Catherine Anne Merridale, FBA (born 12 October 1959) is a British writer and historian with a special interest in Russian history.

[1] She studied history at King's College, Cambridge, graduating with a first class Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1982.

She said of her first impression of Russia, "Going from the then ghastly Soviet airport, everything in Moscow was grey and cold and hard.

Suddenly in the middle of the city were these golden cupolas and enormous redbrick walls with peculiar swallowtail battlement pattern that didn’t look Russian, but did at the same time.

"[5] When she began work on her higher degrees, Merridale spent a year living in Moscow and observing the changes occurring during that time.