Antony Beevor
Antony Beevor
Antony James Beevor, FRSLis an English military historian. He has published several popular histories on the Second World War and the 20th century in general...
NationalityBritish
ProfessionHistorian
Date of Birth14 December 1946
boots good great historians military study themselves women
There are one or two very good women military historians who use imagination, great study and research; they can put themselves in the boots of the soldier.
understanding duty historian
The duty of a historian is simply to understand and then convey that understanding, no more than that.
doe way historian
I feel slightly uneasy at the way historians are consulted as if history is going to repeat itself. It never does.
economic history lose pressures socially understanding
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.
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The memory of the Second World War hangs over Europe, an inescapable and irresistible point of reference. Historical parallels are usually misleading and dangerous.
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One has this image of the Soviet state and the Red Army as being extremely disciplined but in the first four months of 1945 their soldiers were completely out of control.
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I was in Estonia when a professor asked me if I was aware that making any criticism of the Red Army during the war was now an imprisonable offence. I was quite shaken.
across both cannot deplorable encourage except history inspiring perhaps profession seems
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.
entertainment historical history knowledge lacks main source supposedly
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.
across chapter file material relevant round skeleton work
I read round the subject, I make a skeleton outline, and then I start work in the relevant archives. During the marshaling of the material, I copy the material from each archive file across to the relevant chapter in the skeleton outline.
bit context experience overall realised
When I started to write, I realised that you need a bit of both: the overall context as well as the individual's experience.
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The reason that 'Stalingrad' took off was because it emphasized the influence of history on the individual.
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The greatest heroes of the Normandy battlefield were the unarmed medics, whom snipers often shot at despite their Red Cross armbands.
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Restorers of paintings and pottery follow a code of conduct in their work to distinguish the original material from what they are adding later.