regent And King, Christopher Hibbert (Allen Lane £4.25) "Not a fatter fish than he Flounders round the polar sea, See his blubbers — at his gills What...
Sugar and spice
The SpectatorLlew Gardner The Devil's Decade, Claud Cockburn (Sidgwick & Jackson £3.50) Emlyn, Emlyn Williams (Bodley Head £3) Here are two books about life in the 'thirties each, one...
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Bill Platypus's
The SpectatorPaperbacks There was a Noel Coward song, in those balmy days before the war, in which the rhymes of a song were a series of variations on 'Bellini.' Now at last we can discover...
Shorter Notices
The SpectatorZiegfeld Charles Higham (W. H. Allen £2.75) Anyone curious about the origins of that familiar mythical beast, the Monstrous lmpressario, need look no further; Florenz Ziegfeld...
Bookbuyer's
The SpectatorBookend As the book trade suffers its annual dose of Book Fair purgatory in Frankfurt, the talk is of mice, men and paperbacks. The softcover shuffle certainly continues apace,...
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Christopher Hudson on deaths in Venice
The SpectatorWhen it becomes the first priority of film producers to surfeit the eye and starve the intelligence, your reviewer, punch-drunk with spec tacle, is left with little to do but...
Theatre
The SpectatorUltimate weapon - Kenneth Hurren An off-Broadway playwright named Philip Magdalany has had, in Section Nine, an idea for a little revue sketch that is both amusing and...
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Dublin Festival
The SpectatorLate Yeats rates Harold Matthews Nothing in the Dublin Festival excelled the carry-overs from previous weeks at the state-sponsored Abbey Theatre and Peacock Theatre, widely...
Opera
The SpectatorGrand tour Rodney Eines During the last opera season, five subsidised companies were on the move: Sadler's Wells, the Welsh National, Scottish Opera, the English Opera Group...
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'Television
The SpectatorOrwellian insights Clive Gammon 1 Frank Cvitanovich's moving and evocative treatment of The Road to Wigan Pier (Thames) wasn't ten minutes old when an unbidden action replay...
Art
The SpectatorHanging matter Evan Anthony Did you know that there is a college in upstate New York that offers a course in picture hanging? I learned of it the other day from a student who...
Will W aspe
The SpectatorAfter struggling with the project for a year or more, the Jesus Christ Superstar boys, Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber, have given up their attempt to make a musical out of...
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THEATRES MUSIC AND EXHIBITIONS
The SpectatorI must confess that I was most disappointed by the general critical condemnation of Mr Desmond Bradley's Violin Concerto, which was performed by the composer in its revised...
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A case for gilt-edged
The SpectatorNicholas Davenport After the unrealistic propositions of the Labour party conference it was comforting to listen to the down-to-earth talk of commonsensible and fair-minded Ted...