Dear readers, Today marks the 200th anniversary of the death of Field Marshal Prince Mikhail Bogdanovich Barclay de Tolly, one of the most distinguished military officers in the history of the Russian army. I have written about Barclay before in this blog, and on account of this bicentennial I have published my translation of his... Continue Reading →
Unless you have been living under a rock for several weeks, you will most likely be aware that the royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle takes place today at Windsor. Throughout this period I have tried to pay the least amount of attention to all this as possible, not because I am a... Continue Reading →
People who know me well will know that I like to travel on a budget, and there is nowhere better to do so than Eastern Europe. Of course, people who know me well are also very much aware of my interest in Russia and Eastern Europe, so may not be too surprised that I have... Continue Reading →
This is my first post on this blog for some while, since I have been pre-occupied with other duties for much of the past month. Today is also April Fool's Day and Easter Sunday. What better way of celebrating these holidays than a post about where the historically minded tourist might be able to find... Continue Reading →
Today, 23 February, Russia marks Defender of the Fatherland Day. This is a holiday dedicated to the Russian armed forces, commemorating the establishment of the Red Army in 1918. In recent years the day has also been come to seen as a celebration of men, as a counterpart to International Women's Day on 8 March.... Continue Reading →
On 10 February 1837, or 29 January by the Russian calendar, the great poet Alexander Pushkin lay dying on a couch in his apartment overlooking the River Moika, having been wounded in a fatal duel two days earlier. At 2:45pm, having received assurances that all his affairs were in order and his family would be... Continue Reading →
I have not posted for almost two weeks, since I have just recently returned to the UK from Russia. This post is therefore a relatively short one in which I provide some context for 10 statues/monuments in Moscow. I could have chosen more, I could have chosen fewer, but in the end decided to stick... Continue Reading →
Special thanks to my girlfriend Naphaphorn for providing this piece. You can follow her history tweets on Twitter. Otto von Bismarck is perhaps one of the best known names in German political history, notable for his strong influence upon European politics during the two decades in which he served as Chancellor of the German Empire.... Continue Reading →
During my MPhil in Modern European History at Cambridge, my research focused on Russian music and patriotism during the Napoleonic Wars. One of the most interesting things I found during my research was the portrayals of Russia's allies and enemies in song during the latter stages of the Napoleonic Wars. In this post I would... Continue Reading →
The New Year is Russia's most important holiday, and consequently Russians have the entirety of the first week of January off work. I took this opportunity to travel east from Moscow and visit Nizhny Novgorod and Kazan. I will endeavour to write a few posts about these travels in these coming weeks. The main landmark... Continue Reading →
Images and History 