If you see our best seller list, most of them are books that are given as gifts. They are books you give to flatter somebody.

Lawrence Millman is a favorite writer of mine. He did a travels on the trail of the Vikings.

People my age and younger do think much more towards Europe. We have to fill the gap sometime - we can't think we are an empire any longer after all.

Originally I wanted to be a diplomat, and by attrition I started giving up that idea.

Paraguayans have no Italian blood and are half Guarani [Indian] blood. And the Chileans call themselves "the English of South America," which actually couldn't be further from the truth.

I was talking to my publisher in Britain and was told here we are - we are sixty million people and we reckon only four hundred thousand people in Britain really read.

I think one should express opinions and these books are relatively opinionated. They would be a bit dry without it.