Anna Reid (born 1965) is an English journalist and author whose work focuses primarily on the history of Eastern Europe.

Early life

Reid read law at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...

and studied Russian History at the

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

School of Slavonic and East European Studies. After working as a consultant and business journalist, she moved to Kiev, where she acted as the Ukraine correspondent for the

Economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this field there are ...

from 1993 to 1995. From 2003 to 2007 she worked for the British think-tank

Policy Exchange Policy Exchange is a British conservative think tank based in London. In 2007 it was described in ''The Daily Telegraph'' as "the largest, but also the most influential think tank on the right". ''The Washington Post'' said Policy Exchange's re ...

, editing several of their publications and running the foreign affairs programme.

Works

Reid has published three books on East European history: ''Borderland: a journey through the history of Ukraine,'' ''The Shaman's Coat: A Native History of Siberia,'' and ''Leningrad: The Epic Siege of World War II: 1941-1944.'' Critics have praised her for her highly descriptive narratives of the locations she studies. She has received especially high praise for ''Leningrad'', which is the first 21st century book-length account of the Siege of Leningrad (modern-day

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

) by the Germans from 1941 to 1944. In its use of newly discovered primary sources from the Siege, including private diaries of ordinary citizens who suffered from cold and starvation during the winter of 1941-1942, the book has been called "a relentless chronicle of suffering."

Selected bibliography

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reid, Anna Living people The Economist people Historians of Eastern Europe 1965 births Alumni of the University of Oxford Alumni of the UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies