“ It was a fact generally acknowledged by all but the most contumacious spirits at the beginning of the seventeenth century that woman was the weaker vessel; weaker than man, that is. ... That was the w… Antonia Fraser
“ [In 16th century European society] Marriage was the triumphal arch through which women, almost without exception, had to pass in order to reach the public eye. And after marriage followed, in theory,… Antonia Fraser
“ Though Charles II both craved and enjoyed female companionship till the end of his life, there is no question that by the cold, rainy autumn of 1682 his physical appetites had diminshed considerably.… Antonia Fraser
“ Darnley, who, like Banquo's ghost, seemed to play a much more effective part in Scottish politics once he was dead than when he was alive. Antonia Fraser
“ My advantage as a woman and a human being has been in having a mother who believed strongly in women's education. She was an early undergraduate at Oxford, and her own mother was a doctor. Antonia Fraser
“ Was Charles I too stubborn to listen to reason? Could Civil War have been averted if the king had been more willing to negotiate? His great enemy Cromwell always maintained that the king had been sway… Antonia Fraser
“ I think there's a tremendous split between people who've been through a war and people who haven't. Antonia Fraser
“ A modern definition of terrorism: 'the weapon of the weak, pretending to be strong'. Antonia Fraser
“ This time the Empress was supposed to have asked the celebrated healer and pretender to miraculous powers, John Joseph Gassner: Will my daughter be happy? His reply was suitably gnomic: There are cros… Antonia Fraser
“ It is a fact that, being a quick reader, apart from enabling a person to study good books such as Macaulay and Gibbon, enables a person to read a lot of bad books as well. Antonia Fraser
“ It lies in humanity's infinite capacity for self-deception where some perceived (and in this case long-desired) advantage is at stake Antonia Fraser
“ Certainly, it is impossible to understand the course of the Powder Treason from now on unless one takes into account the magnetism of Robert Catesby. Antonia Fraser
