Biographers Quote by Hilary Mantel

The thing that most attracts me to historical fiction is taking the factual record as far as it is known, using that as scaffolding,…

— Geraldine Brooks

While historians may go on attempting grand, sweeping and defining narratives, they work in a time when readers know that another narrative always lies…

— Colm Toibin

I try to find clues in the documented record - from the subject's own testimony, from the testimony of other people. When you're writing…

— Russell Freedman

You're not a historian, but most historians will tell you that they make very discrete judgment as to what facts to omit in order…

— Oliver Stone

“As a historian, I found myself all too often treating my historical subjects like fictional characters, malleable entities that could be made to do…

— Lauren Willig

Historians who stuff in every item of research they have found, every shoelace and telephone call of a biographical subject, are not doing the…

— Barbara Tuchman

Historians will handle a much wider range of sources than a biographer and will be covering a broader spectrum of events, time, peoples.

— Claire Tomalin

I retained no records and I am not a good writer anyhow. So the best approach is for historians like you to extract the…

— Shunroku Hata

It can be a long gap between the emergence of fully researched historical biographies.

— Antonia Fraser

I believe that the supreme duty of the historian is to write history, that is to say, to attempt to record in one sweeping…

— Steven Runciman

When you're a biographer, you want to explore the very things that your subject didn't care to talk about.

— Ron Chernow

The writing of history is largely a process of diversion. Most historical accounts distract attention from the secret influences behind great events.

— Frank Herbert