24 April 2006
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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 real first casualty of war
Censorship by journalism is virulent in Britain and the US - and it means the difference between life and death for people in faraway countries.
Features
Heroes of our time
Vote for your modern-day hero in our special New Statesman survey
The survival of the happiest
Instead of simply making us richer, politicians should aim to make Britain happier, say the "new utilitarians". Mark Easton reports on the strategists pushing the feel-good factor
NS Special Report: . . . but what if it's a girl?
Modern technology is helping parents in Asia indulge in a hideous practice - killing off their girl children. It's never been easier to identify a female foetus and abort it
Regulars
New Statesman Leader
God save the queen, beware the heir
Reforms need to be radical if they are to revive an institution that has been dependent on the personality of the present monarch for its survival
The Politics Column
The politics column - Martin Bright
I can't say that the Euston Manifesto has changed my whole way of thinking, but progressives, whatever they call themselves, or each other, cannot afford to ignore it
Kira Cochrane is sick and tired of street harassment
An American website invites women to use their camera phones to ambush harassers: if you can't slap 'em, snap 'em
Mark Thomas refuses to ignore the problem of Turkey
There is one EU problem that is resolutely not going away and will only get worse: that is, Turkey's membership
Ziauddin Sardar finds hope in the desert
When it comes to water conservation, ancient wisdom often turns out to be far superior to modern insight
Competition
Win vouchers to spend in any Tesco store
Culture
Space oddities
The advance of special effects has helped science fiction shed its alternative status and become part of the mainstream. Yet, as Charles Shaar Murray discovers, sci-fi is still a form that cherishes its margins
Dutch courage
Art - Richard Cork on the pioneer collectors who turned the little-known Vincent Van Gogh into an avant-garde hero
Sister acts
Radical theatre - Carole Woddis looks back at the feisty drama groups that time forgot
Radio
Radio - Rachel Cooke
For years people have been saying Radio 2 is the new Radio 1. Now I have started to believe it
Theatre
All that glitters
Theatre - A clunky tale of conquistadors and Incas fails to strike gold, writes Michael Portillo The Royal Hunt of the Sun Olivier Theatre, London SE1
Film
Impossible dreams
Film - A documentary and a political satire chart idealism's decline, writes Victoria Segal Glastonbury (15) American Dreamz (12A)
Television
Luck's a lady
Television - A tale of 18th-century feminine wiles proves gripping viewing, writes Andrew Billen The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant (ITV1)
The Fan
The fan - Hunter Davies suggests signals for footie managers
Footie managers need a new signalling system. How about semaphore?
Books
The dying animal
In the post-religious world of Philip Roth's fiction, humans do not have immortal souls. Death and desire is all we are. A S Byatt on a brief and bleak morality tale for our times Everyman Philip Roth Jonathan Cape, 182pp, £10 ISBN 0224078690
Brave new dawn
Tony Blair's ignorance of history, while appallingly dangerous, is also one of his chief assets, allowing him to construct whatever narrative is useful to him. David Marquand on a truly postmodern prime minister The Politics of Good Intentions: history, fear and hypocrisy in the new world order David Runciman Princeton University Press, 211pp, £18.95 ISBN 069112566X
The drift generation
Hanif Kureishi looks back on the wildly creative period that shaped our present world White Bicycles: making music in the 1960s Joe BoydSerpent's Tail, 224pp, £11.99 ISBN 1852429100
All in bad taste
Garlic and Sapphires: the secret life of a food critic in disguise Ruth Reichl Century, 333pp, £12.99 ISBN 0143036610
Born to rule
Blackshirt: Sir Oswald Mosley and British fascism Stephen Dorril Viking, 717pp, £30 ISBN 0670869996
Girl on the make
In the Company of the Courtesan Sarah Dunant Little, Brown, 408pp, £12.99 ISBN 0316029688
What a drag
Self-Made Man: my year disguised as a man Norah Vincent Atlantic Books, 304pp, £9.99 ISBN 1843545039
Truck and barter
Surviving Capitalism: how we learned to live with the market and remained almost human Erik Ringmar Anthem Press, 210pp, £16.99 ISBN 1843311763
A boy's own story
Black Swan Green David Mitchell Sceptre, 371pp, £16.99 ISBN 0340822791
