Interview with Roderick Heather, Author of "An Accidental Relationship"

As stated in our October Calendar Queue, this month we will be reviewing a remarkable book about British influence on Tsarist Russia. Written by Roderick Heather, “An Accidental Relationship” proves to be a prospective addition to my favorites library and that of anyone else who is an avid reader of historical, storytelling literary works. 

We caught up with Roderick Heather and did an interview with the author for our readers, and we wanted to publish it before publishing our review, to give you a chance to get to know the author and his work.

About the Book

“An Accidental Relationship” by Roderick Heather is the fascinating story of the remarkable lives and experiences of the British in Tsarist Russia.

Why did a Russian general wear a kilt, who built the Russian navy, why is Captain Cook remembered in Siberia, where did the British discover rhubarb and how did a Grand Duchess come by her Irish brogue? Ever since the days of Muscovy, British voices have been heard in the courts of the Tsars and hands and minds from the British Isles have shaped Russian history and culture, explored Russia's geography, developed its industry and won Russian souls for Christ. The British were active right across this vast country from the Baltic to the Black Sea. Some were fascinated by Russia whilst others loathed it. Over the generations, a large number of Anglo-Russian families became established and a successful few made their fortunes or achieved great honours. Others experienced bad luck or extreme hardship and many died there. Rarely have two cultures so unalike interacted so closely for so many centuries.

Interview with Roderick Heather

We were eager to ask him a few questions, specifically about what influenced his decision to write this book and this is what he had to say:

Our records show that you are based in Europe, would you say that appealing to readers in the United States is a next step for expansion?

Since this book is primarily about the British in Russia, it is likely to only have limited appeal to readers in the USA. However, there is some interest in the history of both Britain and Imperial Russia there and so I do expect to see further sales in the USA as well as in Canada.  

What would you like potential readers of this book to know the most about British influence within the geographical setting of this book?

The fact that we ‘discovered Russia’ (in the same sense that Columbus discovered America) and that no other nation can claim to have had as great a continuous, diverse and widespread influence on Tsarist Russia and its institutions.

Would you consider yourself to be a predominantly non-fiction author, or do you have plans to delve into fiction or other genres of literature?

All four of my published books so far have been non-fiction as this is the area of greatest interest to me both as an author and a reader of books. However, I would like to try my hand at writing fiction and I am currently working on a historical novel. I am finding this experience interesting. As a non-fiction writer it can be frustrating sometimes when information about people or events is uncertain or unknown - you can’t just invent the missing facts and have to work around them. With fiction, the freedom of being able to build a story and characters in the way that you want without being totally bound by historical facts is liberating.  

Is the content of your book largely based on personal experience in terms of how you've viewed the development of life in Russia while you were living there, or could you say that more research when into the topic as opposed to personal observation?

Although I have lived in Russia and travelled extensively there, my book ends around 1920 and so pre-dates my own direct experience of the country. The stories of the British men and women described in the book have therefore come from a mix of archival research and extensive reading of books and articles relating to the topic. However, my general knowledge of Russia and its history helped as did the fact that I have visited many of the places mentioned in the book.  

Do you have plans to publish any more books in the non-fiction genre or in the genre of history?

Yes. I had started to write a book last year about the Black Sea region but sadly, Russia’s invasion of Crimea and the war in eastern Ukraine has put a hold on this for the time being. If the political situation returns to some normality next year, I will revive this project. If not, I will pursue a couple of other ideas.

What would you want readers to know before they pick up this book?

I do not claim to be a historian, rather I view myself as a storyteller. This book is not intended to be a ‘history book’ although inevitably, historical facts and dates provide a framework for the events described. It is aimed at people who have little or no knowledge of the story of British involvement with Imperial Russia and intended to be a something of a compendium of the fascinating experiences, both good and bad, of British people in Tsarist Russia.

What inspired you to write this book? The topic is different from what is currently on the market and seems to be touching a subject that may have been forgotten if not for your revival of the subject. What inspired you to bring this knowledge to the public?

The idea for An Accidental Relationship came from writing my first book, The Iron Tsar which is the remarkable story of the Welshman who founded the city of Donetsk in Ukraine in 1870. When I was doing research for this first book, I was surprised to find so many British people had gone to Russia and had such an influence on the country. Although various books have been published about some aspects of the British in Russia, there was no single volume that gave an overview of the whole story or any perspective on how the relationship developed. So I decided that it would be an interesting book to write.