Tiberius Gracchus writes about Chris Wickham and the use of methods of taxation to analyse the nature of a state or other polity. The argument certainly has legs and I think a comparative analysis of taxation systems could be an effective means of categorising states; however, it will not be a primary comparator.
I should say [...]

Danny Finkelstein points out ten of the unheroic things that Fidel Castro has done in his criticism of Harriet Harman for calling the bearded one ‘a hero of the left’. I am generally categorised as being on the left; if Fidel Castro is also on the left, I would think that ‘left’ has no meaning [...]

I am delighted to have had a letter published in today’s Guardian; it’s the second one down on this page. It reads
Your article (It was murder: the Chávez version of liberator’s death, November 17) neglects the importance of Bolívar’s last days to any interpretation of his impact on Latin America. Reviled by the educated classes [...]

The King of Spain, Juán Carlos I de Borbón y Borbón, recently told Hugo Chávez, President of Venezuela to, in no uncertain terms, shut up, after the latter called the former Spanish Prime Minister, José María Aznar, a fascist. Now, I am no fan of Aznar, but Chávez’s comments are not just mistaken but actually [...]