December 2020 issue
When Britain voted to leave the EU, the country seemed on course for a soft Brexit. So how, ask Jill Rutter and Anand Menon, did we come to the brink of a hard departure? Sam Tanenhaus looks at the final days of Trump, while Ngaire Woods examines Bide...
Past issues
Essays
Thinking that chess had lost much of its spontaneity, American grandmaster Bobby Fischer developed his own variation of the game that is still played today
How a chess grandmaster tried to outwit the computer
David Edmonds
Shinzō Abe and Japan’s quiet rearmament
Jeff Kingston
© Hayley Warnham
The end of the office
Hephzibah Anderson
© Prospect
Who killed soft Brexit?
Jill Rutter and Anand Menon
Pro-leave banners outside the houses of Parliment on 29 October 2019 in London, UK © Jay Shaw Baker/NurPhoto/Prospect
The tide is turning against Brexit
Peter Kellner
What Labour's antisemitism crisis tells us about Britain
Will Self
Beyond the political turmoil at home, the US must refocus its attention abroad—especially if it wants to contend with China’s growing confidence on the international stage. Photo: Charles Dharapak/AP/Shutterstock
The first item in Joe Biden's in tray? Dealing with China
Ngaire Woods
illustration by tim mcdonagh
The north face: why Andy Burnham's fight for Manchester could shake up how Britain is run
Tom Clark
Downfall: inside the last days of Trump
Sam Tanenhaus
Regulars
The Prospect editorial: Brexit in proper perspective
Tom Clark
Letters: December 2020
Prospect Team
Prospect puzzle and crossword—December 2020
Prospect Team
Hannah Berry's cartoon: being a writer is the best job in the world
Hannah Berry
Samira Ahmed: "Don’t ever assume you’ll be treated fairly"
Prospect Team
In data: the race for a coronavirus vaccine
David McAllister
The Narmer Palette
The duel: Are empires always bad?
Elleke Boehmer and Tom Holland
Click to enlarge
Stephen Collins's cartoon: Liberal escapism
Stephen Collins
Opinions
Photo: Pixabay
A plan for cautious investors
Andy Davis
Photo: Hauke-Christian Dittrich/DPA/PA Images
Skills report: the UK is still learning
Tom Clark
Photo:
You won't teach UK workers new skills with cut-price training
Kate Green
A Bank Run in New York during the Great Depression. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Why investors should expect creative destruction—without the creativity
Megan Greene
Photo: Pixabay
Why we need to stop talking about a written constitution
DAT Green
Emmanuel Macron outside the Austrian Embassy in Paris Credit: Berzane Nasser/ABACA/ABACA/PA Images
In trying to defeat terrorism, Macron must not undermine the principles of the French Republic
Myriam François
An “All Under One Banner” march in Glasgow this year. Polls in 2020 have shown a consistent lead for independence for the first time. Photo: © Kay Roxby/Alamy Stock Photo
Is Scottish independence inevitable?
Philip Rycroft
Photo: Pixabay
Face it, one-nation Tories: the party’s over
Patience Wheatcroft
Photo: Pixabay
Working together to close the skills gap
Caroline Dinenage and Gillian Keegan
Arts & Books
19th Century Surgical Instruments. (Photo by: Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
An optimistic new book argues that we can all become expert at something
Tanya Harrod
19th Century Surgical Instruments. (Photo by: Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
An optimistic new book argues that we can all become expert at something
Tanya Harrod
The rare feats of Tom Stoppard
Lyn Gardner
Sybille Bedford Credit: publisher handout
The life of Sybille Bedford—a whirlpool of overlapping affairs
Fatema Ahmed
A disputed portrait of Ignatius Sancho, an 18th century African European (Credit: Wikimedia commons)
The rich untold history of African Europeans
Angelina Osborne
The best television in December 2020—BBC's Black Narcissus and Netflix's Bridgerton
Chris Harvey
Duke Humfrey Library, Bodleian Library, Oxford © David Iliff/Flickr
The librarians who saved books from destruction
Rhodri Lewis
The best films to stream this December 2020—Possessor and Mank
Wendy Ide
Knocking out the chocks before its launch in Sunderland, 1954 Credit: (Tyne and Wear Archives and Museum/Flickr)
How the north was made—and unmade
Chris Moss
Liberty Leading the People is a painting by Eugène Delacroix commemorates the 1830 French revolution
Liberalism—fighting for a beautiful, world-changing idea
Jake Richards
Care is a political issue. Credit: unclelkt (Pixabay)
Why it's vital we fix our broken care system
Jennifer Dixon
The best podcasts in December 2020—Wind of Change and You're Wrong About
Charlotte Runcie
The epic life of Toussaint Louverture
Carrie Gibson
The best classical and opera in December 2020—Pauline Viardot's Cinderella and Handel's Messiah at the Barbican
Alexandra Coghlan
The best theatre in the UK this December 2020—The Dumb Waiter at the Hampstead Theatre and Pantoland at the Palladium
Michael Coveney
Who's to blame for Boris Johnson?
Philip Collins
The best art exhibitions in the UK in December 2020—Richard Hamilton at Pallant House Gallery and Bags at the V&A
Emma Crichton-Miller
Society and Culture
A love letter to the conservatory, a useless hangover from our wildest suburban dreams
Caroline O'Donoghue
© Hayley Warnham
The end of the office
Hephzibah Anderson
Is Pandora's box really the origin of all evil? Think again
Charlotte Higgins
Children's books show that families come in all shapes and sizes—it's time adults took notice
Hephzibah Anderson
The Narmer Palette
The duel: Are empires always bad?
Elleke Boehmer and Tom Holland
Late night takeaways keep our cities alive. After lockdown, we should help them survive
Jonathan Nunn
Has 2020 vindicated the doomsday prepper?
Cal Flyn
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