Middle East

Why hasn’t Hamas freed its American hostages?

The terrorists have powerful incentives to delay as long as possible

By Charles Lipson

Books

The enormous humility of C.S. Lewis

How urgently the world needs his defense of what he called the Tao

By A.N. Wilson

Family

The world of future heirlooms

The nature of our here-today-gone-tomorrow culture is amplifying people’s innate desire for connection to things that are unchanging

By Teresa Mull

LATEST

Sports

Why America’s top TV networks are banking on English soccer

‘It sure seems like there are more red-blooded Americans patrolling our streets in Arsenal and Liverpool shirts these days. There certainly are more people tuning in to watch matches from England’s top league, too’

By Jack Holmes

Middle East

Netanyahu’s plan to keep the West on his side

He is too petrified of his extremist partners to deliver a serious plan for the future of Gaza

By Anshel Pfeffer

Ireland’s anti-immigration rioting?

This is not the Dublin of Guinness and glass palaces housing tech companies

By Andrew McQuillan

The Spectator’s 2023 Holiday Gift Guide

The staff and writers help you stuff your stockings

By The Spectator

Go ahead, fight a little on the holidays

Our goal shouldn’t be to stifle scuffles, but to have a little fun with them

By Tim Rice

Poland and Hungary learn different lessons

The Polish elections offered another blow to a Polish-Hungarian relations

By Will Collins

CULTURE

Book Review

Orbital: a story of life in space

Samantha Harvey demonstrates how binary divisions are at once meaningless and alive with hidden complexities. She invites us to step away from the choice between despair or hope for our future and embrace the creative potential of them together

By Emily Rhodes

Books

The Spectator’s 2023 Books of the Year

Our writers weigh in

By The Spectator

In praise of Hallmark Christmas movies

There is not enough football on TV not to get drawn into the Countdown to Christmas

By Daniel Darling

Comics

Comic Con with a Shakespearean twist

‘Even when the story is dark, Superman still stands for something — and we need more good guys like that’

By William Newton

Book Review

The life of the revolutionary Albrecht Dürer

In his new book, Philip Hoare moves beyond his own hand to make something reckless, marvelous and unforgettable

By Horatio Clare

Theater

The birth, death and rebirth of American Psycho: The Musical

In the year 2023, improbably as always, the musical proved a success

By Ross Anderson

End eat-the-rich fatigue by watching Saltburn

The film may have nothing to say, but neither does a roller coaster

By Deborah Ross

The Crown season six: a regal return to form?

The newest episodes deal with the final weeks of Princess Diana

By Alexander Larman

Meeting Margaret Cavendish

The seventeenth-century philosopher and playwright was a quixotic genius

By Francesca Peacock

Was there ever equality between the sexes?

Two authors take an ‘ecological-socialist-feminist’ approach

By Oren Harman

LIFE

American Life

Revisiting Gettysburg

No filmmaker has explored the imaginative appeal of the Civil War in as much depth or from such diverse angles as Ron Maxwell

By Bill Kauffman

Internet

The promise and peril of Facebook Marketplace

The internet reduces the friction of finding something but increases the friction of attaining it

By Mary Kate Skehan

London Life

The decline of the stylish man

What’s happening on the London fashion front?

By Cosmo Landesman

Baking mistakes: my Christmas clangers

There is something about the holiday that triggers overambition in occasional cookie-bakers like myself

By Jane Stannus

A very Sherry Christmas

It is the perfect mid-afternoon tipple: clean, light, delicate

By Roger Kimball

Place

Deck the halls at Rolf’s

Upon entering the restaurant, you’re instantly greeted with a sensory overload and the immediate need to bring tidings of comfort and joy

By Zack Christenson

Subscribe today