“The biggest mistake made by German commanders was to have underestimated ‘Ivan’, the ordinary Red Army soldier. They quickly found that surrounded or outnumbered Soviet soldiers went on fighting when their counterparts from western armies would have surrendered.” — 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
