03 December 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
Vlad the Great
Putin has dismantled the fragile democracy of the 1990s, but has never been more popular. The New Statesman's special focus on Russia, its politics, culture and society with Lilia Shevtsova, Artemy Troitsky, Robin Strummer and more
Features
The only way is up
The first step to recovery is for the government to recognise the gravity of the situation. Plus don't miss Inside Track - our unrivalled insights into UK politics
Now wash your hands
Every day, 5,000 children die because of poor sanitation. Villagers in Madagascar tell Barbara Gunnell how cheap interventions can transform their chances
Loyalty card
Even the most-travelled, open-minded Russians are singing Putin's tune, writes Artemy Troitsky, the country's best-known cultural journalist
Putin's copycats
Whether in pro-western or pro-Moscow states, repression and corruption are flourishing among Russia's neighbours.
Labour and the sick note
Peter Hain on the Tories' plan to force the unemployed into work will fail. Plus the Inside Track - our unrivalled insights into UK politics
The modern Russian paradox
Ironies behind the elite’s confused thinking
Regulars
Commons Confidential
The whispers
A girlie vicar, a wooden phallus and a case of mistaken identity - all the gossip from the Westminster Village
Unlikely legacies
Set by Ian Birchall John Hayes, writing in the NS, stated that the Tories are "the true guardians of [William] Morris's legacy". We asked you to defend equally original claims, such as that Sinn Fein is the "true guardian" of Cromwell's legacy, or that Ukip is the true heir of Karl Marx
Culture
Appetite for destruction
Moscow's extraordinary architectural heritage is being wiped out in the ruthless pursuit of a new Russia
Theatre
The never-ending story
This minimalist play about a journalist comes across as dull, not innovative Some Kind of Bliss Trafalgar Studios, London SW1
Film
How the West was spun
Brad Pitt stars in a downbeat meditation on fame and criminality The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (15) dir: Andrew Dominik
Television
Nowhere to hide
Child offenders are denied redemption in our society, argues this powerful drama Boy A Channel 4
Radio
The broad church
Radio 4 draws some surprising parallels between two nonconformists From Calvary to Lambeth Radio 4 The Poet of Albion Radio 4
Books
King of the shifting sands
Caught at the volatile crossroads of the Middle East, Hussein of Jordan kept his desert kingdom together with charm, courage and guile.
The winning formula
The Second Bounce of the Ball: Turning Risk Into Opportunity Ronald Cohen Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 304pp, £20
A flawed master
A Life of Picasso: Volume III - the Triumphant Years (1917-1932) John Richardson Jonathan Cape, 608pp, £30
Past imperfect
Dead Certain: the Presidency of George W Bush Robert Draper Simon & Schuster, 480pp, £18.99
Enduring love
The New Granta Book of the American Short Story Edited and introduced by Richard Ford Granta Books, 736pp, £25
Observations
Arms and the prince
Unfortunately the royal family has form when it comes to schmoozing dictators and thugs
Mounties concern
The clean-cut stereotype of a Mountie in a tomato-red uniform may linger internationally, but the RCMP's domestic reputation has been shaken
