Thursday 6th March 2025, 19:00-20:30. King's Building K4U.04 /Teams

 

Hybrid Event

There is a strange connection between Britain and Russia, one marked especially on the Russian side by a striking mix of Anglophilia and a deep conviction that the British are their most subtle and dangerous rivals. In his talk Professor Mark Galeotti will explore the deep and long-standing cultural connections between the two countries, both the direct connections – which date back to the sixteenth century – and their unexpected commonalities, not least a certain feeling of ‘exceptionalism’ in both countries. Being at either end of the Continent, both Britain and Russia arguably consider themselves of but not necessarily in Europe. Professor Galeotti will describe how over the centuries – despite periodic tensions in the bilateral political relationship – in each country there has always been considerable interest in, as well as respect and admiration for, the other country’s activities and achievements.

Mark Galeotti is a highly-respected historian, lecturer and writer and acknowledged as one of the leading experts on modern Russia and Russian security. Mark’s most recent books include Forged in War (Bloomsbury, 2024), Downfall: Prigozhin, Putin and the new fight for the future of Russia, with Anna Arutunyan (Ebury, 2024), Putin’s Wars (Bloomsbury, 2022), The Weaponisation of Everything (Yale, 2022), We Need To Talk About Putin (Ebury, 2019) and The Vory: Russia’s super mafia (Yale, 2018).