But it struck me that the extreme violence and cruelty of the English Civil War had gone understated.
Simon SchamaThe older I get, the more I want to do. It beats death, decay or golf in unfortunate trousers. Peace and quiet depress me.
Simon SchamaAlmost everywhere else in Europe, the more military the state, the stronger the king - except in Britain. Here it was parliament, not the monarchy, who signed the cheques. The longer the war went on, the stronger parliament became, as the purse on which it sat grew bigger and bigger.
Simon SchamaHistories never conclude; they just pause their prose. Their stories are, if they are truthful, untidy affairs, resistant to windings-up and sortings-out. They beat raggedly on into the future.
Simon SchamaThese men were very much in the minority, but of course, being the 'Elect', they expected to be in a minority - the party of redemption. In fact they glorified in the slightness of their numbers, the self-purifying troop of Gideon's army... stormtroopers in the front line of the Reformation.
Simon Schama