I'm drawn particularly to stories that evolve out of the character of the protagonist.

Washington was a man of exceptional, almost excessive self-command, rarely permitting himself any show of discouragement or despair.

My shorthand answer is that I try to write the kind of book that I would like to read. If I can make it clear and interesting and compelling to me, then I hope maybe it will be for the reader.

The truth isn't just the facts. You can have all the facts imaginable and miss the truth, just as you can have facts missing or some wrong, and reach the larger truth.

Napoleon could never imagine that some people loved their country as much as he loved his own.

It would be the most crucial day of the entire war.

I think that we need history as much as we need bread or water or love.