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George VI in the conventional parlance was a Good King who sacrificed his life to his sense of duty. If we are to have monarchs it would be hard to find a better one.

A. J. P. Taylor

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A. J. P. Taylor
Age: 84 †
Born: 1906
Born: March 25
Died: 1990
Died: September 7
Historian
Historian Of The Modern Age
Journalist
University Teacher
Alan John Percivale Taylor
Would
King
Life
Kings
Duty
Sense
Parlance
Better
Monarchs
Find
Sacrificed
Hard
Conventional
Good
George

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Lenin was the first to discover that capitalism 'inevitably' caused war and he discovered this only when the First World War was already being fought. Of course he was right. Since every great state was capitalist in 1914.
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I was a narrative historian, believing more and more as I matured that the first function of the historian was to answer the child's question, What happened next?
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We learn nothing from history except the infinite variety of men's behaviour.
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There is nothing nicer than nodding off while reading. Going fast asleep and then being woken by the crash of the book on the floor, then saying to yourself, well it doesn't matter much. An admirable feeling.
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The greatest problem about old age is the fear that it may go on too long.
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The present enables us to understand the past, not the other way round.
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In 1917 European history, in the old sense, came to an end. World history began. It was the year of Lenin and Woodrow Wilson, both of whom repudiated the traditional standards of political behaviour. Both preached Utopia, Heaven on Earth. It was the moment of birth for our contemporary world.
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Human blunders usually do more to shape history than human wickedness.
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History is not a catalogue but...a convincing version of events.
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Like most of those who study history, he (Napoleon III) learned from the mistakes of the past how to make new ones.
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When I write I have no loyalty except to historical truth as I see it and care no more about British achievements and mistakes than any other.
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If men are to respect each other for what they are, they must cease to respect each other for what they own.
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In my opinion, most of the great men of the past were only there for the beer - the wealth, prestige and grandeur that went with the power.
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In my opinion we learn nothing from history except the infinite variety of men's behaviour. We study it, as we listen to music or read poetry, for pleasure, not for instruction.
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Though the object of being a Great Power is to be able to fight a Great War, the only way of remaining a Great Power is not to fight one.
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The great armies, accumulated to provide security and preserve the peace, carried the nations to war by their own weight.
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If there had been a strong democratic sentiment in Germany, Hitler would never have come to power . [Germans] deserved what they got when they went round crying for a hero.
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Perfect soldier, perfect gentleman never gave offence to anyone not even the enemy.
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Conformity may give you a quiet life it may even bring you to a University Chair. But all change in history, all advance, comes from the nonconformists. If there had been no trouble-makers, no Dissenters, we should still be living in caves.
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