Patriot games in a global economy

Put out more flags! That’s the mood of the moment

If I ruled the world

If I did rule the world, no one would be

Letters

Alan Johnson describes, eloquently, the problems of the old grammar

Marks out of No. 10

Prime ministerial legacies are about party, not just country. That might save Dave

Repeal now, pay later

May is inviting MPs to trust her on Brexit. They shouldn’t

The ugliest buildings in Britain

Tastes change. But poor quality never comes into style

A supreme injustice

Women lawyers have long been abundant. Which makes our lack of female judges a scandal

Devolution beyond the big cities

Forget the London perspective. Remember outlying towns. And build homes, instead of shops

Is May for real?

We will find out in the Autumn Statement

Brexit was very scary before. It still is

He’s seen three PMs fall over Europe —and won’t say if he’ll soon see a fourth

Narcissist nation

Britain’s inflated sense of self-worth is beginning to look clinical

Grammar schools

Theresa May wants schools to pick pupils by ability. So what does the evidence reveal about her thinking?

Should it be illegal to pay for sex?

Last year it became illegal to pay for sex in

How reason got fired

Government is for the people, even conservative people. The Republicans forgot it, and Trump is the consequence that they will now have to live with, whether he loses—or wins

The roots of the rage

If you want to make sense of this insensible election year, lend a hillbilly your ear

Left, in pieces

After a lifetime of trying to find a nationwide answer to the progressive dilemma, I’ve given up

Love, factually

Many have thrown off the God delusion. The romance delusion has us in a firmer embrace

Brief Encounter

My earliest memory is of being taken to tea with

Spinning beyond Brexit

Globalisation has gone into reverse before—but don’t assume it will happen again

Little book, big story

An interest in passports is often a sign of a nationalist turn

Moscow vs Merkiavelli

The relationship between Vladimir Putin and Angela Merkel is perhaps the most important in global politics. It’s just as well she that knows his type

Running into the sand

Tumbling crude prices have pushed Saudi Arabia to the brink, and now it’s losing friends too

The mind’s eye

How John Berger’s long life in art taught us how to see

Dancing in borrowed clothes

Zadie Smith returns to home turf in her most mature novel yet, says

Splitting the Liberal difference

Nick Clegg calls for moderation, but others in his party have fiercer ideas, says Miranda Green

The curse of Winnie-the-Pooh

AA Milne grew to loathe his most famous creation, writes Lucinda Smyth

Shouting in a hurricane

A plea for more moderate political language is admirable but doomed to fail, fears Sam Leith

Books in brief

Homo Deus is the sequel to Sapiens, Yuval Noah Harari’s

What’s on this month

The emblem of the United Nations depicts a map of

Events

The Prospect Book Club meets every third Monday of the

Leith on language

Experience is hot these days. Hot, hot, hot. But it’s

Life of the mind

My patient had a dream that turned out, she thought,

Matters of taste

Cabbage White butterflies fluttered along a row of brassicas, big

Wine

When was the last time you were asked to guess

DIY investor

There can be few investment nerds anywhere who are still

The way we were

In the early 1850s immigration to the United States rose