Geoffrey Hosking is Emeritus Professor of Russian History at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College, London. He has been a Visiting Professor at the University of Cologne and a Research Fellow at Columbia University's Russian Institute. He is the author of numerous books, including Rulers and Victims: The Russians in the Soviet Union (Belknap Press, 2006), Russia and the Russians: A History (Belknap Press, 2001), Russia: People and Empire, 1552-1917 (Belknap Press, 1997), and The First Socialist Society: A History of the Soviet Union from Within (Belknap Press, 1992).