16 June 2003

From the Editor…

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Cover story

The banality of the good

Ignore the sceptics: the real Europe is foreign-language schools in Oxford and flights to Rome for £4.99. And it is deeply Americanised

Features

Brown's armlock is tighter than ever

Now there will be a review before an assessment before a referendum. Entry to the single currency still looks a long way off. By John Kampfner, our political editor

Why Serena was booed and heckled at the French Open

Even the suspicion of Gallic or German associations is now enough to get food, cars and drinks boycotted in America

The road to a cool Europa

Mark Leonard, who proposed to rebrand Britain in 1997, offers his prescription for a sexier and more loveable European Union

How Stelios killed xenophobia

As recently as the 1970s, the Continent was a place of disease, oversexed men and dodgy lavatories. Simon Calder on how low fares turned Britons into Europeans

An ethical nation, full of bluster

Spaniards love Europe because they hate each other. So will the country fall apart? John Carlin reports

A serving of fear with every dish

Even the French now fall ill from worrying about food, rather than from eating it

Much more than a straight banana

Dumb Britain, where debate is dominated by a wilfully idiotic press, just doesn't get it about Europe. Even French farmers know more

A search beneath the rubble

As Iraq showed, the Continental press prefers a few bits of truth to personal invective

Secrets, lies and yellow cake

Whatever is now discovered in Iraq, it is unlikely to include 30,000 warheads and four chemical munitions bunkers - as US leaders claimed

Regulars

Roll up that map of the eurozone

Mark Thomas asks if the WMDs were in a flat-pack

Maybe Saddam had his WMDs in a flat-pack. Maybe he had the instructions spread all over the palace floor, but just couldn't find those two dowelling pins

Cristina Odone worries about teenage sex

We have debased sex: certificate 15 films sizzle with explicit scenes

Darcus Howe remembers his gang, the Law Breakers

In London and the Caribbean, the gangs still thrive, as my Law Breakers once did

Competition

Win vouchers to spend at any Tesco store

Culture

The altar of fire

In a world without faith or metaphysics, we need a grand illusion like the European Union. Even with all their prevarications and no-shows, the British cannot cheat us out of this latter-day castle in the sky, argues Tim Parks

Here comes the sun

Liverpool, once despised and feared throughout Britain, has been crowned the European Capital of Culture 2008. It may never be "the Barcelona of the north", but for Andrew Hussey, it is still the most spectacular city in the world

Elfin honey

Opera - Peter Conrad on how Arthurian legend is lavishly recreated in Madrid

The supreme god

Bryan Appleyard pays homage to the British Museum on its 250th anniversary

Hollywood versus the New Vague

Film - Philip Kerr considers the work of the well-known movie moguls Bush, Blair and Chirac

The euro made simple

Television - Andrew Billen would rather be governed by Evan Davis than Tony Blair

Crossing the great divide

Theatre - Sheridan Morley on two plays about cultural contrasts and one shambolic musical

Books

Flying colours

Joshua Reynolds: the life and times of the first president of the Royal Academy Ian McIntyre The Penguin Press, 600pp, £30 ISBN 0713993294

European fiction - The sadness of the circus

The Half Brother Lars Saabye Christensen Translated by Kenneth Steven Arcadia Books, 782pp, £12.99 ISBN 1900850745

A footballer writes

Q Luther Blissett Translated by Shaun Whiteside Heinemann, 660pp, £14.99 ISBN 0434010006

Voyage to freedom

Creole Jose Eduardo Agualusa Translated by Daniel Hahn Arcadia Books, 153pp, £10.99 ISBN 1900850613

The pick of this year's European fiction in translation

The pick of this year's European fiction in translation. Compiled

Observations

The bad news for Blair

Observations on the New Statesman Citigate DVL Smith Britometer poll

Heads threaten total shutdown

Observations on the schools budget crisis

How Clare Short fired me

Observations on international development

Over there and overlooked

Observations on British celebrities

Green heroes

The top ten

20 green heroes and villains: Heroes

Green villains

The top ten

20 green heroes and villains: Villains

Bjorn Lomborg

Cloud control

Cloud control

Interview

Omar Bin Laden

The NS Interview: Omar Bin Laden

What if...

Hugh Gaitskell lived

What if... Hugh Gaitskell had lived

James Macintyre

Brown at war

Like it or not, Brown’s a war leader

Will Self

On brands

We’re all with the brand

Film review

A Serious Man

A Serious Man (15)

Vote!

Will Baroness Ashton be an effective EU foreign minister?

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