If it is possible to be happy in the middle of a nightmare, then Topthorn and I were happy that summer.
Michael MorpurgoA notion for a story is for me a confluence of real events, historical perhaps, or from my own memory to create an exciting fusion.
Michael MorpurgoThat's what this war is all about, my friend. It's about which of us is the crazier.And clearly you British have an advantage.You were crazy beforehand.
Michael MorpurgoUnless you can be in a place yourself and go through the subject of your story yourself, the next best thing is not to read a book about it, or see a movie about it, it's to talk to the people who've been there.
Michael MorpurgoI think people are more in contact now with the consequences of war than they've been for a very long time. And that's what amazes me when sometimes politicians seem to forget their history. They don't look and re-learn about what has happened before. Maybe they haven't got the memory, maybe they're already too young, but you can see how we become puffed up, and how we as a nation rise so quickly if we're not careful.
Michael Morpurgo