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There are shades of barbarism in twentieth-century Europe which would once have amazed the most barbarous of barbarians. At a time when the instruments of constructive change had outstripped anything previously known, Europeans acquiesced in a string of conflicts which destroyed more human beings than all past convulsions put together.

— Norman Davies Europe: A History (1996)

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More quotes by Norman Davies

For more than five hundred years the cardinal problem in defining Europe has centred on the inclusion or exclusion of Russia.

Europe: A History (1996)

The immediate future may be determined by a race between the United Kingdom and the EU over which beats the other to a major crisis.

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The formula Muscovy + Ukraine = Russia does not feature in the Russians’ own version of their history; but it is fundamental.

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They wanted peace and they fought for thirty years to be sure of it. They did not learn then, and have not learned since, that war only breeds war.

Europe: A History (1996)

It is indeed the duty of historians to stress the contrast between the standards of the past and the standards of the present. Some fulfil that duty on purpose, others by accident.

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Norman Davies (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.