There are thus great swathes of the past where understanding is more important and reputable than judgement, because the principal actors performed in line with the ideas and values of that time, not of ours.

But Germany will always suffer, I fear, from the intensely dramatic character of the crimes of the Third Reich.

If Margaret Thatcher had been Prime Minister at the time, there would have been no Treaty of Maastricht.

We must admit that history is enjoyable to a large extent because it enables us to pass judgment on the past.

Diplomacy is unfashionable in the world of knee-jerk reaction and the dogmatic sound bite on television.

We should be wary of politicians who profess to follow history while only noticing those signposts of history that point in the direction which they themselves already favour.

The tragedy of 9/11 galvanised the American superpower into action, leaving us in Europe divided in its wake.