Page 3
Portrait of the week
The Spectatoraudi Arabia reduced its oil production 1. - 1 1 by 15 per cent and Britain cut North Sea oil by $4 a barrel, hoping OPEC would follow suit. After the European Court of Human...
Page 4
Political commentary
The SpectatorA Budget for whom? Ferdinand Mount W e have in prospect next week a curi- osity: a Conservative Budget design- ed to fool the Conservative Party. Most Budgets introduced by...
Page 5
Notebook
The SpectatorT o beat or not to beat: that has been the question of the week. It arose first after the closure of a Church of England school to Toxteth, Liverpool, where children aged ° Illy...
Subscribe
The SpectatorUK Eire Suttee mail Air mail 6 months: £12.00 £13.00 £14.50 £18.50 One year: £24.00 £26.00 £29.00 £37.00 US subscription price: $65.00 (Cheques to be made payable to the...
Page 6
Another voice
The SpectatorMr Freeman's plaint 1 Auberon Waugh O n several occasions in the last few years I have written about the operation of the libel laws in this country. My particular complaint...
Page 7
The ruthless Mugabe
The SpectatorGeoffrey Wheatcroft A nd so 'that duplicitous bastard' (General Haig) 'Lord carry-on-selling the white-man-down-the-river' (the Johan- nesburg Citizen), Her Britannic Majesty's...
Page 8
The terrorist disconnection
The SpectatorDobson Payne g asser Arafat, the perpetual leader of 1 the Palestine Liberation Organisation, has amazed both his friends and enemies by a sudden decision to stop free...
Page 9
Afghanistan: no going back
The SpectatorNick Downie A ghanistan is, or rather was, a very beautiful country, and the road which leads to the Khyber pass from Kabul, the capital city, twists through spectacular...
Page 11
Confucius in the cockpit
The SpectatorMurray Sayle E ven in these dark days le tout Tokyo has other things to talk about besides Poland, unemployment and the trade gap. At the moment, Japanese are more con- cerned...
Page 13
Poland and the US Left
The SpectatorChristopher Hitchens T own Hall on West Forty-Third Street has been the favourite meeting place of the New York Left for many years. A few nights ago there was a gathering...
Page 14
Those rebel Presbyterians
The SpectatorRichard West Belfast T his week's by-election in South Belfast has turned into a contest between two churchmen: the Rev Martin Smyth, of the Presbyterian Church and the Official...
Page 15
Testing times ahead
The SpectatorAlan Gibson I t is true that the English tour to South Africa was a well-kept secret, though there was no particular reason why it should have been. It is hard to see what...
Page 16
Will Jim fix it?
The SpectatorTim Congdon S ocial Democrat economic policy has not been much criticised. Until recently the omission was not surprising. There were hardly any ideas to which the label...
Page 18
The press
The SpectatorQuis custodiet? Paul Johnson T he Glasgow Hillhead by-election should give us the first indication of whether the SDP has staying power, and, in so do- ing, put to the test...
Page 19
In the City
The SpectatorAmersham Unitd Tony Rudd S ooner or later it had to happen. The mechanism of the London new issue market works on a feast or famine basis. Either an issue is a success, in...
One hundred years ago
The SpectatorA determined attempt was made on Thursday to murder the Queen. As her Majesty, seated in a close carriage, was driving from Windsor Station to the Castle, a poorly-dressed man,...
Page 20
Art and industry
The SpectatorSir: I was saddened to see my friend Gavin Stamp mixing viciousness with ignorance in equal measures in his commentary on the `Art and Industry' exhibition in the Spec- tator...
SDP in Oxford
The SpectatorSir: I fear Alexander Chancellor (Notebook, 20 February) has been seriously ,misled by the Master of Peterhouse's perhaps understandable ignorance of the strength and popularity...
Waiting for the evidence
The SpectatorSir: Could I, through you, ask your cor- respondent Richard West to reveal, if he can, his basis in fact for writing (20 February): 'Nor do the Northern Irish Presbyterians much...
Dungeons and Dragons
The SpectatorSir: In her review of Mazes and Monsters by Rona Jaffe (6 February), Harriet Waugh finds the idea of the game Mazes and Monsters 'hard to believe' and that, 'If you are able to...
One against Hitler
The SpectatorSir: Max Hastings, in his review of Pierre Galante's book (13 February), errs when he states that there was never any potential assassin in the ranks of the German armed forces...
The case of the missing son
The SpectatorSir: Your reviewer Harriet Waugh ought at least to read the books which she damns with faint praise (27 February). Ngaio Marsh's detective Roderick Alleyn has in son Ricky, who...
Letters
The SpectatorArms against hijacking Sir: The recent hijacking has once again called into question the ability of security services to provide adequate scrutiny of passengers to determine...
Page 21
BOOKS
The SpectatorThe new Counter-Reformation A. N. Wilson A fter the election of Albino Luciani to the papacy in August 1978, Cardinal Hume expressed his certainty that this was the Pope chosen...
THIS WEEK'S CONTRIBUTORS
The SpectatorEric Christiansen is the author of The Northern Crusades and the translator of Saxo Grammaticus. Kathleen Raine's collected poems were published last year. Her many books...
Page 22
Noseman
The SpectatorEric Christiansen rr wenty years ago, Mr Knecht of Birm- ingham began writing the history of King Francis 1 of France. Mr Knecht was a lecturer in French history at the...
Page 23
A bustard
The SpectatorP. J. Kavanagh Religion and the One Frederick Copleston (Search Press £10.50) Religion and the One Frederick Copleston (Search Press £10.50) O ne would not think highly of a man...
Cornish swan
The SpectatorKathleen Raine A Life: Collected Poems A. L. Rowse (William Blackwood, Edinburgh £9.95) D r A. L. Rowse, distinguished scholar, notable Oxford personality, often em- battled...
Books Wanted
The SpectatorMRS OLIPHANT, Annals of a Publishing House, (Blackwood), Vols 1 and 2. Milne, 2, The Crofts, Corbridge, Northumberland. GD. CON. FOLIO SOCIETY TITLES. Burns, 15 Lilley Drive,...
Page 24
Pan-Germanism
The SpectatorA. L. Rowse Evangelist of Race: The Germanic vision of Houston Stewart Chamberlain G. G. Field (Columbia University Press £14.50) I have always wanted to know about Houston...
Page 25
Regency
The SpectatorDavid Williams oing through the index of this intermittently delightful book is like going through the index to Debrett or the Almanach de Gotha. (I am not a deep stu- dent of...
Frailty
The SpectatorKathy O'Shaughnessy Novels teach the youthful mind 1 NI to sigh after happiness that never ex- isted° wrote Oliver Goldsmith reprovingly. In the late 18th-century bored young...
Page 26
ARTS
The SpectatorEmotional weight Rodney Milnes The Bartered Bride (WNO, Cardiff) Commedia (NOC, Sadler's Wells) T he Bartered Bride (1866) pre-dates The Mastersingers by two years, though it...
Page 27
Dance
The SpectatorWorld-weary? Jann Parry 1\jureyev is back with the Royal Ballet, 1 20 years to the day since he first danc- ed with the company after defecting to the West. He is just on 44 —...
Page 28
Theatre
The SpectatorTour de farce Mark Amory Noises Off (Lyric, Hammersmith) Edward H (Round House) The Housekeeper (Apollo) N oises Off is the funniest play in London, entirely suitable for...
Cinema
The SpectatorSoft history Peter Ackroyd Reds ('AA', selected cinemas) T his is a film about John Reed.. John who? Well John Reed was an American journalist who combined statistics with...
Page 29
Magick
The SpectatorDuncan FaHowell The Number of the Beast (Bush) T hanks to a Bicentennial Fellowship at the New York Theatre Studio, Snoo Wilson has been able to revise his play about Aleister...
Page 30
Television
The SpectatorFlawed Richard Ingrams L ike Barry Norman, Robert Robinso n does too much television for his own good. (He should perhaps bear in mind „ a wise saying of the late Maurice...
Art
The SpectatorGoing Dutch John McEwen D utch art is to the fore of the contem- porary London scene just now with large exhibitions by two of Holland's most highly considered practitioners:...
Page 31
High life
The SpectatorPrimrose path Taki New York M y second wife's second boyfriend was a left-leaning lawyer by the name of Francois Moreuil. Like most left-leaning people Francois liked the...
Low life
The SpectatorTrue colours Jeffrey Bernard D eaders of this column will, I hope, be .1\relieved to hear that I have decided not to apply for the editorship of the New Statesman. Like most...
Page 32
Competition entries
The SpectatorTo enable competitors to economise on postage, entries for one or more weeks of the competition and crossword may be posted together under one cover addressed 'Competition...
No. 1205: The winners
The SpectatorJaspistos reports: Competitiors were asked for an extract from an imaginary Encyclo- paedia of Useless Knowledge. 'Recently,' complained Ellen Brigwell in a postscript to her...
Competition
The SpectatorNo. 1208: Marriage lines Set by Jaspistos: You are invited to write a poem (maximum 16 lines) offering advice to a young person about to get married. Entries to 'Competition...
Page 33
Solution to 544: Grounded
The Spectator1110 ito1111 11 1111r 1 OME N 0 19 11 113P 1 LWOW' OPE UP Inallinfil EMU leir mi nakill ill o ki li n 11 111113 61 tinn M I 1113 11 13/ 1111 112 CM MI II le BMW', Wtat1 11...
Crossword 547
The SpectatorA prize of ten pounds will be awarded for the first correct solution opened on 22 March. Entries to: Crossword 547, The Spectator, 56 Doughty Street, London %WIN 211.. to...
Chess
The SpectatorBete grise Andrew Whiteley K arpov is not just world champion. He is also by far the most successful chess- Player in the world. This dual claim could not be made by any of...