Timothy Phillips

Timothy Phillips is a historian and travel writer. His book The Curtain And The Wall: A Journey In The Shadow Of The Cold War will be published by Granta in October.

What I learnt from retracing the iron curtain

Just before the pandemic, I spent several months travelling through Europe from the north of Norway to Istanbul and beyond to Azerbaijan. I saw unforgettable sights: the endless daylight of the Arctic summer; the vast Hammershus castle on the Danish island of Bornholm; Vienna’s ornate Prunksaal library; and the sandy beaches of Corfu. But the