The duty of a historian is simply to understand and then convey that understanding, no more than that. — Antony Beevor Copy Share Image
I am not someone who believes I am going to find a historical scoop. — Antony Beevor Copy Share Image
Of course history is easily manipulated - though that makes it even more important for us to know what actually happened. — Antony Beevor Copy Share Image
I feel slightly uneasy at the way historians are consulted as if history is going to repeat itself. It never does. — Antony Beevor Copy Share Image
The reason that 'Stalingrad' took off was because it emphasized the influence of history on the individual. — Antony Beevor Copy Share Image
The memory of the Second World War hangs over Europe, an inescapable and irresistible point of reference. Historical parallels are usually misleading… — Antony Beevor Copy Share Image
There are one or two very good women military historians who use imagination, great study and research; they can put themselves in… — Antony Beevor Copy Share Image
Without an understanding of history, we are politically, culturally and socially impoverished. If we sacrifice history to economic pressures or to budget… — Antony Beevor Copy Share Image
Historical truth and the marketing needs of the movie and television industry remain fundamentally incompatible. — Antony Beevor Copy Share Image
The power of historical fiction for bad and for good can be immense in shaping consciousness of the past. — Antony Beevor Copy Share Image
I have come across both inspiring teachers of history and deplorable ones over the years, so one cannot generalise, except perhaps to… — Antony Beevor Copy Share Image
The vital thing for me is to integrate the history from above with the history from below because only in that way… — Antony Beevor Copy Share Image
I think one of the great disasters (in military history) is the way that the Second World War has become the defining… — Antony Beevor Copy Share Image
I think it's outrageous if a historian has a 'leading thought' because it means they will select their material according to their… — Antony Beevor Copy Share Image
Politicians are often tempted to deploy history as a weapon against each other. — Antony Beevor Copy Share Image
Entertainment history is now the main source of supposedly historical knowledge for more and more people, but 'histo-tainment' is superficial and lacks… — Antony Beevor Copy Share Image
Some novelists want to give people in history a voice because they have been denied it in the past. — Antony Beevor Copy Share Image
At a purely practical level, history is important because it provides the basic skills needed for students to go further in sociology,… — Antony Beevor Copy Share Image
Teaching the history of the British Empire links in with that of the world: for better and for worse, the Empire made… — Antony Beevor Copy Share Image
The memory of the Second World War hangs over Europe, an inescapable and irresistible point of reference. Historical parallels are usually misleading and dangerous. — Antony Beevor Copy Share Image
I believe passionately in preemptive pessimism, especially before a book comes out. I expect the worst both from reviewers and sales, and then, with… — Antony Beevor Copy Share Image
It is important to understand the continuing, confused fascination with the Second World War. For most of us, the great unspoken question is how… — Antony Beevor Copy Share Image
I was in Estonia when a professor asked me if I was aware that making any criticism of the Red Army during the war… — Antony Beevor Copy Share Image
The blurring of fact and fiction has great commercial potential, which is bound to be corrupting in historical terms. — Antony Beevor Copy Share Image
A blend of fact and fiction has been used in various forms since the dawn of creative writing, starting with sagas and epic poems. — Antony Beevor Copy Share Image
When my first novel was published, I went in great excitement round bookshops in central London to see if they had stocked it. — Antony Beevor Copy Share Image
I feel slightly uneasy at the way historians are consulted as if history is going to repeat itself. It never does. — Antony Beevor Copy Share Image
I'm often reassured in a bizarre - perhaps perverse - way when I find in the archive stuff that contradicts what my assumptions have… — Antony Beevor Copy Share Image
The duty of a historian is simply to understand and then convey that understanding, no more than that. — Antony Beevor Copy Share Image
