Cold War
Unfinished business in Berlin: The Secret Hours, by Mick Herron, reviewed
How it all began: Di Taverner, Service legend David Cartwright and the rest of the Slow Horses make themselves known to the reader in an origin story disguised as a follow-up
Too in thrall to today’s dogmas: ITV1’s A Spy Among Friends reviewed
In 2014, Ben Macintyre presented a BBC2 documentary based on his book A Spy Among Friends: Kim Philby and the…
Ukraine's plight paints a bleak vision of Europe's future
It is tempting to view Vladimir Putin as a Cold War relic: a former KGB officer who hasn’t got over the…
When will the Nineties revival end?
We’ve been living through a nostalgia for the 1990s that has lasted longer than the decade itself. That was back…
Russian spies and the return of the Cold War
Last week’s arrest of a security guard employed at the British embassy in Berlin, on suspicion of spying for Russia,…
The best Cold War thriller I've seen that I fully understand: The Courier reviewed
The Courier is a Cold War spy thriller and the prospect of a Cold War spy thriller always makes my…
America’s Yeltsin moment
The end of the Cold War was as great a shock to US politics as it was to the Soviet Union’s. The…
The Democrats want a Cold War, but will they get a civil war?
With the Swamp lovingly tended under the Obama/Biden administration, the Democrats sense a chance to end President Trump and carry…
Olivia de Havilland’s Red Scare
Olivia de Havilland, who has died aged 104, will forever be remembered for the role of Melanie Hamilton in Gone…
Trump’s German troop withdrawal will hurt America
Tensions between Germany and the United States have increased considerably since Donald Trump became President. Trump has repeatedly criticized Berlin…
The problem with mystery podcasts like Wind of Change
Did the US secretly write a power ballad in order to bring down the Soviet Union? That’s the question behind…
Germany’s military has become a complete joke
It is not hard to think of times when German military weakness would have been lauded as good news across…
Ross Perot was the populist who betrayed populism
Ross Perot, who has just died at age 89, is wrongly remembered as the man who cost George H.W. Bush…
Will Trump enter the hypersonic nuclear arms race?
The Pentagon is urgently reviewing just how and when the president might launch nuclear missiles as a dangerous new nuclear…
Enjoyably contrived: BBC1’s Baptiste reviewed
What’s the best way to start a six-part thriller? The answer, it seems, is to have a bloke of a…
Oleg Gordievsky, the ultimate spy story — and Ben Macintyre, the best writer to tell it
Spy stories, whether the stuff of fictional thrillers or, as in the case of Sergei Skripal, the real deal —…
Radio’s role in winning the Cold War
Some of us grew up worrying about reds under the bed, which was perhaps not as foolish as all that…
Embarrassing – but electrifying: Bernstein 100 reviewed
‘There is something enviable about the utter lack of inhibition with which Leonard Bernstein carries on,’ wrote the critic of…
Portrait of the week
Home David Cameron, the Prime Minister, spent time in Brussels before a meeting of the European Council to see what…
What is a serious film festival doing opening with Hail, Caesar!
What is a serious film festival doing opening with Ethan and Joel Coens’ turkey Hail, Caesar!? James Woodall reports from Berlin
The couple behind the world’s most famous chair
Peter Mandelson, in his moment of pomp, had his portrait taken by Lord Snowdon. He is sitting on a fine…
How to fix our defence budget mess
With the exception of 1983, when Michael Foot promised unilateral nuclear disarmament, defence has played little role in modern election…
Barack Obama: anatomy of a failure
Whatever happened to Barack Obama?
Playing chicken with Vladimir Putin
An official end to the Cold War was declared at a summit between President George H. Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev…
Sanctions won’t tame Vladimir Putin’s Russia. Talking might
Sanctions won’t help. One thing might
