Forgotten films
Streaming services contain a wealth of overlooked foreign-language war stories
Final frontiers
Adam LeBor on two TV series that are set in border regions, that feature engaging female characters and that are beautifully filmed
The American who let the Nazis rebuild Germany
John McCloy freed Hitler’s favourite industrialists. Their firms still dominate the country’s economy
9/11 confidential
This 9/11 documentary gained extraordinary access to the key decision makers, deploying the material with skill and confidence
Thirty years on: blood and hatred in the Balkans
Adam LeBor recalls terror and surreal moments of calm in Eastern Europe
Press Gang
Croatia’s war runs like a dark thread through the excellent series ‘The Paper’
A widow’s might
The Widow is intelligent television that probes the dark side of the international aid industry
Match of the dull
How Match of the Day needs modernising
Back to the wall
Despite the fact East Germany has disappeared, it continues to live on in this outstanding trilogy
Finn noir
A Bergmanesque miasma of gloom hangs over every episode in this new Scandinavian thriller
Murders for late October
Professor Jeremy Black rounds up the best autumnal reads that are successful in grounding a sense of place
A better way for Britain
Global Britain loses out on the possible benefits of Brexit: the creation of a cooperative, triangulated, Regional Britain
Was there a military revolution in early modern Europe?
Professor Jeremy Black explores and debunks some generalisations about war in early modern Europe
What’s the point of political art?
Art that shocks, offends, and amuses has a purpose beyond aesthetic: its existence is a testament to freedom of expression
Too much of a good thing
Inflation is likely to be a live political issue until the growth of money is reined in
Why we must remember
The notion that freedom comes at a price seems to be one that escapes us
The myth of childhood obesity
The statistics are unfit for purpose
Recanting decanting
An expensive evacuation of the Palace of Westminster has now fallen out of favour
Ghosts at the feast
Christmas ghost stories are meditations on darkness at the darkest point of the year
Losing face
How do you pick up your nephew if you can’t recognise anyone?