Research interests

I am interested in most aspects of Russian history during the late Imperial and revolutionary periods. 

I have published a number of articles on the nobility, officers and landowners during this period, and their role in the revolution was also the subject of my recent book; Defenders of the Motherland: The Tsarist Elite in Revolutionary Russia (Oxford University Press, 2010) [http://www.oup.com/uk/catalogue/?ci=9780199236251]. I have just completed two chapters on tsarist elites, including the clergy and business elites, for edited volumes.

My recent project used a study of revolutionary tribunals during Russia's civil war (1917-22) to examine changing definitions of crime during this period, the concept of revolutionary 'justice', the interaction between regime and society, and the role of law and violence in the formation of the Soviet state, and is entitled The State Versus The People: Revolutionary Justice in Russia's Civil War 1917-22 (Oxford University Press, 2020) [https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-state-versus-the-people-9780198840428?cc=gb&lang=en&]. Various aspects of this research have been funded by a research fellowship from the The Leverhulme Trust (2011-12), which financed a period of leave, and a small grant from the British Academy (2012-13), which funded several research trips to archives and libraries in Russia, the UK and the US. The first fruits of this research have been published as articles in Historical Research, Europe-Asia Studies and Slavonic and European Review. I have also written a piece on justice across the revolutionary divide, which examines continuity and change in conceptions of justice across 1917. The objectives of the broad project are the subject of a longer piece in The International Newsletter of Communist Studies, XVIII (2012), no. 25, pp. 56-59, available at http://newsletter.icsap.de/home/data/pdf/INCS_25_ONLINE.pdf

I am also working on an article on civil society in Russia across the revolutionary period, and have recently written on Moscow province (1914-22) and gobal influences on the Russian Revolution in Slavic Review as well as Russia's commemoration of the centenary of 1917.

I have acted as guest editor for a special issue of Historical Research commemorating the centenary of 1917: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/hisr.v90.247/issuetoc.

I have written thirty book reviews, which have been published in Agricultural History Review, American Historical Review, BASEES Newsletter, British Journal of Military History, European History Quarterly, First World War Studies, Intelligence and National Security, Journal of Modern History, Journal of Social History, Labor History, Michigan War Studies Review, Modern Language Review, Revolutionary Russia, Slavonic and East European Review and The Russian Review. I have reviewed grants for various funding bodies, book proposals for various publishers and articles for numerous journals.

I am the Co-Editor of Revolutionary Russia, a longstanding interdisciplinary journal focusing on the revolutionary period in Russian history [http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/09546545.asp]. The journal is also on Twitter: https://twitter.com/russia_journal

I am also a Series Editor for the BASEES / Routledge Series on Russian and East European Studies [https://www.routledge.com/carees/series/BASEES].

I am a member of the British Association for Slavonic and East European Studies; Association for Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies; and the Study Group on the Russian Revolution.

Past research papers include:

'Revolutionary Justice in Early Soviet Russia', Humboldt University, Berlin, December 2021

'The State versus the People: Revolutionary Justice in Russia's Civil War, 1917-22', Ecole des hautes etudes en sciences sociale, Paris, November 2021

'Inventing the Russian Revolution: Conceptualising Revolution in the Print Culture of 1917', Historical Association, Plymouth Branch, October 2021

'Forging the Revolutionary Story: Image and Text in the Print Culture of 1917', Association of Slavonic, East European and Eurasan Studies Congress, online, November 2020

'Inventing the Russian Revolution: Conceptualizing Revolution in the Print Culture of 1917', Association of Slavonic, East European and Eurasian Studies Congress, San Francisco, USA, November 2019

'Appeals, Justice and the Logic of Mercy in Early Soviet Russia', Association of Slavonic, East European and Eurasian Studies Congress, Boston, USA, December 2018

'Revolutionary Justice versus Revolutionary Violence?', Modern History Research Centre, University of Winchester, October 2018

'The Battle for Spaces and Places in Russia's Civil War', Kruzhok Discussion Paper, Russian, East European and Eurasian Center, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA, April 2018

'The Legacy of 1917 in Modern Russia', Historical Association, Winchester Branch, March 2018

'Reflections on the Centenary of the Russian Revolution, 1917-2017', History Society Lecture, Dauntsey's School, January 2018

'Corruption on Trial: Crimes of Office, Law and Legitimising State Power', Association of Slavonic, East European and Eurasian Studies Congress, Chicago, USA, November 2017

'From Magna Carta to the Russian Revolution: Pamphlets, Political Discourse and English Influences during 1917', War, Revolution and Empire in Russian History: A Workshop in Honour of David Saunders, Newcastle University, May 2017  

'The Legacy of the 1917 February Revolution in Contemporary Russia and the Wider World', Gorwel: The Welsh Foundation for Innovation in Public Affairs, National Assembly for Wales, Cardiff, February 2017

'The Legacy of the 1917 February Revolution in Contemporar Russia and the Wider World', University of South Wales, Pontypridd, February 2017

'The Legacy of 1917 and the USSR in Contemporary Russia', Historical Association, Exeter Branch, December 2016

'The Legacy of the 1917 Revolution in Modern Russia', Historical Association, Cornwall Branch, November 2016

‘Defining Crimes and Criminals: Revolutionary Consciousness, Tribunals and Conceptions of Justice across Russia’s Civil War’, Association of Slavonic, East European and Eurasian Studies Congress, Philadelphia, USA, November 2015

‘Revolutionary Justice in Russia’s Revolution and Civil War, 1917-22’, Globalising the History of Revolutions, University College Dublin, October 2015

‘Revolutionary Justice, State-Building and Russia’s Civil War, 1917-22’, International Studies, Conflict and Security Seminar Series, Swansea, June 2015

‘Understanding Crimes and Criminals: Revolutionary Tribunals and Conceptions of Justice across Russia’s Civil War’, 7^th Annual CRCEES Research Forum, Glasgow, June 2015

Research supervision

I am particularly interested in supervising students wishing to research any elements of the political, social or cultural history of late Imperial and revolutionary Russia. I am also happy, however, to supervise work on many other aspects of modern Russian history. I have extensive experience of working in Russian archives - government, party and military - and libraries, as well as among collections in other countries, particularly the US and UK.

Research students

Jamie Bryson, 'The Russian Empire and Internal Security in the First World War' (2020-present)

Adam Coker, 'French Influence in Russia, 1780s to 1820s: The Origins of Permanent Culture Transfer' (2012-15)

External impact and engagement

I have participated in a public lecture and debate on the meaning of 1917 in modern Russia organised by Gorwel: The Welsh Foundation for Innovation in Public Affairs and sponsored by David Melding AM at the National Assembly for Wales in Cardiff in February 2017.

I have given public talks for branches of the Historical Association in Exeter (2014 and 2016), Cornwall (2016), Winchester (2018) and Plymouth (2021), and for the University of South Wales (February 2017).

I regularly talk to schools across the South-West.

Contribution to discipline

I am a series Co-Editor, History, BASEES/Routledge Series on Russian and East European Studies, 2018 to present

I am Co-Editor, Revolutionary Russia, 2015 to present

I was Reviews Editor, Revolutionary Russia, 2008-2015

I am a long-standing member of the Study Group on the Russian Revolution, British Association of Slavonic and East European Studies, and Association for Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies

Media

I gave an interview for BBC Wales in February 2017 about commemorations of the centenary of 1917 in Russia.

I have also written the following pieces for a non-academic audience:

'Inventing the Russian Revolution in the Print Culture of 1917', NYU Jordan Center for the Advanced Study of Russia, May 2020: https://jordanrussiacenter.org/news/inventing-the-russian-revolution-in-the-print-culture-of-1917/#.YDpEInI3amR

'The Centenary of the Russian Revolution', Past and Future: The Magazine of the Institute of Historical Research, no. 21 (Spring/Summr 2017),14-15: http://www.history.ac.uk/sites/history.ac.uk/files/newsletters/past-and-future-spring-2017-web.pdf

'Why Putin is shy about celebrating the centenary of the Russian Revolution', The Conversation, April 2017: http://theconversation.com/why-putin-is-shy-about-celebrating-the-centenary-of-the-russian-revolution-74394

'How will Russia commemorate the October Revolution', Cicero Foundation Great Debate Paper No. 17/02 [The Cicero Foundation is a 'Pro EU and Pro Atlantic Think Tank'], April 2017: http://www.cicerofoundation.org/lectures/Matthew_Rendle_October_Revolution.pdf

Teaching

Much of my teaching is focused on my deep interest in all aspects of modern Russian history. In various modules, I try to incorporate the materials that I'm reading and researching on a daily basis to ensure that the module reflects current thinking and scholarship. This might range from the latest debates and studies by historians to thinking about new ways to utilise in my teaching the vast range of sources available in English on Russian history. I have been a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy since 2011 and was Runner Up in the Best Feedback category of the annual Exeter Guild of Students Teaching Awards in 2011. I served as Director of Education between 2016 and 2018.

Modules taught

• HIH1600 - Images of Stalinism
• HIH2210A - The Russian Empire, 1689-1917
• HIH3257 - The Russian Revolution: Sources
• HIH3258 - The Russian Revolution: Context
• HIH3618 - Power Elites: Ruling Groups across Space and Time
• HIH3633 - Revolutions
• HISM016 - Advanced Historical Research Skills
• HISM037 - Contested Pasts: History in the Public Sphere
• HISM110 - Everyday Life in the Soviet Union

Biography

I studied for a BA in History, MA in European History, and PhD in History at the University of Exeter, completing my PhD thesis in 2003. I remained at Exeter as a part-time Teaching Fellow in 2003-04 before taking up a fixed-term lectureship in modern Russian history at Newcastle University in September 2004. In 2007, I moved to a permanent lectureship in Eastern European history at Aberystwyth University before returning to Exeter as a Lecturer in History in September 2010. I was promoted to Senior Lecturer in May 2015.