Cold War

Richard Cavendish explains how, on September 12th, 1959, the Soviet Union launched Luna 2, the first spacecraft to successfully reach the Moon.

Catherine Merridale examines competing versions of Russia's troubled past in the light of present politics.

In 1969 men set foot on the Moon for the first time. The Apollo space programme that put them there was the product of an age of optimism and daring very different from our own, argues André Balogh.

John Swift examines a vital element of the Cold War and assesses the motives of the Superpowers.

Stella Rock sees a renaissance of religious traditions at what was one of Russia’s most vibrant monasteries before the Soviet purge.

Viv Sanders takes issue with some all too common assumptions.

The Cold War has become this year’s hot media topic. Taylor Downing welcomes the chance to look more critically at the era of ‘mutually assured destruction’.

Sue Donnelly introduces the archives of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, and a project to make them accessible to a wider audience.

India cast off the monarchy in 1950, but the Nehru-Gandhi family have become republican royalty. How did one dynasty take centre stage in the world’s largest democracy?

John Swift examines the events that led the world to the brink of nuclear catastrophe.