We have lived through the cold war and seen it restart after a brief pause. A review of how we got to where we are today seems timely. As a generalist, rather than a historian, I will summarise the cold war in terms of its background, leaders, geopolitics, economics, military trends and other relevant perspectives. Sessions use a mix of videos, presentation, guest speakers and discussion to explore events and periods that appear most relevant to understanding today's situation, such as the Korean War, Suez crisis, Cuban Missile crisis, the Yeltsin years, the Putin era and the situation in Ukraine. I am also going to cover China, as this is a similar situation, in which history resonates in the present. China and Russia share some common attitudes - as well as having some significant differences.