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

It was only after five years in the army, when I was having to do a very boring job in a very boring place, that I thought: 'Why not try writing a novel?' partly out of youthful arrogance and partly because there had been a long line of writers in my mother's family.

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.

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