20 June 2007, 6:30pm

Former BBC journalist Rosie Whitehouse has written the book is the story of her life as the wife of foreign correspondent Tim Judah, and bringing up their children as the ‘New World Order’ falls apart around them. Problems range from hunting down half a dozen eggs in post-revolutionary Romania, to being evacuated with two young children in a darkened plane on the last flight out of Sarajevo, as war erupts in ’92. It is hoped that Vesna Goldsworthy author of ‘Chernobyl Strawberries’ will be present to discuss the collapse of former Yugoslavia with Rosie Whitehouse.

28 March 2007, 6.30pm

David Gowan, who has recently retired from the Diplomatic Service, was British Ambassador to Serbia and Montenegro from 2003 - 2006. Earlier posts included Moscow (where he was Minister from 2000 to 2003 and Commercial and Know How Fund Counsellor from 1992 to 1995) and Helsinki. From 1999 to 2000 he was a Senior Associate Member of St Antony’s College, Oxford. He subsequently published “How the EU can help Russia”.

06 February 2007, 6:30pm

Richard Chartres became the 132nd Bishop of London in November 1995 and was enthroned at St Paul’s on 26 January 1996. A former Chaplain to Archbishop Runcie, he was consecrated Bishop of Stepney in 1992. He is an Honorary Bencher of the Middle Temple, Chairman of the Ecumenical “London Church Leaders” and associated with numerous other London organisations. He founded St Ethelburga’s Centre for Reconciliation and Peace and is currently the Chairman of the Trustees. He is responsible on behalf of the Archbishop of Canterbury for relations with the Orthodox Church.

22 November 2006, 6.30pm

Sir Gavyn Arthur was Lord Mayor of London in 2002-03. Sir Gavyn was called to the Bar, Middle Temple in 1975, practised as a barrister from 1977 and has been a Recorder since 2002. Among his many interests he is a member of the Anglo-Austrian Society, the British Ukrainian Law Society and the Three Faiths Forum. He has travelled widely in Central Europe.

18 October 2006, 6.30pm

David Brighty was Ambassador to the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic and later to the Czech Republic and to Slovakia from 1991-94. In a distinguished diplomatic career, he was also Ambassador to Cuba (1989-91) and to Spain (1994-98). He is Chairman of the Friends of the British Library.

27 September 2006, 0.00

Annabel Westman is Director of Studies of the Attingham Trust. From 1992 to 2005, she was Co-director of the Attingham Summer School and has been involved with the work of the Trust since 1980. Mrs Westman is a textile historian and also works independently for heritage bodies, including the National Trust and English Heritage, as an adviser on historical furnishing schemes.

22 March 2006, 6.30pm

Peter Unwin served in the British Legation in Budapest from 1958-61 and was Ambassador to Hungary from 1983-86. He also served as Ambassador to Denmark (1986-89) and was a Deputy Secretary of the Commonwealth from 1989-93. He was Chairman of the British-Hungarian Society from 1995-2000, (President 2000-2004). His publications include Voice in the Wilderness: Imre Nagy and the Hungarian Revolution, Baltic Approaches, and Where East Met West: a Central European Journey. His latest book is 1956: Power Defied.

27 February 2006, 6.30pm

Sarmite Elerte is chief editor of Diena, Latvia’s leading daily paper, a post she has held since 1992. Ms Elerte received a degree in Journalism from the University of Latvia in 1980 in 1988 she graduated in cinema criticism from the Moscow Institute of Cinematography. From 1988-1990 she was Head successively of the Information Centre of the Popular Front of Latvia (the movement for national independence from the USSR) and the Information Centre of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Latvia. She is on the Board of the Soros Foundation.

27 September 2005, 6.30pm

CHAIRMAN OF THE ENGLISH SPEAKING UNION Lord Watson has been Chairman of the ESU since 1999, having served as Deputy Chairman since 1995. He was elected a Life Peer in 1999 following a distinguished career with the BBC (The Money Programme, Panorama), London Weekend Television (Chief Political Correspondent), the European Commission (Head of Radio, Television, Audio-visual Division) and in the City. He has written widely on the EU.

16 October 2004, 6.30pm

Russia has officially welcomed the Nato-Russia treaty and has shown interest in a closer relationship with the European Union. However, nationalist sentiment is still smarting at the break-up of the former Soviet empire. Moscow is therefore pursuing contradictory policies of trying to improve relations with the West while opposing Western encroachments in the 'near abroad'. It is a policy that is likely to cause bitterness and resentment all round.

Michael Binyon is Diplomatic Editor of the Times and leader writer on Russia. He is a former Moscow and Washington correspondent.

27 September 2004, 6.30pm

It is not quite 15 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall – and the Soviet Russian empire which it symbolized and was supposed to sustain. Yet almost the whole of Central and Eastern Europe is, or aspires to be, not just free of 'them' but part of 'us'.

Andrew Taussig, Controller of European Services in the BBC World Service during the last years of the Cold War and the transition to the new Europe, considers some implications for individuals of toppled idols and new horizons and for the world, so long driven by European power politics, now finding other causes to fight for.