I think my cheerfulness keeps my writing from sinking into the depths of melancholy, while the darker side keeps in check any literary silliness I mi…

- David Starkey

Compare the scale and magnifcence of Versailles with St James's - the brick-built hovel in which the 18th-century kings of England lived. What was th…

- David Starkey

Once a piece of writing gets to a moment where it's not going to get much better than it already is, marinate it. If you still like the piece, send i…

- David Starkey

I do think poetry needs to invite the reader, especially when there are so many other distractions while reading.

- David Starkey

In the 20th century, the position of the monarch as head of the Church of England was given a meaning which it never had before. You took the fact th…

- David Starkey

I think I give far more space and play to avant-garde writing than any other contemporary textbook author. I want students to be able to decide for t…

- David Starkey

My biggest poetic influences are probably 20th-century British and Irish poets. So I suppose I'm always listening for the music I associate with that…

- David Starkey

I would put forward a modest proposition that we were very much better governed by Henry VIII than we are by King Gordon.

- David Starkey

I admire writers who have the tenacity to write a blog, and I'm told by everyone that it's an important element in remaining visible in the online wo…

- David Starkey