Quotes by Antony Beevor

About Antony Beevor:

Antony James Beevor is an English military historian, educated at Winchester College and Sandhurst. He studied under the military historian John Keegan, and is a former officer with the 11th Hussars, who served in England and Germany for five years before resigning his commission. He has published several popular histories on the Second World War and the 20th century in general.
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When I was younger I used to get my best writing done at night, but now it has to be during the day. I usually finish work at half past seven, then go back to the house to open a bottle of wine, have dinner, and then read or watch television.

Antony Beevor

It takes me three or four years to research and write each book and the individual stories stay with you for a long time afterwards.

Antony Beevor

I just write the sort of book that I would enjoy reading myself, a book that is both scholarly and recreates the experience of people at that time.

Antony Beevor

When I started to write, I realised that you need a bit of both: the overall context as well as the individual's experience.

Antony Beevor

It was only after five years in the army, when I was having to do a very boring job in a very boring place, that I thought: 'Why not try writing a novel?' partly out of youthful arrogance and partly because there had been a long line of writers in my...

Antony Beevor

What is terrifying is the ability, through mass brainwashing or propaganda, to change normal human instinct, which does not necessarily contain very much hatred.

Antony Beevor

I feel slightly uneasy at the way historians are consulted as if history is going to repeat itself. It never does.

Antony Beevor

At a purely practical level, history is important because it provides the basic skills needed for students to go further in sociology, politics, international relations and economics. History is also an ideal discipline for almost all careers in the ...

Antony Beevor

Teaching the history of the British Empire links in with that of the world: for better and for worse, the Empire made us what we are, forming our national identity. A country that does not understand its own history is unlikely to respect that of oth...

Antony Beevor

The vital thing for me is to integrate the history from above with the history from below because only in that way can you show the true consequences of the decisions of Hitler or Stalin or whomever on the ordinary civilians caught up in the battle.

Antony Beevor

I love 'Blackadder,' but history it certainly ain't.

Antony Beevor

Some novelists want to give people in history a voice because they have been denied it in the past.

Antony Beevor

Of course history is easily manipulated - though that makes it even more important for us to know what actually happened.

Antony Beevor

The reason that 'Stalingrad' took off was because it emphasized the influence of history on the individual.

Antony Beevor

Politicians are often tempted to deploy history as a weapon against each other.

Antony Beevor

Entertainment history is now the main source of supposedly historical knowledge for more and more people, but 'histo-tainment' is superficial and lacks all context.

Antony Beevor

I have come across both inspiring teachers of history and deplorable ones over the years, so one cannot generalise, except perhaps to observe that the profession seems to encourage anti-militarist sentiments.

Antony Beevor

Without an understanding of history, we are politically, culturally and socially impoverished. If we sacrifice history to economic pressures or to budget cuts, we will lose a part of who we are.

Antony Beevor

The great help of being in the Army is to understand why are the armies clever in what they describe as emotional intelligence, making soldiers come to terms with the death of comrades by certain rituals.

Antony Beevor

The great European dream was to diminish militant nationalism. We would all be happy Europeans together. But we are going to see the old monster of militant nationalism being awoken when people realise how little control their politicians have.

Antony Beevor

Author Bio

  • NameAntony Beevor
  • DescriptionBritish historian
  • BornDecember 14, 1946
  • CountryUnited Kingdom
  • ProfessionMilitary Historian; Novelist; Historian