The new English literature The award this week of the Booker Prize to Williamn Golding, for his novel Rites of Passage. marks the welcome recognition of an English novelist...

Political commentary Nearly drowned man surfaces Ferdinand Mount The melon-fac.e pfeers rouln1d the door wnith the old hallf- siliulf. halt-evpcish expression on it. Mr (...

Notebook Colonel Gaddafi is a major shareholder in La Stampa, the Italian newspaper which has links with the London Times. This is because he is the second largest shareholder...

Another voice Somerset's universal pig-sty Auberon Waugh 'Bovine. philistine nonsense . was how NIr Matthew Waley-Cohen, a senior and respected member of Somerset's Education...

Reagan loses the initiative Henry Fairlie W14ashilngtofl Alrnost all elections develop their own and Often unexpected life, because in the end they tell us something which we...

The angry electorate Nicholas von Hoffman Wtas/I ingi8tOnl The atmosphere here is of spring come too early. of a humid wind blowing before anybody wants it, the kind of air...

The new Berlin wall Tim Garton Ash Berlilz No one predicted that East Germany would start buryilng inter-German detente on the da\ after the West German election. The shocked...

An Australian episode Uavid Butler It was a connoisseur's election. No great iSsues were at stake and, in the end, the incumbent government got back with a comfortable...

The collapse of the prisons Jennifer Monahan The prison officers' action, now in its third week, is causing heavy loss of revenue from the prisons' industrial workshops, which...

In the City Mrs Thatcher's good fortune Tony Rudd The latest economic news is good for the Government. The country is currently earning large surpluses on its balance of...

When Scotland came to Rome Sir: I was rather surprised at Alexander Chancellor's reference to Macbeth as 'unloved' (Notebook, 18 October). What mediaeval sources there are seem...

The joys of fidelity Sir: Mr Auberon Waugh has it nearly right (18 October). When the Pope declared that husbands who look lustfully at their wives commit adultery in their...

A moderate filly Sir: One must hope that Mr St John Stevas's filly, Empress Carlotta (NoteboOks 11 October), fares better than her namesake. She reportedly went mad after being...

Letters The licence to print Sir: Mr Tony Rudd's admirable proposal to sell off the Bank of England (11 October) leaves out of account the Bank's best business and most...

Old Contemptibles , Sir: I was surprised by Peter Nichol'S assertion that 'tbe"old contemptibles'lived on because of a misinterpreted phrase froml the German emperor' (18...

Phrases and slogans Sir: The rhetoric which no doubt finds favour with Mr Enoch Powell's constituents in South Down is insufficient in the Spectator ( 1 October). Most of your...

Aggressive moderate ha. Murray Rothbard Counting our Blessings: Reflections on the Future of America Daniel Patrick Moynihan (Secker £7.95) the Publishing industry has been...

Restless wanderer Richard West Ways of Escape Graham Greene (Bodley Head £6.95) This second volume of (iraham (reene's memoirs is largely composed of introduCtions he wrote....

Bubble and squeak Taki Theodoracopulos Maria: Beyond the Callas Legend Arian- "1a Stassinopoulos (Weidenfeld £8.50) Maria Callas was without doubt one of the greatest opera...

Soft on Hitler Hugh Cecil Fellow Travellers of the Right: British Enthusiasts for Nazi Germany Richard Griffiths (Constable £12.50) One day early in the second World war,...

Lost empire ?M J.G. Links The Venetian Empire: A Sea Voyage Jan Morris (Faber £9.50) There was little that the Venetian Empire had in common with the British Empire...

Life and times Francis King Earthly Powers Anthony Burgess ( 'Hutch- inson £6.95) Anthony Burgess has always been brilliant at beginnings. 'It was the afternoon of my 81st...

Too many trees Rodney. Mines Arabella (Coliseum) IOsca (Theatre Royal, Glasqow) Lucia di Lammermor (Covent Garden) Jonathan Miller's production of Arabella for the...

Theatre Insights Bryan Robertson The Importance of Being Earnest (Old Vic) Enjoy (Vaudeville) The Romans in Britain (Olivier) Worthing is hardlv renovvned for wit orsparkle...

Cinema Soft porn Peter Ackroyd The Blue Lagoon ('AA' selected cinemas) This is. the poster tells us. lone s nat IUre intended it to he': the film credits are in ai...

Television Flaptu re Richard Ingrams 1-lw to convey to readers my intense excitement and delight when walking iollrnfully through the drizzle down Shaftesbury avenue last...

Postscript Caged Patrick Marnham If there were a successor to Jonathan Swift alive today he might make something of a comparison between the modern prison and the modern zoo....