I finished my undergraduate degree in history at the University of Exeter in 1998, deciding to stay for a MA in European history and then a PhD. Whilst studying for my MA, I started to learn Russian, later spending nine months at the University of Strathclyde on an intensive Russian language diploma. After remaining at Exeter for a further year in 2003-04 as a part-time teaching fellow, I took up a temporary lectureship in Russian history at Newcastle University in 2004. Finally, in September 2007, I moved to Aberystwyth University to a permanent lectureship in Eastern European history in the Department of History and Welsh History.