19 January 2004
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From the Editor…
Welcome to the New Statesman website. Whether you are a new reader or an existing one - online or via the magazine - I hope you'll enjoy the great writing, fresh ideas and provocative debate that make the New Statesman Britain's award-winning current affairs weekly
Cover story
Islamophobia
It's not just Robert Kilroy-Silk who rants against Arab culture and Muslim faith. Prejudice against Islam has become a disease, and attacks on mosques are now routine
Features
Why privacy is a matter of money
Only the rich can afford to protect themselves from the curious. What the rest of us get up to is everybody's business
A talking shop with a difference
If you are looking for creative ideas on our future, tune in to the World Social Forum
A day out with Indres, and his memories of torture
Bryan Rostron, on a private visit to Robben Island, finds a former inmate unfailingly cheerful, and proud of his family's long and classy penal record
Essay
NS Essay - The public domain is a gift of history. Now it is at risk
Ideals of service, equity and civic duty that once counted even in private firms are all but gone. Money rules and the patronage of "old corruption" is back
Interview
NS interview - Charles Kennedy
He says Blair is a disappointed man and his premiership one of missed opportunity. Has the Lib Dem leader also missed the boat? Charles Kennedy interviewed byJohn Kampfner
Regulars
The Politics Column
Politics - John Kampfner compares Blair to a cruel husband
After universities, Blair will move on to other public services and propose again to raise funds by charging users rather than relying on general taxes. Party activists will hate it
Mark Thomas thanks Hilary Benn for his interest
The first thing that Hilary Benn has done at International Development is to support a democracy-crushing, conflict-sponsoring, climate-changing, US-backed oil pipeline
Darcus Howe warns that politics can kill
A tiny Caribbean island has a new leader, aged 31. But how long will he live? Asks Darcus Howe
Competition
Win vouchers to spend at any Tesco store
Culture
Fancy dress for the soul
Men in tights, voluptuous ladies and wild emotion - flamenco has not always been to English tastes. With a festival soon to open in London, Wendy Buonaventura celebrates a dance that appeals to the mad romantic in us all
World encyclopaedia
Museums - Richard Cork discovers an enlightening array of exhibitions at the British Museum
Living doll
Anniversary - Rachel Cooke on Sindy's make-overs as she celebrates her 40th birthday
National healing
Art - William Cook examines the role of artists in the cultural reconstruction of Iraq
Film
A light touch
Film - Mark Kermode is dazzled by a masterful attempt to bring Vermeer's paintings to life
Television
Woman trouble
Television - Andrew Billen on a series emphasising Alan Clark's unconsummated passions
Books
The human bind. John Updike is acclaimed as a chronicler of the contemporary, a thoroughly modern, relaxed and witty fellow who writes wonderfully about sex. Yet he is also a Christian and a patriot. Religion does more than colour his prose; it shapes it
The Early Stories John UpdikeHamish Hamilton, 838pp, £25 ISBN 0241142644
The real princess. Marie-Antoinette has been the subject of countless biographies, but none brings her to life more fully than Chantal Thomas's vivid historical novel. By Hilary Mantel
Farewell, My Queen Chantal Thomas, Translated by Moishe Black Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 256pp, £9.99 ISBN 0297645501
Flight of fancy. Jonathan Lethem's novel about growing up in Brooklyn during the 1970s is thrilling, but also highly eccentric, discovers Peter Bradshaw
The Fortress of Solitude Jonathan Lethem Faber & Faber, 511pp, £12.99 ISBN 0571219330
A modern fairy tale. Audrey Niffenegger's first novel, a runaway success in America, fails to work its magic on Stephanie Merritt
The Time Traveller's Wife Audrey Niffenegger Jonathan Cape, 518pp, £12.99 ISBN 0224073087
Self parody. Will Self, pundit and artist, might be a character in his own fiction. By Hugo Barnacle
Dr Mukti and Other Tales of Woe Will Self Bloomsbury, 257pp, £15.99 ISBN 0747565317
Lost innocence. Anne Tyler is as polished as ever, but haven't we been here before? By Lisa Allardice
The Amateur Marriage Anne Tyler Chatto & Windus, 306pp, £16.99 ISBN 0701177349
Visible scars. Joyce Carol Oates excels again at depicting the small ways in which we are nasty to each other. By Helena Echlin
The Tattooed Girl Joyce Carol Oates Fourth Estate, 307pp, £16.99 ISBN 0007170777
