Men Need History; It Helps Them To

Africa Is Not A Fun Place, You Know. A Fun Place Is Somewhere That Lifts The Spirits, That Cossets The Senses. I Don't Think That Can Be Said Of The Africa I Traveled In.

I Became Very Interested In The Islamic Question, And Thought I Would Try To Understand It From The Roots, Ask Very Simple Questions And Somehow Make A Narrative Of That Discovery.

The World Is What It Is; Men Who Are Nothing, Who Allow Themselves To Become Nothing, Have No Place In It.

Whatever Extra There Is In Me At Any Given Moment Isn't Fully Formed. I Am Hardly Aware Of It; It Awaits The Next Book. It Will - With Luck - Come To Me During The Actual Writing, And It Will Take Me By Surprise

In The Beginning, Before The Arrival Of The White Men, I Had Considered Myself Neutral. I Had Wanted Neither Side To Win, Neither The Army Nor The Rebels. As It Turned Out, Both Sides Lost.