Anthony John Heywood, Chair in History at the School of Divinity, History and Philosophy, (University of Aberdeen), recently took part in the international conference ‘Russia in the First World War’, which was organized by the HSE’s International Centre for the History and Sociology of World War II and its Consequences and took place on June 3-5, 2014. He spoke with the HSE news service about his interests in weather, Russia’s railways, the study of history in today’s society, as well as his impressions of collaborating with Russian colleagues.