Southend-on-Sea has long been a running joke – until now
Standing at the end of Britain’s longest pier, on a cold and misty morning, looking out across the Thames Estuary,…
Young, dynamic – and a pragmatist: meet Sebastian Kurz
Austria’s young Chancellor is building bridges with the populists, writes William Cook
Marx in Trier
‘Trier hates you,’ reads the graffiti outside the Karl-Marx-Wohnhaus in Trier. Actually, that’s a bit unfair. Trier doesn’t hate Marx,…
The wild, wintry wonders of Lapland
William Cook on the beauty and raw power of Lapland’s natural world
Anthologies to bring comfort and joy
John Julius Norwich loves Christmas dearly. ‘I just wish it didn’t come round about every three months,’ he says. I…
How the Gibraltar Open is rocking the chessboard
Chess is traditionally a mind gym for badly dressed men. The Gibraltar Open is changing all that, says William Cook
Where did it all go wrong for Angela Merkel?
The breakdown of coalition talks is uniquely damaging for the German leader
Notes on Lewes
Autumn is upon us, and the streets are full of families in fancy dress. People of all ages are dressing…
In search of Chicago’s artistic past – and present
The Windy City has inspired everyone from Hemingway to Saul Bellow – and now William Cook
Sport in our state schools is in a sorry state of play
Sport in state schools is not up to par, writes William Cook
Why everyone’s fighting to come third in Germany’s election
The real prize in Germany’s election is to come third
The British interrogation methods that even Hitler found ‘ingenious’
Hidden behind Kensington Palace, in one of London’s smartest streets, there is a grand old house which played a leading…
How James Ivory made Howards End
As one of his greatest films returns to the cinema, James Ivory talks to William Cook about his 50-year career
Why we should care about the German elections
A year ago, Angela Merkel looked like a dead woman walking. Not any more, says William Cook
West Middlewick Farm
In springtime in our family, we always have the same old argument: where should we go on our summer holiday…
His fair lady
Audrey Hepburn and Hubert de Givenchy had the most elegant of creative friendships. In Hepburn, Givenchy found his muse and the personification of his style.
Thirty years on, Rita, Sue and Bob Too remains one of Britain's greatest films
Hilary Mantel called the film ‘remorselessly indecent’, but William Cook fell head over heels in love with Rita, Sue and Bob Too
Ruislip Lido
Most mornings, if I’m not too hung-over, I go for a run around Ruislip Lido — a mile there, through…
Germany’s history might have been as peaceful (and dull) as Switzerland’s
Go into any high street bookshop and find the European history section. There’s usually a shelf or two on France…
This election will be won or lost on the suburban battleground
The PM knows victory is to be found among the privet hedges
Was Nazi art really that bad?
Bad men and bad politics don’t necessarily equal bad art. So perhaps it’s time to reassess Hitler’s taste in painting, says William Cook
A match made in heaven
Chess fan William Cook takes a masterclass in Marrakech
Zurich’s hidden rock’n’roll side
On the green edge of Zurich, where this neat and tidy city melts into neat and tidy countryside, an icon…
The secret of the universe in 250 pages
A few years ago, in Berne, I visited the apartment where Einstein wrote his theory of special relativity, which changed…
The real secret of Swiss watch craft: apprentices
Switzerland’s watch apprentices are all winners, says William Cook
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