FROM THE MAGAZINE

April 2021

Low Life

My French lessons with Lord Nelson

Wearing two masks struck me as being as absurd as wearing two hats and I laughed

By Jeremy Clarke

From the Magazine

Home

Whatever happened to the heroes?

Politicians as a class are almost without exception second- or third-rate people

By Chilton Williamson, Jr.

From the Magazine

Place

Under the skin of Seville

Four hundred years have passed since Seville was the greatest and most glamorous city on earth

By Lesley Downer

From the Magazine

High Life

An elegy on the end of elegance

People ached to have a good time — to splurge, to let go

By Taki

From the Magazine

Home

Books you shouldn’t read in public

To read is to invite derision, especially if you grew up in a working-class town

By Bill Kauffman

From the Magazine

Home

The art of mourning well

Following Mum’s death, I have been staying quietly at her home on the beach in a whirlpool of memories

By Aidan Hartley

From the Magazine

The church that’s hosted the Virgin Mary, Benjamin Franklin and Hugh Grant

St Bartholomew the Great will celebrate its 900th birthday in 2023

By Tom Holland

From the Magazine

The meaning of artichoke

Artichoke came into English in the 16th century from words already obscure in their derivation

By Dot Wordsworth

From the Magazine