My History Writing Was Based On What

History Can Show You That It Was One Pile Of Bad Stuff After Another. It Can Also Show You That There's Been Tremendous Progress In Knowledge, Behaviour, Laws, Civilisation. It Cannot Show You That There Was A Meaning Behind It.

The East European Small Countries Have A Sense Of Betrayal, Of Having Been Forgotten By Western Leaders.

We Know What Things Cost But Have No Idea What They Are Worth.

What I Am Against Is False Optimism: The Notion Either That Things Have To Go Well, Or Else That They Tend To, Or Else That The Default Condition Of Historical Trajectories Is Characteristically Beneficial In The Long-run.

My History Writing Was Based On What I Saw In Strange, Exotic Places Rather Than Just Reading Books.