How Do Europe’s Cold War Divisions Persist?
East was East and West was West – until 1989. The Wall is gone, but are its Cold War demarcations still there?
Europe
Interrail: The Trans Europe Express
Interrail gave young Europeans the freedom of the continent in the 1970s. Five decades on, people are still taking the train.
Ronald Reagan’s European Tour
A tour of Europe cemented Ronald Reagan’s reputation as an international statesman and helped secure his re-election.
‘Deterring Armageddon’ by Peter Apps and ‘NATO’ by Sten Rynning review
As Deterring Armageddon: A Biography of NATO and NATO: From Cold War to Ukraine, a History of the World’s Most Powerful Alliance make clear, at almost every point in the last 75 years the alliance's future has looked uncertain.
‘Remembering Peasants’ by Patrick Joyce review
Remembering Peasants: A Personal History of a Vanished World by Patrick Joyce is a tender study of European rural life. But is this lost past closer than we think?
‘Forbidden Desire in Early Modern Europe’ by Noel Malcolm review
Forbidden Desire in Early Modern Europe: Male-Male Sexual Relations, 1400-1750 by Noel Malcolm is an ambitious comparative study that raises plenty of questions.
Bad Omens: When the Astrologers Got it Wrong
Europe panicked when astrologers predicted a huge flood in 1524. When it failed to appear, astrology had to defend itself.
Birth of a Swiss Serial Killer
Marie Jeanneret was born on 13 January 1836 in Switzerland. By the time she was brought to justice, she had attempted to murder at least 30 people.
The Menin Gate is Unveiled
The finished Menin Gate memorial, unveiled on 24 July 1927, recorded 54,896 British and imperial soldiers who died at Ypres between 1914 and 1918, and whose bodies were lost.
Love in a Time of Hate by Florian Illies review
An account of the sex lives of European intellectuals is full of gossip – and as shallow as the society pages.