The education system did its best to put Jason Goodwin off history, but he came through unscathed — and thank goodness too, otherwise he might not have been able to recommend these summer reads.
Annunciata Elwes asks the question on everyone's lips.
Country Life's columnist Agronomes chips in on the problems that await Theresa Villiers, the new Secretary of State in charge of the Department of the Environment, Fisheries and Rural Affairs.
Jason Goodwin takes a lovely trip to the seaside and witnesses a view so spectacularly vivid that it reminds him of paintings by the Armenian-Russian painter Ivan Aivazovsky.
Jason Goodwin teaches us how to make the perfect mayonaise, while explaining why he's jinked to fail each time and why we must be the ones to keep this great condiment alive.
Jason Goodwin discusses our long-standing tradition of courtesy with animals, and why he politely chose to ignore it when dealing with pests in his own garden.
With England about to take on Australia in The Ashes, Martin Fone ponders the derivation of the Aussies nickname for us: Poms.
It might be the end of term for schoolchildren, but for gardeners across the nation we're very much only half-way there. Jason Goodwin's 'gardening teachers' offer their thoughts on his progress.
Organic farmer Patrick Holden is an early adopter of mixed farming systems, where livestock and crops work together hand-in-hand. He explains how and why it can provide a sustainable future for all of us.
Jason Goodwin pays tribute to an old friend and mentor.
Our columnist Jason Goodwin feels the thrill of meeting a true subject matter expert — and comes across away with his head fizzing with pleasure.
Jonathan Self finds that eschewing plastic for a week is testing, but achievable, even if his quest for locally grown strawberries packed in wooden punnets proves fruitless.
Our spectator columnist discusses three suits, donated by the same man to a charity shop, which have seen him through his first through stages of life and made him long for the fine tailoring of days-gone-by.
We know we’ve caused global warming, but we can stop making it worse, says John Gummer, chair of the Climate Change Committee. We simply need strong leadership to achieve it.
Our Spectator columnist ponders the really big questions as he discusses life, death and croquet.
Our Spectator columnist returns to his mother's resting place and takes a leading role in a small Somerset church communion, ensuring that the reading is from the 'Authorised Version' of the bible and rediscovering a lost home along the way.
It's almost 50 years since Britain switched to the decimal system, but Jason Goodwin points out how many of the old measures persist. (Dozens of them, in fact — what else?)
Our Spectator columnist dismisses the need for horror movies when one keeps animals in their back yard; the trials and tribulations of protecting hens from natural predators are more than enough to set one's hair on end.
After years of regular visits to Turkey, Jason Goodwin finally makes it to Gallipoli where he is humbled and sobered by the experience.
