12 May 2008

From the Editor…

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Features

Humanity's last rage

Humanity's last rage

Was it a great beginning . . . or just the final great street festival before the darkness closed in? Peter Wilby wonders whether the year changed everything - or nothing at all

All along the watchtower

All along the watchtower

It was a year of horror and bad faith

Are you a 1968 sell-out?

Test yourself - are you still true to the spirit of 1968?

A boys' year

A boys' year

It was men who led the demos. We weren't aware of what would soon be called women's liberation, writes Anna Coote. But then we caught the mood . . .

The French revolution

The French revolution

In May '68, Paul Johnson, the then editor of the New Statesman, extolled Parisian student power in an impassioned article, abridged here, entitled "The new spectre haunting Europe"

Eric Hobsbawm on 1968

The Marxist historian casts his eyes back 40 years

Signs of the times

Signs of the times

An exhibition of posters and photographs from the Paris rebellion is irresistible, but tricky out of context

Tony Benn: 1968 and me

Tony Benn: 1968 and me

So, where was the Labour Party in the year of revolution and street protests? The great conscience of the left recalls a time when even he was considered a "fascist"

Regulars

If Labour fails to act on its beliefs now, then when will it?

Brown will not win the hearts of the people until he combines his competence with a clear moral vision

Labour has the vision

Labour has the vision

After a grim election night, we must contrast our vision with the absence of any new vision from the Tories, argues the work secretary. Plus Martin Bright gives his verdict on 1 May 2008

Culture of denial

Ministers say they will listen and learn. But the message they will hear won't offer them much cheer

Who's for a Gordon's?

All the gossip from the Westminster Village

Culture

Enter the dragon

Enter the dragon

Choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and sculptor Antony Gormley were drawn to the legendary Shaolin monastery. The reality they uncovered was not what they'd expected

Virtue's reward

Virtue's reward

Some viewers find Tarkovsky’s films boring, but those who persist are, by definition, better people.

Cultural revolution

Cultural revolution

The Chávez government attracts attention for its social and political programmes, yet its effect on Venezuela’s art scene has been just as striking.

Love music, hate corporate sponsorship

Love music, hate corporate sponsorship

Aggressive security and commercialism undermined this festival's message Love Music, Hate Racism Victoria Park, London E3

It's just me, myself and I

It's just me, myself and I

Morgan Spurlock's documentary is a masterclass in vain, glib navel-gazing Where in the World Is Osama Bin Laden? (12A)dir: Morgan Spurlock

When two stars collide

When two stars collide

The highbrow South Bank Show is as celebrity-driven as crummy reality TV

Master of the universe

Even a pop star obsessed by UFOs can turn out to be charming and witty

Books

Lights! Camera! Fiction!

Lights! Camera! Fiction!

A hundred years ago the job of screenwriter didn't exist in the early film business; today the script is the keystone of all movie production. The Hollywood screenwriter and director Chris Weitz reviews a history of the trade

Old Spanish practices

Old Spanish practices

Imagining Spain: Historical Myth and National Identity Henry Kamen Yale University Press, 240pp, £25

Rich and strange

Walter Rothschild: the Man, the Museum and the Menagerie Miriam Rothschild Natural History Museum, 432pp, £9.99

Cast the first Stone

Cast the first Stone

Sway Zachary Lazar Jonathan Cape, 272pp, £11.99

Paragons of bad faith

A Dangerous Liaison Carole Seymour-Jones Century, 392pp, £20

Rock’n’roll heroines

Girls Like Us Sheila Weller Ebury Press, 592pp, £18.99

Victorian voyages

A Corkscrew Is Most Useful Nicholas Murray Little, Brown, 544p, £25

After the sugar rush

Rum: a Social and Sociable History Ian Williams Nation Books, 340pp, £9.99

Observations

What Boris did next

What Boris did next

Observations on the Mayor of London - how long can he keep up this serious facade?

Free to be poisoned

Free to be poisoned

Observations on trade

Moodometer

We test the temperature of the nation this week

Unfriendly persuasion

Unfriendly persuasion

Observations on abortion

Power to the people

Power to the people

South Korea has just held its first jury trial,Japan is planning to reinstate juries next year, Russia is experimenting and even China is toying with the idea. And in Britain?

Green heroes

The top ten

20 green heroes and villains: Heroes

Green villains

The top ten

20 green heroes and villains: Villains

Bjorn Lomborg

Cloud control

Cloud control

Interview

Omar Bin Laden

The NS Interview: Omar Bin Laden

James Macintyre

Brown at war

Like it or not, Brown’s a war leader

What if...

Hugh Gaitskell lived

What if... Hugh Gaitskell had lived

Will Self

On brands

We’re all with the brand

Film review

A Serious Man

A Serious Man (15)

Vote!

Will Baroness Ashton be an effective EU foreign minister?

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