Foreign fields and home truths

First, know thyself. Before adventuring on foreign fields,

Letters

Think of England James Hawes’s “England: the nation

The NHS backlog

To tackle the mountain of postponed treatment, reward, retain—and resist the urge to tinker, says John Hall

Critical race theory

This scholarly field has recently felt populist heat, explains Rebecca Liu

In fact

From 1994 to 2014, the number of swearwords

The Cabinet

The bootlicking incompetents at today’s top table might look better tomorrow, argues Tim Bale

Superpowered property

S uperheroes in comics and on screen can

Afghanistan’s cultural heart

This wondrous Afghan city once rivalled Florence for splendour, says CPW Gammell. Can it survive the Taliban?

Workers of the world, unionise!

As our working lives are changing, so are trade unions, explains David McAllister

Is China now the enemy?

YES The very word “enemy” is now taboo;

NEMESIS Why the west was doomed to lose in Afghanistan

And why it could be doomed for good—unless we learn from this catastrophic occupation unmoored from reality

Towards a real feminist foreign policy

“White men saving brown women from brown men” was never going to work. But more serious efforts are at least being made being made to apply feminist thought to international relations. In time, they can actually help us avoid more tragedies like Afghanistan

Who we missed...

Strikingly, we chose very few economists for our

Year of the doers

Specialist, diverse and—more than anything—practical, Prospect readers’ selection

Top thinker 2021— winner revealed: Jacob Hanna Embryologist

In our last issue, in consultation with myriad experts, we identified the world’s top 50 thinkers. We then threw it over to you—our readers— to vote online. Thousands of you did, and the results are in

Failing the test

Another summer of exam chaos has revealed anew how English education somehow manages to combine narrowness, neurosis, inequality and a lack of rigour. Proper assessment is important, but as things stand, pupils are suffering pointless pain

Something new, something blue

Tory Tees Valley mayor, Ben Houchen, embodies our political realignment. Sebastian Payne explains how his pragmatic, hands-on economics can lend substance to Boris Johnson’s agenda

The Green surge

A century ago, the challenges of the age were answered by working-class parties breaking the political mould. Today, environmentalists have the chance to do the same

The allergy epidemic

Children are increasingly being diagnosed with life-threatening allergies. It is a nightmare for parents, but a cure may be on the way

Darkness visible

Paula Rego has unflinchingly channelled the anger of her times. Now in her eighties, the artist shows no sign of stopping

What it’s like to be... A moth

Just like us, they taste, hear and remember. But in such weird ways as to set the mind a-flutter

Arrival of the enigma

A new biography circles WG Sebald’s obsessions with Germany’s past and the perils of emigration, but leaves the writer’s essential mystery intact, writes Benjamin Markovits

Home truths

A housing lawyer’s Dickensian account of navigating the benefits system on behalf of his clients puts a human face on a crisis, finds Anna Minton

Saved by the bankers

During the pandemic central banks averted a financial collapse. But they can’t admit how they did it, says Duncan Weldon

Click and recollect

Sally Rooney’s curiously aloof, web-saturated writing might have won her thousands of devoted fans, but it leaves Freya Johnston cold

Books in brief

Democracy Rules by Jan-Werner Müller (Allen Lane, £20)

Recommends

Classical Alexandra Coghlan Víkingur Ólafsson: Mozart & Contemporaries

Economics and investment

Megan Greene The analyst Inflated fears A key

Policy report: Working life

What’s the right response as companies “go remote” for good?

The Generalist by Didymus

ACROSS 1 Harm or abuse (12) 7

Enigma by Barry R Clarke No pane no gain

In the east end of London, the Kleaning-Right-And-Proper

X marks the spot

Overlooked in the raging battle of the ages, Gen Xers might just hold the key to a truce

Brief encounter.

David Hare Playwright What is the first news