Karen Maitland

People are willing to do the most appalling things to another person for the sake of imposing a religious belief.

The English king's power was curbed by Parliament, though that wasn't always a good thing, as politicians often behave no better than monarchs - there are just more of them.

I'd love to own Newstead, partly because it belonged to Lord Byron, but also to try to uncover what dark secrets really lie beneath.

I have no neighbours other than animals and Joshua Trees.

If I can add, say, 10 great new violin concertos to the repertoire before I'm done, that will be truly exciting.

Primate and elephant and even pig societies show considerable evidence of care for others, parent-child bonding, solidarity in the face of danger, and so on.