'Margaret Thatcher rejoiced in her role as the charioteer of the nation'

‘I am bemused by those vociferous critics of Mrs Thatcher who weren’t even alive when she was in office’

'In 1987 the majority of England cricketers were state-educated. Now most professional sportsmen are educated privately — including black children'

‘A North Korean attack could be the last nail in the coffin of unchallenged American power in the world’

This isn't just any bureaucracy, this is M&S bureaucracy: Miriam Gross was told by the high street giant that she needn't worry about her lost card. That's when she should have started worrying.

‘Burke asserted that we should value chivalry, morality and friendship. But how do we measure the huge rise in social media in terms of GDP?’

‘Why did a member of the University and College Union sue it for supporting academic boycotts of Israel?’

‘When I asked my winsome Han tour guide what would happen when the skyscrapers collapsed, she said with cheerful gusto, “We’ll build them again!”’

‘I was left in no doubt of Lady Thatcher’s conviction that EU membership was fundamentally at variance with British interests’

‘It’s easy to forget that this sophisticated modern city is nonetheless part of a repressive Communist system’

‘Western optimists like to assume North Korea is on the verge of implosion. But the hermit kingdom is not going to collapse any time soon’

‘Despite the Turkish origins of most of the victims, the Munich court failed to allocate a single press seat in the Zschäpe murder trial to a Turkish media outlet’

Life in Birmingham as a vicar’s wife opened our Mole’s eyes to what has become of Britain’s second city

Cyber-activism spreads quickly and reaches many, but the lack of risk involved means it is largely superficial

Impact Foundation Bangladesh funds a floating hospital which provides treatment to remote villages

New columnist Saintsbury relates the tale of Christmas Eve in Jane Austen's Emma — but which wine did Mr Elton employ in his quest to warm the heroine's heart?

The French polymath Henri Pointcaré excelled in astronomy, physics mathematics and a lot more

Vladimir Kramnik best games display a fusion of elegance and force that give the impression that this is as well as chess could be played

Edgar Allen Poe may have drunk himself to death but his tastes reveal a staggering ignorance about alcohol

Milk snatcher or unique character? A debate over Britain's first female Prime Minister

Teacher, philanthropist, founder of the Royal College of Music — Sir Hubert Parry was so much more than a composer of England's finest songs