16 June 2003
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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
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
Film
Hollywood versus the New Vague
Film - Philip Kerr considers the work of the well-known movie moguls Bush, Blair and Chirac
Television
The euro made simple
Television - Andrew Billen would rather be governed by Evan Davis than Tony Blair
Theatre
Crossing the great divide
Theatre - Sheridan Morley on two plays about cultural contrasts and one shambolic musical
Books
The drowned world. When Sir Joseph Bazalgette built the Victoria Embankment, he "placed chains upon the river". But, warns Will Self, London's resurgent waters will have the final revenge
Liquid History: the Thames through time Stephen Croad Batsford, 208pp, £15.99 ISBN 0713488344
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
