Professor Janet Hartley is the Head of Department and the former Pro-Director for Teaching and Learning at the LSE. She has been teaching Russian history for about thirty five years. She has written many books, articles and chapters for edited volumes on 18th- and 19th-Century Russia. Her writings cover Russian society and the special characteristics that differs it from the ‘West’; Russia’s rise to Great Power status; and Russia in the Napoleonic Wars. Her most recent books are Siberia: a History of the People (Yale University Press, 2014) - a history of Siberia, from the late sixteenth century to the present - and Russia and the Napoleonic Wars (Palgrave Macmillan, 2015), edited with Dr Paul Keenan and Professor Dominic Lieven.
Visit Professor Janet Hartley’s profile to learn more about her extensive publications and why she finds Russian history so fascinating.
Professor Janet Hartley teaches three courses at the undergraduate level: HY118 (Faith, Power and Revolution: Europe and the Wide World c. 1500-1800), HY119 (Thinking Like a Historian) and HY221 (The History of Russia, 1689-1825). Watch Professor Hartley talk about HY221.
Lately, she appeared in the first two episodes of the BBC Four programme, Empire of the Tsars: Romanov Russia with Lucy Worsley. The first episode aired on 6 January 2016 and the second aired a week later. Watch the trailer here. Read more about the programme here. Watch episode one and two on BBC iPlayer (UK only). She also participated in a historical documentary called “The Crimean War” for Channel One Russia. The programme includes contributions from French and Austrian academics as well as Russian historians. Professor Janet Hartley appears between minutes 20 and 30 and comments on the diplomatic causes and consequences of the War. Watch “The Crimean War” here (in Russian).
Now onwards to the fun part - ladies and gentlemen, meet our Head of Department, Professor Janet Hartley:
Where do you come from? Where and with whom do you live?
I was born in Altrincham, just outside Manchester. I am married with two children (one of whom got an MSc at the LSE), two step- daughters and a step-grandson.
Where did you grow up?
In a town called Northwich which was mainly known as the home of ICI, an enormous chemical factory. I am used to friends of my parents saying things like "the only history I know is the history of chemistry".
Why did you want to come to LSE?
I was offered a job!
Why did you want to become an historian?
I think I'm quite a simple person. I never wanted to test great theories but I simply wanted to understand why things happened in the past and how things worked.
What is your favourite library/archive? And why?
I still have nostalgia for reading room number one in the Lenin Library. In the Soviet period it was used by foreign, "capitalist", mainly PhD students and very distinguished and very elderly Russian academicians. The room was full of potted plants and ruled with a rod of iron by fearsome Russian ladies who told you off for filling in book requests wrongly but also made you cups of tea when you had a cold.
If you could bring one famous historical person back to life, who would it be and what would you ask him/her?
It would have to be Catherine the Great of Russia. Never mind the politics - I would ask her about her relationship with Grigorii Potemkin.
What is the best part of teaching in the Department and the part you enjoy least?
The students are the very best; the bureaucracy is the worst.
Which is your favourite place on the LSE campus and why?
I love the faith centre in the Student Centre and feel very privileged to have been able to play a part in helping to set it up.
If you could give your younger student self some advice, what would it be?
To be more confident.
What three items would you rush to save from a fire?
I'd like to think I'd try to save my family first - but I'd also want to rescue some Russian memorabilia and my toy pig.
How do you like to relax?
I used to love hill walking when I was younger. Now I go swimming but my family would say that I don't know how to relax.
What was the last thing that made you laugh out loud?
I laugh a lot - it's the only thing that keeps you going as head of department.
How many languages do you speak?
My husband was my Russian teacher and always grumbles about my poor grammar. I learnt French, Latin and some German at school but wish I'd leant them all better.
What is your favourite fiction book?
As a child I loved the Wool-pack by Cynthia Hartnett. It's an adventure story about the wool trade in fifteenth century England and I think it sparked my interest in history.
What is the most memorable place you have ever visited?
The Russian town of Khabarovsk - in Siberia on the Amur and Ussuri rivers. It was very different from Northwich!
What would we be most surprised to learn about you?
As a PhD student I worked in a betting office on Saturdays - opposite Harrods!