Sir Rodric Braithwaite's personal library finds new home at SSEES

SSEES Library has received a donation of books from the personal library of Sir Rodric Braithwaite GCMG, former British Ambassador to Moscow (1988-1992) and one of Britain's most distinguished Russia specialists.

The donation is particularly noteworthy for including personal inscriptions from several prominent figures in recent Russian history.  Among these are books personally inscribed by Anatoly Sobchak, the first democratically elected Mayor of St. Petersburg; Yegor Gaidar, who served as Acting Prime Minister of Russia and was the architect of significant economic reforms; Roy Medvedev, historian and political activist; and Yevgeny Primakov, former Prime Minister of Russia.

Sir Rodric himself is a distinguished author, having published several works on Russian history and international relations, including "Moscow 1941: A City and Its People at War" (2006) and his most recent book "Russia: Myths and Realities" (2022). These can be found at SSEES Library.

The collection will be processed and made available to our readers in due course, with the inscribed volumes receiving special attention in our cataloguing process to ensure the unique provenance details are noted and preserved.