23 May 2005

From the Editor…

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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 cage that must be rattled

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

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

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

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

Observations

Dancing as the people die

Observations on Uzbekistan

Forget the Pop Idol gimmicks

Observations on constitutional change

Not just a game for the boys

Observations on sudoku

Fidel Castro

The last revolutionary

The last revolutionary

Steve Richards

On Tory policy

Our future in their hands

Science

Religion and Darwin

Since the dawn  of time

James Macintyre

Miliband's dilemma

Brussels is back with a vengeance

Will Self

On Oscar Wilde

Where the Wilde things are

Film review

Bright Star

Bright Star (PG)

Books

Paul Auster

Invisible

Interview

Alain de Botton

The Books Interview: Alain de Botton

Vote!

Was the government wrong to sack David Nutt?

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