26 April 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
Appeasement: Should we strike a deal?
When Spain announced it would pull its troops out of Iraq, it was accused of rewarding terrorism. But in an unjust war, there is no virtue in stoical resolution. By John Gray
Features
Why Iraqis give thanks for Bush
In a country that was once divided, Shias and Sunnis are now as one, praying together for the first time in their lives. Orly Halpern reports
Fallujah - when the moral crusaders fell silent
David Edwards and David Cromwell
The men of war
Barbara Smith judges that the chances for Arab-Israeli peace are as bleak as they have ever been. Yet this dispute over a tiny bit of land - which resonates from Morocco to Pakistan - ought to be easily resolvable
We don't trust them an inch
Across the democratic world, governing elites are mistrusted, whatever their policies. Blair's decision to hold a referendum is just another symptom. By Kieron O'Hara
Don't always believe the children
When more than half the staff at a special school were accused, in effect, of beating up their pupils, some were placed under virtual house arrest. Yet only one minor charge stood up. Nick Cohen reports
Essay
NS Essay - The honesty of science is being compromised at every turn
Can we still rely on what scientists tell us? Alas, no. Their conferences and papers are sponsored by industry, their bad results are concealed, their jobs are threatened if they step out of line. Colin Tudge on the corruption of humanity's most precious discipline
Regulars
The Politics Column
Politics - John Kampfner sees Blair's foreign policy collapse
To make the case for Europe, the Prime Minister will have to show foresight and zeal, commodities that have been lacking on Europe from the moment he took office
Mark Thomas goes on trial for criminal damage
Together with three others, I was charged with criminal damage to a minibus. We were all acquitted, but our two-day trial cost the taxpayer roughly £10,000
Darcus Howe hears his son's fury against the police
My son is stopped by the police and found in possession of a crayon which, they say, could be used for criminal damage. Something in our house has changed fundamentally
Mark Kermode - Teenage kicks
Tarantino's follow-up is neither trashy nor truthful - just adolescent, writes Mark Kermode Kill Bill: volume 2 (18)
Competition
Win vouchers to spend at any Tesco store
Culture
Still switched on
In its 40 years, BBC2 has gone from cleverness to consumerism, replacing learning with lifestyle programmes. Andrew Billen compares line-ups, while some of those who helped shape the channel give their views
Escape artists
Exhibition - William Cook on the remarkable flourishing of children's art in a concentration camp
Master of stillness
Art - Richard Cork on an elusive artist who moves restlessly from one extreme to another
Television
Shane Watson - Bridget Jones with baggage
Television - A slick documentary about a fortysomething singleton is a little too close to home writes Shane Watson One Life: billboard love (BBC1)
Books
In sickness and in wealth. In today's climate of triumphant global capitalism, Britain's meritocracy is even more dangerous, exclusive and out of touch with ordinary people than the aristocracy it replaced. Is it time for Old Toryism to make a comeback?
Who Runs This Place?: the anatomy of Britain in the 21st century Anthony Sampson John Murray, 416pp, £20 ISBN 0719565642
Parlour games
What Might Have Been: imaginary history from 12 leading historians Edited by Andrew Roberts Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 224pp, £12.99 ISBN 0297848771
On the defensive
The Iraq War John Keegan Hutchinson, 254pp, £18.99 ISBN 0091800188
Waterlines
Titanic: a night remembered Stephanie Barczewski Hambledon and London, 382pp, £19.95 ISBN 1852854340
Mind games
Mind Wide Open: one man's journey into the workings of his brain Steven Johnson Allen Lane, the Penguin Press, 274pp, £17.99 ISBN 0713996781
Just deserts
My Brief Career: the trials of a young lawyer Harry Mount Short Books, 208pp, £9.99 ISBN 1904095690
Fiction - Inside story
Spin Martin Sixsmith Macmillan, 336pp, £16.99 ISBN 1405041196
