Forgot to add this gem in bit below, necessary to tempt phil!

Ascherson says that while he had the "odd joint" when in Berlin, he essentially saw the 1960s through German eyes. "The whole of the drugs, fashion and music scenes were considered unimportant to these highly politicised people," he explains. He came into contact with several activists who later became associated with the Red Army Faction - including Ulrike Meinhof - and when back in London he briefly let "one or two contacts" stay at his home. "I thought their way of dealing with things was catastrophically mistaken but you often come across this situation as a foreign correspondent. By letting them stay I wasn't making a commitment to their cause. I was interested in them and wanted to talk to them and find out who they were."