From the archive 
The Spectator Archive holds 1.5 million articles from 1828 to 2008. Here are a selection of the finest articles.
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When should Britain go to war?
There’s been a lot written this week about whether or not to fight the Islamic State in Iraq. This time the consensus among Spectator writers is that Britain should. There’s… Continue reading
47 Comments
Ian Fleming, James Bond and The Spectator
It’s 50 years since the death of Ian Fleming and The Spectator has always taken James Bond seriously. The writer of the Spectator’s Notebook in 1962 went along eagerly to… Continue reading
13 Comments
‘We believe Germany made the war’
The 1914 editions of The Spectator in the days surrounding the declaration of war give a sense of bewilderment. At first they couldn’t believe it would happen. After Archduke Franz… Continue reading
29 Comments
‘Unity at home and strength abroad’. Britain prepares for WW1 by postponing Irish home rule
The outbreak of war between Austria-Hungary and Serbia in July 1914 forced British politicians to postpone the Amending Bill for Irish home rule. This was momentous because Nationalists and Unionists had… Continue reading
6 Comments
Who knows what patriotism will feel like if Scotland becomes independent
If Scotland goes independent in September, who knows what patriotism will feel like. This may be a last chance to savour some of this magazine’s most passionate expressions of British… Continue reading
182 Comments
Archive interview: Alexander Litvinenko on ice picks, radioactive thallium and Putin’s assassins
In the 25 November 2006 edition of The Spectator, Neil Barnett recalled his encounters with the poisoned spy Alexander Litvinenko. Two days before the magazine went to press, Litvinenko died… Continue reading
1 Comment
Spectator archive: A history of passenger planes shot down
Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crashed in Ukraine after being hit by a missile. It’s not the first civilian flight to have been shot down in error though. Here are four other… Continue reading
31 Comments
Should public servants go on strike?
David Cameron has promised to change the law to make it harder to go on strike if he wins the next election. The Spectator has generally been in favour of… Continue reading
157 Comments
The eternal allure of the Caliphate
There’s nothing like a caliphate to rally disparate groups. The Sunni Islamic organisation ISIS has recruited fighters from all over the world with its dream of a single Muslim state,… Continue reading
85 Comments
D-Day 70: Tribute to Bill Millin, Lord Lovat’s piper
Bill Millin landed on Sword Beach as part of 1st Special Service Brigade in the second wave. He exited the landing craft, and found himself in three feet of water. Shells and mortar… Continue reading
5 Comments
Three cheers for all those who fought fascism, from Cable Street to Berlin
70 years have passed since, in the words of General Dwight D. Eisenhower, ‘Allied naval forces, supported by strong air forces, began landing Allied armies on the northern coast of… Continue reading
114 Comments
Clement Attlee’s conversion
In the early 1960s, The Spectator ran a series called ‘John Bull’s first job’ – reminiscences by various prominenti about how they started out. One of the most startling, published… Continue reading
2 Comments
Tracey Emin’s knickers – a short history of contemporary British art
Tracey Emin’s bed is to be sold at auction this summer with a guide price of £800,000 to £1.2 million, although the man who sold it to Charles Saatchi has… Continue reading
19 Comments
Celebrating the death of smallpox – and a short history of vaccination
The World Health Organisation is voting on whether to destroy the last few remaining samples of the smallpox virus. Smallpox is the only virus that affects humans that’s ever been… Continue reading
13 Comments
Europe – from hope to scepticism
In the lead up to next week’s European elections, voters seem to be disenchanted with the European Union. Around a quarter of the seats in the European parliament are expected… Continue reading
58 Comments
Britain’s debate on women’s education
More than 200 Nigerian girls are missing after being abducted from school by Boko Haram militants nearly a month ago. One of the group’s leaders has said he’s planning to… Continue reading
20 Comments
Is democracy flourishing in South Africa?
This week South Africa has held events to mark 20 years of democracy. Simon Jenkins, writing after the first election that included black people, was deeply moved: Democracy is an… Continue reading
27 Comments
Evangelically wishy-washy
David Cameron has said Christians should be more evangelical “about a faith that compels us to get out there and make a difference to people’s lives”. In an article for… Continue reading
132 Comments
The Irish Question, as recorded by The Spectator
As the Irish president is making the first visit to the United Kingdom by an Irish head of state, some people have asked what’s taken him so long. The Spectator’s… Continue reading
4 Comments
A short history of ‘conscious uncoupling’
There have been some rocky relationships in the news this year. As well as Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin’s conscious uncoupling, world leaders have also had problems. Vladimir Putin’s divorce… Continue reading
2 Comments
An infuriated cat, a ‘missing’ nose that isn’t – it’s screwball comedy in the courtroom
The jury at Max Clifford’s trial have had a tough time of it trying not to get the giggles, as his alleged victims wrangle with medical experts over what constitutes… Continue reading
0 Comments
Remembering the decimation of Crimea’s Tatars
Crimea’s Tatars are nervous after Russia’s annexation of the territory. The Tatars, Sunni Muslims who account for 12 per cent of Crimea’s population, boycotted Sunday’s referendum worried that the Russians… Continue reading
5 Comments
The Spectator: on popes and poverty since 1828
A year ago, a relatively unknown Argentine cardinal, Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected Pope. A few days later he announced he would take the name Francis, after Saint Francis of… Continue reading
1 Comment
The Spectator: on 150 years of punishing Russia
Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine has left western diplomats scrabbling for sanctions that won’t backfire on to the rest of Europe and America. The foreign secretary William Hague said Russia… Continue reading
58 Comments
The Spectator – on 400 years of unease between Ukraine and Russia
Ukraine declared independence from the USSR in 1991, but Moscow has made sure it’s remained heavily involved in Kiev’s affairs ever since. That has been relatively simple. Soon before independence,… Continue reading
19 Comments
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