БРИТАНСКИЙ ИССЛЕДОВАТЕЛЬ ИСТОРИИ РОССИИ: НАУЧНОЕ НАСЛЕДИЕ ПРОФЕССОРА ПОЛА ДЬЮКСА

Abstract

The article is devoted to the representation of the scientific legacy of Paul Dukes (1934–2021) — a member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Professor of the University of Aberdeen, a prominent British historian, whose study focused on relations between Russia and the West. Based on the analysis of his works, the authors define the scope of his research interests and provide their characteristics. They present some results of his understanding of the key problems of Russian history, the place and role of our country in Europe and in the world. His books on the history of the Russian Empire, the relationship between Russia and Europe, Russia and the United States, and the problems of the Russian revolutions at the beginning of the 20th century are marked as milestones in the evolution on the research path of a professional historian. The theme of Russia’s revolutions, the assessment of the global legacy of the 1917 Russian Revolution in a comparative perspective, was one of the main subjects in the scientific work of Professor P. Dukes. The conviction in the need for a comparative approach to the study of revolutions was reflected in his analysis of revolutions and reforms in Russia in a global context. It is emphasized that P. Dukes was interested in the role of personality in history in various aspects: in the context of Russia’s international relations (for example, relations between the Stuarts and the Romanovs), the revolutionary movement (leaders of the Russian revolutionary process), in war conditions (the relations between the leaders of the Big Three in the years of the Second World war). Particular attention is paid to the development of P. Dukes’ interest in the Russian regions, fruitful contacts with Ural historians, and his priority in creating a monograph on the history of the Urals in English. The significance of the historian’s addressing to the topic of the Anthropocene is also noted.