History is not another name for the past, as many people imply. It is the name for stories about the past.

George VI in the conventional parlance was a Good King who sacrificed his life to his sense of duty. If we are to have monarchs it would be hard to find a better one.

Though the object of being a Great Power is to be able to fight a Great War, the only way of remaining a Great Power is not to fight one.

The male clerk with his quill pen and copper-plate handwriting had gone for good. The female short-hand typist took his place. It was a decisive moment in women's emancipation.

In my opinion, most of the great men of the past were only there for the beer - the wealth, prestige and grandeur that went with the power.

We learn nothing from history except the infinite variety of men's behaviour.

History is the great propagator of doubt.