It takes me three or four years to research and write each book and the individual stories stay with you for a long time afterwards.

To begin impatiently is the worst mistake a writer can make

If you smash a city when you're trying to capture it, you actually end up providing the perfect terrain for the defenders while blocking the access for your own armoured vehicles.

I just write the sort of book that I would enjoy reading myself, a book that is both scholarly and recreates the experience of people at that time.

Few things reveal more about political leaders and their systems than the manner of their downfall.

I believe passionately in preemptive pessimism, especially before a book comes out. I expect the worst both from reviewers and sales, and then, with any luck, I may be proved wrong.

I think it's outrageous if a historian has a 'leading thought' because it means they will select their material according to their thesis

I joined the Army in 1965 and served with the 11th Hussars, which I loved. The regiment was so relaxed - a salute was more like a friendly wave.

The duty of a historian is simply to understand and then convey that understanding, no more than that.

I feel slightly uneasy at the way historians are consulted as if history is going to repeat itself. It never does.

The British bombing of Caen beginning on D-Day in particular was stupid, counter-productive and above all very close to a war crime.

My first-year mentor Leslie taught me that the hurrieder we go, the behinder we get.

Art is a kind of mining, " he said. "The artist a variety of prospector searching for the sparkling silver of meaning in the earth.

You can be an expert any field of study with consistent effort and consistent learning.

The triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment. Whereas the groanings of the righteous are but short, and their jubilee and triumph shall be everlasting.

The wall is silence, the grass is sleep, Tall trees of peace their vigil keep, And the Fairy of Dreams with moth-wings furled. Plays soft on her flute to the drowsy world.

She didn't like the fact that she had reduced a man – no matter how evil he might be—to a drooling idiot.

Let every woman, who has once begun to think, examine herself

Global warming is controversial, of course, but the controversy is mainly over whether human activity is driving it.

You will attract to yourself people who harmonize with your own philosophy of life, whether you wish it or not.

Directing is to fill anyone with a yearning to get back at ten o'clock next morning.