If long hitting is the thing that causes the spectators to whistle through their teeth in wonderment, why not play tournaments up and down an expansive stadium?

Power brings a man many luxuries, but a clean pair of hands is seldom among them.

For me, as I suspect for most people, there comes a point where you have enough. If you've got £20 million, why keep going until you've got £100 million or £1,000 million? Does anyone need another vast yacht or private jet or a house full of gold?

The natural impulse of men is to follow and whoever has the strongest sense of purpose will always dominate.

You can't ever win the war on crime, or the war on terror. You can't repeal human nature.

Cicero smiled at us. 'The art of life is to deal with problems as they arise, rather than destory one's spirit by worrying about them too far in advance. Especially tonight.

I was a political journalist; I came to writing novels through an interest in politics and power.