Personal profile

Personal profile

Daniel Beer is Professor of Modern History at Royal Holloway and a specialist on Russia. He has published widely on the social and cultural history of the Russian Empire and has a particular interest in crime and punishment. His last book, The House of the Dead: Siberian Exile Under the Tsars (London: Allen Lane, 2016), won the 2017 Cundill History Prize (CundillPrize.com) and was shortlisted for the Wolfson Prize, the Longman History Today Prize and the Pushkin House Book Prize. Prof. Beer has written for The GuardianHistory TodayBBC HistoryThe Times Literary SupplementLiterary ReviewThe Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. His current research project explores the “Emperor Hunt”, the revolutionary campaign from 1879 to 1881 to assassinate Tsar Alexander II. In his undergraduate teaching, Prof. Beer offers focused courses on “The Russian Empire in the Age of Reform and Revolution”, “Stalinism” and “European Culture in the Fin de Siècle” in addition to survey courses on the history of Modern Europe. He welcomes applications from research students in Russian history, especially those interested in biopolitics, empire, law, punishment, violence and modernity.

Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):

  • SDG 16 - Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions