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Recent Publications by New English Review Authors
	The Literary Culture of France by J. E. G. Dixon
	Hamlet Made Simple and Other Essays by David P. Gontar
	Farewell Fear by Theodore Dalrymple
	The Eagle and The Bible: Lessons in Liberty from Holy Writ by Kenneth Hanson
	The West Speaks interviews by Jerry Gordon
	Mohammed and Charlemagne Revisited: The History of a Controversy Emmet Scott
	Why the West is Best: A Muslim Apostate's Defense of Liberal Democracy Ibn Warraq
	Anything Goes by Theodore Dalrymple
	Karimi Hotel De Nidra Poller
	The Left is Seldom Right by Norman Berdichevsky
	Allah is Dead: Why Islam is Not a Religion by Rebecca Bynum
	Virgins? What Virgins?: And Other Essays by Ibn Warraq
	An Introduction to Danish Culture by Norman Berdichevsky
	The New Vichy Syndrome: by Theodore Dalrymple
	Jihad and Genocide by Richard L. Rubenstein
	Second Opinion by Theodore Dalrymple
	Not With a Bang But a Whimper: The Politics and Culture of Decline by Theodore Dalrymple
	In Praise of Prejudice: The Necessity of Preconceived Ideas by Theodore Dalrymple
	Defending The West: by Ibn Warraq
	Nations, Language and Citizenship: by Norman Berdichevsky
	Romancing Opiates by Theodore Dalrymple
	Which Koran? by Ibn Warraq
	Our Culture, What's Left of It by Theodore Dalrymple
	What The Koran Really Says by Ibn Warraq
	Life at the Bottom by Theodore Dalrymple
	The Origins of the Koran by Ibn Warraq
	Why I Am Not Muslim by Ibn Warraq
	Spanish Vignettes: An Offbeat Look Into Spain's Culture, Society & History by Norman Berdichevsky
	Leaving Islam Edited by Ibn Warraq
	The Danish-German Border Dispute, 1815-2001: Aspects of Cultural and Demographic Politics by Norman Berdichevsky
	What's Love Got to Do with It?: Emotions and Relationships in Pop Songs by Thomas J. Scheff

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Art with a Capital F

by Mary Jackson

Once or twice I have gone along to a “Sing-it-yourself Messiah”. The drill is as it sounds: you go to a public building of some kind, usually a Church, but sometimes a theatre or concert hall; you bring your own score of Handel’s Messiah, pick a part and – you’ve guessed it – sing it yourself. Same drill with Sing-along-a-Sound-of-Music by the lake near Kenwood House. You turn up, and you sing. Usually you pay, and the proceeds go to charity. All good fun.

Now suppose you attended, as I did last Christmas, a performance of Handel’s Messiah at London’s Barbican Hall. Expecting to hear The Sixteen, conducted by its founder Harry Christopher, you find that the stage is empty, there is a photocopied score on your seat, a CD stands in for the orchestra, and you must “sing it yourself”. That wouldn’t be fun at all. And even if it were, would it be art? more...

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