We really should stop taking historical novelists seriously as historians. The idea that they have authority is ludicrous. They are very good at imagining character: that's why the novels sell. They have no authority when it comes to the handling… — David Starkey Copy Share Image
I was born in a council house, my father left school at the age of 11, had his teeth out without anaesthetic at the… — David Starkey Copy Share Image
I was a complete and typical only child. I was bookish, and sport was out of the question anyway. I had read all of… — David Starkey Copy Share Image
Compare the scale and magnifcence of Versailles with St James's - the brick-built hovel in which the 18th-century kings of England lived. What was… — David Starkey Copy Share Image
Churchill may have made some horrendous mistakes - Gallipoli, for one - but he had a sense of the profundity and integrity of the… — David Starkey Copy Share Image
We have this extraordinarily unbalanced constitution, in which we have an elected dictatorship of the prime minister. — David Starkey Copy Share Image
Historians have become far too precious. Their work has become ever more specialised and, as they steadily lose the context of their studies, they… — David Starkey Copy Share Image
Floating the idea that every kid in Brixton can become a whizkid at information technology is dishonest. — David Starkey Copy Share Image
What I love doing is creating a room, with attractive paintings and colours and furnishings - very much my mother. — David Starkey Copy Share Image
