Norman Davies Quotes

World history is the world's court.

The events of the time may be transmitted to posterity; but the agitation of the public mind can never be fully comprehended but by those who were witnesses of it

Every age has consisted of crises that seemed intolerable to the people who lived through them.

On whatever side we regard the history of Europe, we shall perceive it to be a tissue of crimes, follies, and misfortunes, of politics without design, and wars without consequence.

I was always pretty interested in my history. Not just the history of the Caribbean, the history of my people, but all walks of life.

Never since Jamestown and Plymouth Rock has our American civilization been in such danger as now.

I was a history major at Princeton University; I took exams in war and diplomacy, and I find those things very fascinating.

I knew from history that war comes with frightening regularity, often fought over the same ground and similar causes as previous conflicts.

Histories are to educate so that we understand better for ourselves and for motivation.

Americans are in vital need of the instruction that historians can provide.

I think if we don't understand history, if we don't keep referring back to it, we become complacent. And complacency, as we all know, it leads to repeating history.

There has always been interest in certain phases and aspects of history - military history is a perennial bestseller, the Civil War, that sort of thing. But I think that there is a lot of interest in historical biography and what's generally called narrative history: history as story-telling.

Social struggles have been taking place throughout millennia, since human beings, by resorting to wars, were able to take hold of a surplus production to satisfy the essential needs of life.

The enduring lesson is war is a disaster. Whoever wins, tremendous loss of life, property - a set back for civilisation.

I hope my journals relating to World War II will help clarify issues of the past and thereby contribute to understanding the issues and conditions of the present and future.

Like a nuclear disaster, the fallout from the meltdown of Syria threatens to be with us for decades, and the longer it is permitted to continue, the more severe the damage will be.

It's hard to understand a moment in history when you are in it.

Novels taught me that history is dramatic. I wanted my students to know that, too.

As a journalist, I have spent years reporting on often difficult and depressing conflicts, on poverty, and the inhuman way we sometimes treat each other.

Real people speak in my books about the main events of the age, such as the war, the Chernobyl disaster, and the downfall of a great empire.

We learn from history. That's what it's all about.

I was very interested in history, but I also thought, you know, history is not that interesting sometimes, and it can feel a bit medicinal.

History is a string full of knots, the best you can do is admire it, and maybe tie it up a bit more. History is a hammock for swinging and a game for playing.

Every great writer is a writer of history, let him treat on almost what subject he may.

The only important thing to realise about history is that it all took place in the last five minutes.