Christopher Read

Christopher Read is a Professor of Twentieth-Century European History at the University of Keele. He holds a B.A. from the University of Glasgow, an M.Phil. in Soviet Studies from the London School of Economics, and a Ph.D. (Econ). He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. His career at the University of Warwick spanned 1973–2020, during which he held positions from Lecturer to Emeritus Professor. His research focuses on the intellectual history of the Russian intelligentsia (1900–1925), social history of the Russian Revolution, and the evolution of the Soviet system. Major publications include Religion, Revolution and The Russian Intelligentsia (1979) and War and Revolution in Russia: 1914–22 (2013). He has also edited the Russia's Great War and Revolution project, coordinating global scholarship. Current projects include a Stalin biography and studies on Cold War cultural perceptions. His work critiques Bolshevik ideological rigidity and explores the interplay between popular movements and state formation in the Soviet era.