John Jakes

"I got a clear impression that he'd cheerfully send off a regiment to be butchered if it served his purpose. He wouldn't think twice about it, either. he called soldiers "interchangeable parts."

"He was just a lieutenant of the line, a small cog in an immense machine. Besides, all that really mattered to him was doing his job and survivng."

"They had taken no more than a dozen steps away from the cottages when a musket barrel came smashing through an unbroken window in one of the cottages ahead. The door flew open, three more muskets poke…"

"I think I’m as normal as the next guy. But I won’t go after what I want regardless of the price. Doing that nullifies the worth of whatever you’re after."

"Sir, you are continually insulting. Is that because you are afraid of losing your authority? Is that why you give free rein to your vexatious personality, constantly assuming the shrill posture of a d…"

"Designed to carry heavy armament. Designed for war. A commerce raider. She would roam the earth and do inestimable damage to Yankee shipping."

"Oh, a few temple priests have been predicting dire things in an effort to improve public morals, but no one takes them seriously."

"“An astonishing story,” Bomfils said. “I regret to say that I do not believe it."