When we were in school, we were told that Stalin was a madman who got control of Europe, which teaches you nothing. — Simon Sebag Montefiore Copy Share Image
I much prefer writing fiction. History books, for me, are very hard work, very serious. — Simon Sebag Montefiore Copy Share Image
I love the flamboyance, the melodrama, the bloody theatre of Russian history. — Simon Sebag Montefiore Copy Share Image
“History is little more than the register of the crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind." --- Edward Gibbon” — Simon Sebag Montefiore Copy Share Image
Historical fiction is simply fiction set in the past, and should be judged as such. — Simon Sebag Montefiore Copy Share Image
We have far too many Tudors. Henry VIII is far too over-rated. He's become the ultimate brand name, like the Marks &… — Simon Sebag Montefiore Copy Share Image
Real stories - whether in pure fiction or historical - have a certain indefinable power; we are endlessly curious about the past… — Simon Sebag Montefiore Copy Share Image
The Russian Revolution mobilized a popular passion across the world based on Marxism-Leninism, fueled by messianic zeal. It was, perhaps, after the… — Simon Sebag Montefiore Copy Share Image
I'm the last person who would end up doing something that needs meticulous compilation of facts. It's totally against my character. I… — Simon Sebag Montefiore Copy Share Image
It's the mix of the trivial and the great events that make up history. It's the low things about high people that… — Simon Sebag Montefiore Copy Share Image
Writing fiction is very different to writing non-fiction. I love writing novels, but on history books, like my biographies of Stalin or… — Simon Sebag Montefiore Copy Share Image
Trump wants to be the first American tsar. With his hero worship of Putin, his admiration for the apparent omnipotence of the Kremlin, schoolboyish… — Simon Sebag Montefiore Copy Share
“History is little more than the register of the crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind." --- Edward Gibbon” — Simon Sebag Montefiore Copy Share
Every Russian emperor from Peter the Great to Stalin and Putin knows a leader and his security agencies must never be parted. His safety… — Simon Sebag Montefiore Copy Share
“Sex fills a few hours of our lives yet those precious minutes count for more than months and years” — Simon Sebag Montefiore Copy Share
“Iraq was already in the grip of a bloody insurgency against British rule. Churchill therefore called a conference in Cairo to hand over a… — Simon Sebag Montefiore Copy Share
I don't think Jerusalem should be controlled 100% by religious people of any denomination, sect, or religion - even my own. — Simon Sebag Montefiore Copy Share
The memoirs of the Grand Duchess Olga are an entertaining record for anyone interested in the imperial family's home life during the last years… — Simon Sebag Montefiore Copy Share
I am a passionate nonfinisher. Life is too short, and there are too many great books to read, so if I lose interest or… — Simon Sebag Montefiore Copy Share
There is a view of Russian exceptionalism, that they are a unique civilisation, a view right since Ivan the Terrible that Russia is a… — Simon Sebag Montefiore Copy Share
The political lives of tyrants play out human affairs with a special intensity: the death of a democratic leader long after his retirement is… — Simon Sebag Montefiore Copy Share
Mr. Putin presents himself as a czar - and like any czar, he fears revolution above all else. — Simon Sebag Montefiore Copy Share
'Daddy used to be a Georgian,' Stalin's son, Vasily, once said. Actually, the dictator didn't truly become Russian; he remained Georgian culturally. Yet he… — Simon Sebag Montefiore Copy Share
“Once in power, Stalin’s campaign to succeed Lenin required a legitimate heroic career which he did not possess because of his experience in what… — Simon Sebag Montefiore Copy Share
