[Margaret Thatcher] admitted to being the daughter of her father but not the daughter of her mother!

But an experienced reader is also a self-aware and critical reader. I can't remember ever reading a story without judging it.

No ruler in the history of the world has ever been able to afford a war. They're not affordable things. No prince ever says, 'This is my budget, so this is the kind of war I can have.

So many years of preparation, for what was called adult life: was it for this?

Truth can break the gates down, truth can howl in the street; unless truth is pleasing, personable and easy to like, she is condemned to stay whimpering at the back door.

It's not easy to diagnose because depending where the endometrial deposits are, the symptoms can be quite different. It's an unrecognized problem among teenage girls, and it's something that every young woman who has painful menstruation should be aware of... It's a condition that is curable if it's caught early. If not, if it's allowed to run on, it can cause infertility, and it can really, really mess up your life.

I do myself think that history is a set of skills rather than a narrative.