23 May 2005
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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
The nuclear charm offensive
We are all being taken in by a carefully planned public relations strategy. Its mission: to push nuclear power back on the political agenda, rebranded as the new "green" alternative
Features
There is no point in escaping any more
Europe once offered a route to the good life for dowdy Brits. As we contemplate a referendum, perhaps that no longer applies
Death in the Baltic: the MI6 connection
Nearly 900 people perished when the Estonia ferry sank in 1994. In this exclusive investigation, Stephen Davis reveals that the ship was carrying a secret cargo of military equipment smuggled from the Russians by the British
Israel's other war
The socialist foundations of the Jewish state are facing their final destruction
Why real men can't eat quiche
It's the latest trend - behind every dieting woman there's a calorie-counting man
Regulars
The Politics Column
Politics - Iain Dale has no problem being an openly gay Tory
Far from being the preserve of Colonel Blimps, it was the Tory party that stood the most gay and black candidates in the general election
Mark Thomas compares the UK to Kimberley Quinn
Despite the odd murmur about human rights, Britain remains the Kimberley Quinn of torturers and despots in south-east Asia
Darcus Howe questions the meaningof respect
The respect that Blair and the Queen talk about isn't the kind you find on the streets
Competition
Win vouchers to spend at any Tesco store
Culture
Gurning and embroidered knickers
A new exhibition presents a portrait of Britain by placing "alternative" artefacts - white vans, whoopee cushions and Women's Institute textiles - in a fine-art context. It's so very patronising
Stars in his eyes
Visual art - Celebrity - it's been around since the days of Joshua Reynolds, finds Richard Cork
Terry-land: nul point
Song contest - Wogan might laugh, but Eurovision is an important political statement, insists Tim Luscombe
Parlour games
Poetry - Michael Glover discusses modernism and interiors with "the greatest living American poet", John Ashbery
Theatre
Michael Portillo - Winning strike
Theatre - Ballet's star boy makes a right song and dance in a class act, writes Michael Portillo Billy Elliot: the musical Victoria Palace Theatre, London SW1
Television
Andrew Billen - No, minister
Television - A foul-mouthed Sir Humphrey is no laughing matter, writes Andrew Billen The Robinsons (BBC2) The Thick of It (BBC4)
Books
Why practice doesn't make perfect . Simon Blackburn claims the foundations of truth lie in our everyday practices of judging and criticising. Edward Skidelsky is unconvinced by a very British assumption
Truth: a guide for the perplexed Simon Blackburn Allen Lane, the Penguin Press, 238pp, £14.99 ISBN 0713997184
A poor defence
Petain Charles Williams Little, Brown, 568pp, £30 ISBN 0316861278
Goody two-shoes
Comrade Pavlik: the rise and fall of a Soviet boy hero Catriona Kelly Granta Books, 354pp, £17.99 ISBN 1862077479
Into the abyss
The Letters of Lytton Strachey Edited by Paul Levy Viking, 698pp, £30 ISBN 0670891126
Fiction - Cut and thrust
Utterly Monkey Nick Laird Fourth Estate, 352pp, £10.99 ISBN 0007197489
Balkan spirit
Croatian Nights: a festival of alternative literature Edited by Borivoj Radakovic, Matt Thorne and Tony White Serpent's Tail, 224pp, £8.99 ISBN 1852428600
