The great help of being in the Army is to understand why are the armies clever in what they describe as emotional intelligence, making soldiers come to terms with the death of comrades by certain rituals.

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

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

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.

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

The great help of being in the Army is to understand why are the armies clever in what they describe as emotional intelligence, making soldiers come to terms with the death of comrades by certain rituals.

When my first novel was published, I went in great excitement round bookshops in central London to see if they had stocked it.