There were many political as well as theological intrigues going on from 340 to 380 and, as this history book puts it:
"Emperor after emperor switched back and forth from Arianism to
orthodoxy to semi-Arianism and back to orthodoxy; [some] waffled on
the doctrine of the Trinity and sought compromises with the Arians...
Sometime between 325 and 332 - just as Athanasius was taking over his
duties as bishop of Alexandria - Emperor Constantine began to switch
sides under pressure from bishops and advisers who were secret
sympathizers with Arius and the two bishops who sided with him and
suffered deposition and exile. The fallout from the Council had been
intense. Argument and turmoil had not ceased. Some who had signed the
creed and the anathemas against the Arians were appalled at the
Sabellian spin being put on the creed by Marcellus and others. They
managed to worm their way into the emperor's confidence, and he
gradually began to consider changing the creed and even restoring
Arius and the bishops of Nicomedia and Nicaea.
In 332 Constantine declared Arius restored as presbyter in Alexandria
and ordered the new bishop to accept him back into communion there.
Athanasius refused unless Arius would affirm homoousios as
describing the relation between Father and Son. Arius would not.
Athanasius rejected him and ignored the emperor's pleas and threats.
As a result Athanasius was exiled by Constantine to the farthest
outpost of the Roman Empire in the West - the German city of Trier.
His exile began in November 335 and lasted until Constantine's death
in 337...
On his travels to and from Trier, Athanasius made many contacts with
Christian leaders in the West who came to sympathize with him. After
all, Constantine was not universally considered a hero in the Latin
West for moving the imperial seat eastward to Constantinople. Just
because Athanasius was being exiled by the emperor was no reason for
them to shun him. He was received by many Western bishops with open
arms, and his influence among them for trinitarian orthodoxy (the
Nicene formula) was profound.
...Arius died - one day before he was to be restored as a Christian
presbyter in a special ceremony in Constantinople... in 336, only
months before Constantine's own death on May 22, 337. Constantine
lived as a pagan and died as an Arian." The Story of Christian
Theology, pp. 162-164, Roger E. Olson, Apollos, 1999.
Arius had very many of his writings destroyed, so it is largely the writings of his detractors that have come down to us. However, given the way the emperor chopped and changed (forever with political goals in mind), Arius did not need to "reformulate" his views on Christ. Spoken words were the main influences in those days; debating and oratory secured most decisions. And, as seen by the refusal of Arius to agree to a critically important point in the Nicene creed, whatever words he used to imply that he was not a heretic, when push came to shove, he would not move from his stance. Anyway, the emperor came over to his side via arguments of supporters of Arius, so the end result is clear enough. Note, also, that Constantine did not get baptized by Eusebius of Nicomedia until approaching his death. Olson sums it up with, "Constantine lived as a pagan and died as an Arian."
Unfortunately, I do not have the book you wish to find quotes from. I have read other books that say Arius was very clever with his use of words, and was adept at sounding as if he agreed with orthodox statements but that was due to his attributing different meanings to certain words, enabling him to do that while holding on to his anti-trinitarian beliefs. He played the semantics game, in other words. I hope others can provide more of the information you seek from your preferred source.
