War History Quotes

War makes rattling good history; but peace is poor reading.

I got active in this business of politics and self-government in 1958 when my father, who was serving in the U.S. Army, took us to the battlefield of Verdun.

I have always had a keen interest in defence and military history and read more on this subject than anything else.

Of the past 3,400 years, humans have been entirely at peace for 268 of them, or just 8 percent of recorded history.

History is the lies of the victors.

Well, I'm reading about the battle of New Orleans right now. I've got an eclectic reading list.

For the record, I'm a Second World War veteran and served in the Pacific.

With all of the history of war, and the human race's history unfortunately has been a good deal more war than peace, with nuclear weapons distributed all through the world, and available, and the strong reluctance of any people to accept defeat, I see the possibility in the 1970's of the President of the United States having to face a world in which 15 or 20 or 25 nations may have these weapons.

I have just written a book on the occupation of the Channel Islands, which is being published in Germany. Pursuing the Second World War is my passion because it's the most extraordinary period in history.

Turing was a quite brilliant mathematician, most famous for his work on breaking the German Enigma codes. It is no exaggeration to say that, without his outstanding contribution, the history of the Second World War could have been very different.

Name me an emperor who was ever struck by a cannonball.

Sixty years ago this week Hitler invaded Poland. This led to the creation of The History Channel.

My dad was in the Swedish armed forces, he was always reading up on different weapons from the Americans and Soviets. When I was a kid, I was in bed looking at his books, reading about the Red Army. So I was very aware of it. I had an interest in military matters ever since.

My father Ted fought in North Africa, Italy, and Germany during World War II. My grandfather survived the horrors of the trenches in World War I. I truly believe that one of the E.U.'s greatest achievements is that it has kept its members out of conflict in Europe.

There are very interesting books about these events, for instance one by a very well-known American historian named William R. Polk called Violent Politics. It's a record of what are basically guerrilla wars from the American Revolution right up through the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

History shows that there are no invincible armies.

We've won wars before and we've certainly retained our rights as Americans.

Both my grandparents were officers in World War Two, and I would be personally offended if somebody distorted their achievements.

Japan used to beat China routinely in wars. You know that, right? Japan used to beat China, they routinely beat China. Why are we defending? You know the pact we have with Japan is interesting. Because if somebody attacks us, Japan does not have to help.If somebody attacks Japan, we have to help Japan.

I'm sure that someday children in schools will study the history of the men who made war as you study an absurdity. They'll be shocked, just as today we're shocked with cannibalism.

Yes, the small village that we live in, in Virginia, is a very interesting place, in terms of its Civil War history, because it was a town that was founded by Quakers in 1733.

You must understand that Americans are a warrior nation.

If you want an expert on war, you get a retired general. I'm not exactly a general, but I am retired.

I thought my story, my experiences as a 2-year-old 'evacuee' from London at the outset of the war, could be important. What happened to me as a child was very light compared to what happened to many children, but... in Britain, there are so many people who just don't know our history.

For centuries, from the dirt roads of Trenton, to the hills of Virginia, to the trenches of Amiens, our armed forces never fought in a war they didn't win.