My father, Denis Shaw, who has died aged 76, was an academic at the University of Birmingham who specialised in Russian history and geography.
He retired from teaching in 2010, but retained an honorary position at Birmingham. He often commented that his retirement afforded him greater time to continue his research, which he regarded as his “real job”. His last book, a study of Russia’s contribution to the Age of Exploration, was completed shortly before his death and is due for publication later this year.
