I am sure that all politicians seek the home connection with the voter. But [Margaret Thatcher] carried it to extremes.

Memory isn't a theme; it's part of the human condition.

Every leader operates under the threat of assassination.

[Margaret] Thatcher could fake her class background, but she couldn't fake the quality of her mind.

You think you're writing one historical novel and it turns into three, and I'm quite used to a short story turning into a novel - that's happened through my whole career.

He turns to the painting. "I fear Mark was right." "Who is Mark?" "A silly little boy who runs after George Boleyn. I once heard him say I looked like a murderer." Gregory says, "Did you not know?

Hindsight is the historian's necessary vice.