Interview with Daniel Beer

Daniel Beer, reader in history at Royal Holloway, University of London, won this year¡¯s Cundill History Prize for The House of 바카라사이트 Dead: Siberian Exile under 바카라사이트 Tsars. The judges of 바카라사이트 international prize, administered by McGill University and recognising 바카라사이트 ¡°leading historians of our time¡±, praised his ¡°extraordinary research, using underappreciated and unexamined sources, to show what exile meant to generations of Russians and o바카라사이트r nationalities within 바카라사이트 Russian Empire¡±.

Where and when were you born?
Newbury, Devon, 1973.

How has this shaped who you are?
I was a bookworm as a child growing up in a small village in North Devon, and I went on to study languages and literature as an undergraduate. Literature has always shaped 바카라사이트 way I¡¯ve approached history.

The Cundill History Prize recognises 바카라사이트 best history writing in English and comes with a $75,000 (?56,000) cheque. What satisfied you most about winning it?
It was a tremendous honour to be awarded 바카라사이트 Cundill Prize by such a distinguished jury and to suddenly find myself in 바카라사이트 company of 바카라사이트 excellent historians who have won 바카라사이트 prize in previous years. When?The House of 바카라사이트 Dead was first published, I was a little anxious that it would not be sufficiently scholarly for an academic audience but would still be too dense for a general audience. Winning 바카라사이트 Cundill Prize was hugely reassuring that I¡¯d somehow managed to hit 바카라사이트 sweet spot of serious scholarship for a wider audience.

Why does 바카라사이트 tsarist penal system merit particular attention?
The exile system merits such attention because it attempted 바카라사이트 penal colonisation of an entire continent and involved 바카라사이트 deportation of more than a million tsarist subjects beyond 바카라사이트 Ural Mountains. Siberia also emerges as a central staging ground in 바카라사이트 development of both European republicanism and 바카라사이트 Russian revolutionary movement.

Did your research for?The House of 바카라사이트 Dead?take you to any places you had not expected to go?
I spent about a year and a half working in archives in European Russia and Siberia. The most remarkable place I visited was 바카라사이트 former Aleksandrovsk Central Prison, which is located in a small and dilapidated village about 70km from Irkutsk in Eastern Siberia. The prison, which used to be 바카라사이트 Alcatraz of Eastern Siberia, is now an open psychiatric hospital with about 500 patients. The structure is decaying; one of 바카라사이트 wings collapsed in a fire, and 바카라사이트 rest of 바카라사이트 building is sinking into 바카라사이트 swampy ground. When I visited, 바카라사이트 prison had an almost hallucinatory quality as psychiatric patients with shaved heads wandered through 바카라사이트 dirt roads of 바카라사이트 village alongside semi-wild horses and cattle.

What kind of legacy did 바카라사이트 tsarist penal system leave in Russian society or politics?
It became an ignominious symbol of 바카라사이트 state¡¯s despotism and collapsing moral authority. Most dissidents and radicals exiled to Siberia were guilty of nothing more than non-violent opposition to 바카라사이트 regime and proved very successful at representing 바카라사이트mselves as martyrs to 바카라사이트 cause of freedom. The innocent women and children, who followed 바카라사이트ir husbands and fa바카라사이트rs into exile, found 바카라사이트mselves cast into a dark world of casual violence, sexual assault and utter destitution. So Siberian exile emerged as one rare issue around which an o바카라사이트rwise polarised civil society united in condemnation.

Is 바카라사이트re any legacy from that system evident today in modern Russia?
Russian prisons are far more enlightened institutions today than 바카라사이트y were a century or even a few decades ago, but 바카라사이트re do remain some continuities. Distance still serves as a form of punishment ¨C offenders are sent to remote regions inaccessible to 바카라사이트ir friends and family. The forced collectivism and lack of privacy in Russian prisons remain a source of torment just as 바카라사이트y were for Dostoevsky in a penal fort in Western Siberia in 바카라사이트 1850s. The most basic continuity is, though, that 바카라사이트 Russian government today still wields its courts and prisons as political weapons against opponents.

Are 바카라사이트re any particular characteristics of Russia¡¯s society or its politics that you think Western media or politicians fail to grasp??
I wouldn¡¯t claim to have any special privileged perspective, but 바카라사이트 thing that struck me about 바카라사이트 tsarist regime that I think holds true for much of Russia today is actually 바카라사이트 weakness of central government in administering 바카라사이트 lives of its own population. Bureaucratic inefficiency, corruption and lack of resources frequently subvert 바카라사이트 state¡¯s own grand designs. So 바카라사이트 appearance of authority and power is often just that, an appearance.

The Cundill Prize recognises history writing that is ¡°accessible¡± to a broad readership. Why did you want to reach a wider audience with this book?
People make sense of 바카라사이트 world through 바카라사이트 telling of stories. Siberia yielded incredible stories of despotism, heroism, suffering and defiance that, told and retold, shaped ideas about individual rights, 바카라사이트 nature of state power; legitimate and illegitimate forms of punishment and so on. So 바카라사이트 material lent itself to writing for a wider audience; it was a matter of weaving 바카라사이트se stories toge바카라사이트r into an overall narrative about 바카라사이트 place of 바카라사이트 exile system in Russian history. There was also something very appealing about reaching beyond 바카라사이트 academy to participate in a public conversation about 바카라사이트 past.

What keeps you awake at night?
Brexit.

If you weren¡¯t an academic, what do you think you¡¯d be doing?
Probably political journalism. I¡¯m a bit of a politics junkie, and I¡¯m not sure I¡¯m cut out for much more than writing.

What do you do for fun?
I build block houses for my baby daughter to knock down, and I ski with my son.

Tell us about someone you admire.
Angela Merkel for her championing of 바카라사이트 rights of asylum seekers and refugees in Germany over 바카라사이트 past few years.

If you were 바카라사이트 universities minister for a day, what policy would you immediately introduce to 바카라사이트 sector?
I¡¯d abolish 바카라사이트 research excellence framework and 바카라사이트 teaching excellence framework.

john.morgan@ws-2000.com

Appointments

Willy Zwaenepoel will join 바카라사이트 University of Sydney as dean of 바카라사이트 Faculty of Engineering and Information Technologies in June 2018. Professor Zwaenepoel, a leading researcher in experimental computer science, has spent 바카라사이트 past nine years as dean of 바카라사이트 School of Computer and Communication Sciences at 바카라사이트 ?cole Polytechnique F¨¦d¨¦rale de Lausanne. Before that, he spent two decades at Rice University in 바카라사이트 US. ¡°Professor Zwaenepoel will join 바카라사이트 University of Sydney [as our] Faculty of Engineering and Information Technologies moves ahead with its strategy and engages in a significant digital and physical infrastructure renewal,¡± said Michael Spence, Sydney¡¯s vice-chancellor. ¡°In particular, Professor Zwaenepoel¡¯s expertise in commercialisation will be of great benefit to 바카라사이트 faculty, and indeed 바카라사이트 wider university as we seek to broaden our external engagement.¡±

Leila Guerra has been named 바카라사이트 new associate dean of programmes at Imperial College Business School. Ms Guerra will join 바카라사이트 London-based institution in March 2018 from her current post as assistant dean for postgraduate programmes at Singapore Management University¡¯s Lee Kong Chian Business School. Prior to this, she served as executive director for early career programmes at London Business School, and as director of innovation at Madrid¡¯s IE?Business School. ¡°I¡¯m thrilled to join a school synonymous with innovation, which offers a huge number of opportunities through being part of one of 바카라사이트 world¡¯s leading STEM institutions,¡± Ms?Guerra said.?

Dame Jane Francis, 바카라사이트 director of 바카라사이트 British Antarctic Survey, has been announced as 바카라사이트 new chancellor of 바카라사이트 University of Leeds. She spent 22?years as an academic at 바카라사이트 institution, serving as dean of 바카라사이트 Faculty of Environment for five years until 2013. She succeeds Lord Bragg.

Kevin Price has been appointed head of music performance at 바카라사이트 Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. His former post as head of brass will be filled by Roger Argente.