04 February 2008
Become a subscriber and save £££
Subscribe to the New Statesman for just £82 and receive a free copy of Roy Hattersley’s In Search of England(Hardcover)
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 God issue
Is the Divine dead? In this special issue, we weigh up the evidence. Andrew Marr opens by revealing the roots of Britain's deep-seated distrust of fanaticism
Features
How the war was spun
The Foreign Office has been ordered to release an early secret draft of the WMD dossier. Chris Ames says it will reveal a deliberate attempt to exaggerate the danger
Proud of my record
In recent issues of the NS, Martin Bright, our political editor, criticised the Mayor of London and his administration. Here Ken Livingstone responds
Keep the faith
For most Europeans, a belief in God may have given way to a belief in democracy, law and human rights. But the Almighty remains the source of our secular freedoms
Not always in His image
Throughout history, Jews, Christians and Muslims have pictured the divine in many ways. Jeremy Rosen, William Dalrymple and Ziauddin Sardar explain
How would Jesus vote?
The 2008 US presidential election pits Baptist against Mormon, Methodist against evangelical. Who gets the divine endorsement?
Regulars
The Politics Column
Blair is dead, long live Blair
Having defined himself against his predecessor, is Gordon Brown now embracing Blair's vision for public services? Matthew Taylor, one-time head of strategy at No 10, detects a conversion in all but name
Another French paradox
Abroad, Kerviel is called "history's biggest rogue trader". In France, he's the "five billion whizz-kid"
Delivers added value No 4012
Set by J Seery We asked you for extracts from a 21st-century management consultant's report on heaven or hell - for example, suggesting a stricter demarcation of functions between cherubim and seraphim, or a reduction in the number of pits in hell from seven to four
Culture
A soldier's tale
Aged 17, Elliot Ruiz became the youngest US marine serving in Iraq. Now he has channelled his experiences into a formidably emotional performance for cinema.
Emotional landscapes
Is the world finally ready for the extraordinary, passionate music of Olivier Messiaen?
Performance
Big Mouth strikes again
Despite his offstage outbursts, Morrissey still commands a devoted audience
Film
Off-screen show-off
The paralysed main character of this biopic is upstaged by the director himself
Television
He's a celebrity - get him out of here
The BBC's current affairs flagship hits a new low, thanks to a former pop star
Radio
From strength to strength
A bumbling retired entertainer shows us just how comedy should be done
Books
Saint or charlatan?
In the 1920s Marcus Garvey rose from obscurity to become the most famous black man on the planet. So why has the memory of this titanic figure faded?
Station to station
Fire and Steam: a New History of the Railways in Britain Christian Wolmar Atlantic Books, 364pp, £19.99
North by north-east
Crusaders Richard T Kelly Faber & Faber, 556pp, £14.99
Calls for change
Telephone Ringing in the Labyrinth: Poems (2004-2006) Adrienne Rich W W Norton, 112pp, £14.99
Observations
Death of big physics
Gemini is just the latest in a series of devastating cuts imposed on British science by the Science and Technology Funding Council
Can't stop the music
Woody Allen regards Scarlett Johansson as a muse and has cast her in two films, comparing her to Marilyn Monroe
Degrees of deception
A legal loophole ensures that as long as someone doesn't falsely claim to offer a UK-recognised qualification, he or she is relatively free to sell degrees
