Asking the author of historical novels to teach you about history is like expecting the composer of a melody to provide answers about radio transmission.
“I have become down-hearted, I have become discouraged, I have become depressed. I'm just like you. I'm a human being and I have my problems.”
“Creation destroys as it goes, throws down one tree for the rise of another. But ideal mankind would abolish death, multiply itself million upon million, rear up city upon city, save every parasite alive, until the accumulation of mere existence is swollen to a horror.”