A HISTORIAN from the University of Reading has scooped a prestigious award for his revolutionary book on Russian socialism.

Dr Andy Willimott was crowned the winner of the Alexander Nove Prize for Living the Revolution: Urban Communes and Soviet Socialism, 1917-1932.

It is the first definitive account of socialists in the early Soviet Union and the formation of small communities during the revolutions of 1917.

Dr Willimott said: “I am honoured to be given the Alexander Nove Prize. While we are now more than a century on from the Russian Revolution, there is still much to learn about that period.

“Given current international events, and the rapidly changing relationships between West and Russia, a greater understanding of Russia and its remarkable history is more important than ever.”

Dr Willimott, who received a research output prize from the university in 2017, will receive the prize at British Association for Slavonic and East European Studies annual conference.