12 March 2007
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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
Iraq: the hidden cost of the war
America won't simply be paying with its dead. The Pentagon is trying to silence economists who predict that several decades of care for the wounded will amount to an unbelievable $2.5 trillion.
Features
Cameron's continued conjuring trick
These past few weeks could have been torrid for the Conservative leader if Labour had not been in such a state of self-lacerating panic over cash for honours and other problems
Interview: Hazel Blears
The woman in charge of the Labour Party now says she's a Brownite as well as a Blairite as she makes her pitch for the deputy leadership.
The predictable slaughter
"Shock and Awe" killed very few Iraqis, but the inept implementation of regime change has let loose a terrible war between Sunnis and Shias. Tim Lambon witnesses the escalation in Baghdad
"If they kill me they have killed an Iraqi patriot"
Tim Lezard talks to a soccer-star headteacher who won't be intimidated by daily threats of death
The secrets of indoor shopping
The mall is back in town. No longer relegated to the suburbs, it is setting up shop again in our urban centres - the frontline in the great retail fightback against online. Joe Moran reports
Regulars
New Statesman Leader
The myth of the divide between the real people and the village
If ministers believe voters' lives would be harmed by a change in government, they could rectify the problem: behave better
Hotline to God
Set by George Cowley We wanted you to eavesdrop on the private prayers of a politician of your choice
Culture
A history of violence
David Lynch's America has always been characterised by darkness and perversion. He tells Alice O'Keeffe that his artistic vision has been vindicated
New world order
John Tusa, leader of the Tory arts task force, sets out his seven-point challenge for Gordon Brown
Shooting stars
A generation of "firework bands" has exploded into the charts. But will the music industry allow them time to develop?
Theatre
Holding the centre ground
Two political comedies are funny, but far from revolutionary Whipping It Up New Ambassadors Theatre, London WC2 King of Hearts Hampstead Theatre, London NW3
Film
And now for something completely different
Experimental cinema meets the mainstream, with mixed results The Good German (15) dir: Steven Soderbergh Inland Empire (15) dir: David Lynch
Television
Making a good impression
Meet the big, floppy child who defends liberal America from the ranting right Storyville - Al Franken: God spoke BBC4
Books
Freedom fighter
Isaiah Berlin believed that humans make their own destiny. But his encounter with Adam von Trott, Hitler's would-be assassin, suggests otherwise.
Men beware women
Nuns: a history of convent life 1450-1700 Silvia Evangelisti Oxford University Press, 312pp, £17.99 ISBN 0192804359
Apocalypse now?
America Alone: the end of the world as we know it Mark Steyn Regnery Publishing, 256pp, £14.27 ISBN 0895260786
30-minute wonder
Nanotales Ziv Navoth Ziji, 365pp, £8.99 ISBN 0955405114 Missing Kissinger Etgar Keret Chatto & Windus, 211pp, £11.99 ISBN 0701179902
Own-made styles
Look We Have Coming to Dover! Daljit Nagra Faber & Faber, 64pp, £8.99 ISBN 0571231225
Turning gold to lead
Alchemy and Alchemists Sean Martin Pocket Essentials, 160pp, £9.99 ISBN 1904048625
