David Marples

David R. Marples is a University of Alberta Distinguished Professor and teaches Russian and East European history. He holds a PhD in Economic and Social History from the University of Sheffield, UK. He is the author of seventeen single-authored books and five edited books on topics ranging from 20th Century Russia, Stalinism, contemporary Belarus, contemporary Ukraine, the Chernobyl disaster. and 20th century Russia. In 2010-15 he was President of the North American Association for Belarusian Studies. His recent books include Belarus: What Everyone Needs to Know (co-authored with Veronica Laputska) (February 2026, Oxford University Press),  Stalin (co-authored with Alla Hurska)(2022), The War in Ukraine's Donbas (edited, 2022), Understanding Ukraine and Belarus (2020), Ukraine in Conflict (2017), ‘Our Glorious Past: Lukashenka’s Belarus and the Great Patriotic War (Stuttgart, Germany: Ibidem Verlag, 2014), and Heroes and Villains: Creating National History in Contemporary Ukraine (2008).