We all need a past - that's where our sense of identity comes from.

All history, of course, is the history of wars.

I've always been fascinated by the operation of memory - the way in which it is not linear but fragmented, and its ambivalence.

History unravels; circumstances, following their natural inclination, prefer to remain ravelled.

The Photograph is concerned with the power that the past has to interfere with the present: the time bomb in the cupboard.

In old age, you realise that while you're divided from your youth by decades, you can close your eyes and summon it at will. As a writer it puts one at a distinct advantage.

Getting to know someone else involves curiosity about where they have come from, who they are.