Dr Richard Butterwick graduated in History from Cambridge, before obtaining his doctorate at Oxford. He taught European history at Oxford and Queen’s University Belfast before moving to the School of Slavonic and East European Studies at University College London, where he is now Senior Lecturer. His academic interests range across the history and culture of Europe, but especially in the eighteenth century, and especially in Poland and Lithuania. A great lover of the baroque and classical styles in the arts, he particularly delights in Mozart’s operas

He has published three books and many articles in scholarly periodicals and collections, and is in frequent demand as a speaker at international conferences. Richard also edits the journal Central Europe. He has lectured on river cruises across this region since 2006, making his debut for Noble Caledonia in 2008.