32 Quotes by Saul David

Henry Kissinger is perhaps the best-known American statesman of the 20th century.

Historians turning their hands to fiction are all the rage. Since Alison Weir led the way in 2006, an ever-growing number of established non-fiction writers - Giles Milton, Simon Sebag Montefiore, Harry Sidebottom, Patrick Bishop, Ian Mortimer and myself included - have written historical novels.

If getting a contract was relatively straightforward, writing fiction was far harder than I could have imagined, and there were moments during the long and torturous edit process when it seemed that 'Zulu Hart,' the first of the trilogy, would never be fit for public consumption.

Historical facts are the vital framework around which non-fiction writers construct their narratives; they are, quite simply, indispensable.

We've all faced the charge that our novels are history lite, and to some extent, that's true. Yet for some, historical fiction is a way into reading history proper.

History tells us that a general can move and feed an army as efficiently as he likes, but the real litmus test is the battlefield.

In March 1915, at the Battle of Neuve Chapelle, the British fired more shells in a single 35-minute bombardment than they had during the whole Boer War.

By 1917, thanks to the new munitions factories and the women that worked in them, the British Empire was supplying more than 50 million shells a year.

Ever since World War I, superior force is no longer measured in terms of men or horses, but in the means to wreak destruction.