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I like to read about subjects unrelated to my work, especially history.

My writing has to support more than my research habit, but I love to curl up with a book about some dusty corner of history.

As a former English major, I have always been fascinated by the connections between literature and history.

My work is mostly about longing, human relationships, science and children - and a little bit about ghosts and reincarnation.

My history writing was based on what I saw in strange, exotic places rather than just reading books.

Victorian literature was my subject at Harvard.

I find my characters and stories in many varied places; sometimes they pop out of newspaper articles, obscure historical texts, lively dinner party conversations and some even crawl out of the dusty remote recesses of my imagination.

There is a plethora of topics to explore. I sometimes think I may never live long enough to explore all of the unique story lines I have either in my head or waiting in my computer file.

One of the most exciting intellectual moments of my career was my 1948 discovery of Knut Wicksell's unknown and untranslated dissertation, 'Finanztheoretische Untersuchungen,' buried in the dusty stacks of Chicago's old Harper Library.

It's true to say that once I've got the bare bones of a story, I often get ideas from my own research trips to faraway places.