Bevan Lewis

“Joseph Conrad once wrote that ‘it is the peculiarity of Russian natures that however sharply engaged in the drama of action, they are still turning their ear to the murmur of abstract ideas’.106”
― S.A. Smith, Russia in Revolution: An Empire in Crisis, 1890 to 1928

“Article One of the Fundamental Laws of 1906 declared, ‘The Emperor of All Russia is an autocratic and unrestricted monarch. To obey his supreme authority, not only out of fear but out of conscience, God Himself commands.’18”
― S.A. Smith, Russia in Revolution: An Empire in Crisis, 1890 to 1928

“They create desolation and call it peace There”
― Mary Beard, SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome

“The first century of the plague had seen the country turned upside down. In the twilight years of Edward III it seemed that nothing could damage the greatness of the Plantagenet royal estate. But the world of the village went from impoverished claustrophobia to traumatized infection. A hundred years later, everything had been upended, courtesy of King Death.”
― Simon Schama, History of Britain: Volume 1, A