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 am not someone who believes I am going to find a historical scoop.

The blurring of fact and fiction has great commercial potential, which is bound to be corrupting in historical terms.

I just love the days when you come out of the archives with half a dozen excellent descriptions or poignant accounts of personal experiences.

When I was a child I had something called Perthes' Disease which meant I was on crutches, so I was bullied at school and all that sort of stuff.

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