I worked hard at my four-year M.A., but got a 2.1. That was a big disappointment, as I wanted to write about history and thought I needed a First.

The people who read the history books tend to have a natural zeal and are alarmingly well-read.

It was January 1983 when we launched 'Frontline' on PBS with 'An Unauthorized History of the NFL.' The program was anchored by Jessica Savitch. We wanted to get attention, and we got it.

I want to write for history, not for the moment.

There were about 30 children at one stage, running around like savages at a place called Callow Hill, near Monmouth, which was owned by my grandparents. They lived in the big house, but my dad had five brothers and a sister, and they all lived in various houses scattered on the hill.

By 1917, thanks to the new munitions factories and the women that worked in them, the British Empire was supplying more than 50 million shells a year.