I am a historian of war, revolution and their effects on the development of social and political institutions. I am currently a research fellow (Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter) at Bielefeld University, where I am trying to wrap my head around a new project on the aftermath of civil war. I previously held a European Marie Skłodowska Curie Fellowship at the Centre for War Studies of University College Dublin. Although I am interested in a broad range of armed conflicts and instances of social upheaval, my own research so far has focused mostly on the Soviet Union, its Communist Party and the Red Army and Fleet.

Before starting my PhD in Edinburgh I had fancied myself a political theorist, having studied politics for my first degree (also Edinburgh) and taken an MA in European intellectual history (UCL). I had always been interested in the past but never thought that I would become a historian, thinking about history more as part of general culture (i.e. the stuff everyone should know and helps you win quizzes) than as a field of interesting research. I now know better and there are few things I enjoy as much as trawling through archival documents.

Nevertheless, my earlier interests continue to inform my work. I try to keep informed of debates in the philosophy of history and maintain side projects in the history of ideas/intellectual history.