Orlando Figes
Author of Natasha's Dance: A Cultural History of Russia
About the Author
Works by Orlando Figes
Kirim - Son Hacli Seferi 1 copy
Priča o Rusiji 1 copy
Gli europei. Tre vite cosmopolite e la costruzione della cultura europea nel XIX secolo (2019) 1 copy
'Koba's little secret' in TLS 5118, 4 May 2001 [review of Brackman's 'Secret File of Joseph Stalin'] 1 copy
'Gangster, murderer & sexual predator' in AFR, 23 Nov 2007 [review of Montefiore's 'Young Stalin'] 1 copy
'The Fiddler's Children' in NYRB, LII/10, 9 June 2005 [review of Slezkine's 'Jewish Century'] 1 copy
Lys 1 copy
Associated Works
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Figes, Orlando
- Legal name
- Figes, Orlando Guy
- Birthdate
- 1959-11-20
- Gender
- male
- Education
- Trinity College, Cambridge (Ph.D ∙ 1987 ∙ History)
Gonville and Caius College, University of Cambridge (BA|1982)
William Ellis School, North London, England, UK - Occupations
- historian
public intellectual
professor - Organizations
- Birkbeck College, University of London
Trinity College, Cambridge University
European University, St. Petersburg - Awards and honors
- Wolfson History Prize (1997)
Royal Society of Literature (Fellow, 2003)
Przeglad Wschodni Award (2009)
Antonio Delgado Prize (2021)
WH Smith Literary Award (1997)
NCR Book Award (1997) (show all 8)
Longman-History Today Book Prize (1997)
Los Angeles Times Book Prize (1997) - Agent
- Deborah Rogers (Rogers, Coleridge and White)
- Relationships
- Figes, Kate (Sister)
Figes, Eva (mother)
Palmer, Stephanie (wife) - Short biography
- He was born in 1959. His parents separated when he was three years old, and he was brought up by in north London by his mother, the well-known feminist, Eva Figes. It probably wasn't an ordinary childhood in the way those of us who didn't move in leftwing intellectual circles - Robert Graves and Günter Grass were family friends - might understand it, but it felt ordinary enough to Figes, who went to the local primary and comprehensive.
Taken from:
"Orlando Figes: Thanks for the memories"
Tuesday October 30, 2007
The Guardian
http://education.guardian.co.uk/acade... - Nationality
- UK
Germany (naturalized 2017) - Birthplace
- London, England, UK
- Places of residence
- London, England, UK
- Associated Place (for map)
- London, England, UK
Members
Reviews
History of course is more complex – even if it is a story too.
Confident, concise history which is not afraid to make claims of historic trends and acknowledge multiple interpretations.
Russia now comprises four geographical zones:
• Treeless Tundra, above Arctic Circle, about one-fifth of Russia’s land mass
• Taiga forest zone - pine trees, spruce and larch, interspersed with marshes, lakes and rivers
• Central Agricultural zone, rich black soil
• Pontic Steppe - semi-arid grasslands show more and savannas
The history is told in eleven necessarily broad brush chapters that outline chronological developments and usually concentrate on a few individual stories to bring out the important changes.
1. Origins - Kievan Rus and Byzantium’s Eastern Orthodox Christianity. Creation of myth of Holy Russia with Mary as Mother, rather than Virgin (Roman Catholic interpretation).
2. Mongol Impact - 1223 and horsemen from the east. The capture of Kiev on 6 December 1240 effectively marking the end of Kievan Rus. With the subsequent rise of Moscow as a powerful principality, although subject to the Golden Horde, it was not until 1378 that the Mongols could first be successfully challenged. Today the Kulikovo victory is linked in the nationalist consciousness to other episodes when Russia’s military sacrifice ‘saved’ the West, in 1812–15 (against Napoleon) or 1941–5, for example; each time its sacrifice had been unthanked, unrecognised by its Western allies in these wars. The country’s deep resentment of the West is rooted in this national myth. Although gradually weakening, Moscow remained a vassal of the khans until 1502.
3. Ivan the Terrible (1530-84) and the conquest of Khazan and Astrakhan, with an unsuccessful attempt to conquer Livonia to access the Baltic Sea. The opening up of Siberia, which was conquered by Ivan’s son
4. Time of Troubles - civil war following Ivan the Terrible’s death without a successor (he had unintentionally(?) killed his son) and choosing of a Romanov as the next Tsar.
5. Russia faces West - Catherine the Great (1762-98) embraces the European Enlightenment, to a point, and creates the West facing St Petersburg.
6. The Shadow of Napoleon - the French Revolution turns Russia away from Europe, as does Napoleon’s invasion. I found this really interesting in highlighting Russian belief that Russia was responsible for defeating Napoleon.
7. An Empire in Crisis - the problem of making Russian farming and industry efficient, with serfdom eventually abolished (1861). Some Tsars embrace European ideas, whilst others are isolationist. The build up to revolution, or break down of the autocracy, is also outlined.
8. Revolutionary Russia - the 1917 revolution, civil war and creation of the Soviet state. There are more quotable insights: Throughout the peasant world Communist regimes have been built on the ambition of peasant sons to join the bureaucratic class. And plausible explanations as to the Bolsheviks success, as a: unifying goal (the defence of ‘the revolution’) with clear symbols (the Red Flag and the Red Army’s emblem, the Red Star) capable of winning mass support.
9. The War on Old Russia - Stalin’s “reign”, including the Five Year Plans, disastrous large scale agricultural collectivisation (kolkholzesj, and Stalin’s paranoia leading to the progroms and show trials in the 1930’s,
10. Motherland - the pragmatic reasons behind the 1939 Soviet:Nazi non-aggression pact (but also its betrayal of ideological Communism), the massive casualty rate in the Second World War, when the timing of the invasion had been unexpected. But also the patriotism and hatred of the Nazis that allowed the country to defeat the invasion (The cult of sacrifice was a more important factor than terror. It was the Soviet system’s main advantage over Western liberal societies where the loss of human life was given greater weight in the reckonings of the command.). Stalin died in 1953, to be followed by Krushchev, Brezhnev (1964), Andropov (1982), Chernenko (1984), and Gorbachev (1985), with the break up of the USSR.
11. Ends - discussion of the rise of Putin and how the potential for a more “Western liberal” government was lost, the possible missed chances, perhaps caused by the “West’s” understanding of Russia.
I found this narrative really useful to gain some understanding of modern Russia as throughout the book Figes highlights how Russian society was different from other European countries, and how some of these differences might explain the Russian public’s acquiescence to Putin’s current aggression to other countries. Recommended.
I received a Netgalley copy of this book, but this review is my honest opinion. show less
Confident, concise history which is not afraid to make claims of historic trends and acknowledge multiple interpretations.
Russia now comprises four geographical zones:
• Treeless Tundra, above Arctic Circle, about one-fifth of Russia’s land mass
• Taiga forest zone - pine trees, spruce and larch, interspersed with marshes, lakes and rivers
• Central Agricultural zone, rich black soil
• Pontic Steppe - semi-arid grasslands show more and savannas
The history is told in eleven necessarily broad brush chapters that outline chronological developments and usually concentrate on a few individual stories to bring out the important changes.
1. Origins - Kievan Rus and Byzantium’s Eastern Orthodox Christianity. Creation of myth of Holy Russia with Mary as Mother, rather than Virgin (Roman Catholic interpretation).
2. Mongol Impact - 1223 and horsemen from the east. The capture of Kiev on 6 December 1240 effectively marking the end of Kievan Rus. With the subsequent rise of Moscow as a powerful principality, although subject to the Golden Horde, it was not until 1378 that the Mongols could first be successfully challenged. Today the Kulikovo victory is linked in the nationalist consciousness to other episodes when Russia’s military sacrifice ‘saved’ the West, in 1812–15 (against Napoleon) or 1941–5, for example; each time its sacrifice had been unthanked, unrecognised by its Western allies in these wars. The country’s deep resentment of the West is rooted in this national myth. Although gradually weakening, Moscow remained a vassal of the khans until 1502.
3. Ivan the Terrible (1530-84) and the conquest of Khazan and Astrakhan, with an unsuccessful attempt to conquer Livonia to access the Baltic Sea. The opening up of Siberia, which was conquered by Ivan’s son
4. Time of Troubles - civil war following Ivan the Terrible’s death without a successor (he had unintentionally(?) killed his son) and choosing of a Romanov as the next Tsar.
5. Russia faces West - Catherine the Great (1762-98) embraces the European Enlightenment, to a point, and creates the West facing St Petersburg.
6. The Shadow of Napoleon - the French Revolution turns Russia away from Europe, as does Napoleon’s invasion. I found this really interesting in highlighting Russian belief that Russia was responsible for defeating Napoleon.
7. An Empire in Crisis - the problem of making Russian farming and industry efficient, with serfdom eventually abolished (1861). Some Tsars embrace European ideas, whilst others are isolationist. The build up to revolution, or break down of the autocracy, is also outlined.
8. Revolutionary Russia - the 1917 revolution, civil war and creation of the Soviet state. There are more quotable insights: Throughout the peasant world Communist regimes have been built on the ambition of peasant sons to join the bureaucratic class. And plausible explanations as to the Bolsheviks success, as a: unifying goal (the defence of ‘the revolution’) with clear symbols (the Red Flag and the Red Army’s emblem, the Red Star) capable of winning mass support.
9. The War on Old Russia - Stalin’s “reign”, including the Five Year Plans, disastrous large scale agricultural collectivisation (kolkholzesj, and Stalin’s paranoia leading to the progroms and show trials in the 1930’s,
10. Motherland - the pragmatic reasons behind the 1939 Soviet:Nazi non-aggression pact (but also its betrayal of ideological Communism), the massive casualty rate in the Second World War, when the timing of the invasion had been unexpected. But also the patriotism and hatred of the Nazis that allowed the country to defeat the invasion (The cult of sacrifice was a more important factor than terror. It was the Soviet system’s main advantage over Western liberal societies where the loss of human life was given greater weight in the reckonings of the command.). Stalin died in 1953, to be followed by Krushchev, Brezhnev (1964), Andropov (1982), Chernenko (1984), and Gorbachev (1985), with the break up of the USSR.
11. Ends - discussion of the rise of Putin and how the potential for a more “Western liberal” government was lost, the possible missed chances, perhaps caused by the “West’s” understanding of Russia.
I found this narrative really useful to gain some understanding of modern Russia as throughout the book Figes highlights how Russian society was different from other European countries, and how some of these differences might explain the Russian public’s acquiescence to Putin’s current aggression to other countries. Recommended.
I received a Netgalley copy of this book, but this review is my honest opinion. show less
The yay:
4 1/2 stars. This book is an epic undertaking of recovering and reclaiming an era of Soviet history that was denied -- despite personal experience -- for decades. It gives an amazing, often heartbreaking, sense of what the Stalin years were like for people from many different walks of life (both privileged and oppressed). All throughout, I kept thinking about the adage "the personal is political, and vice versa", as often senseless totalitarian politics shaped every aspect of life show more (and thus fueled entirely reasonable terror) among the populace.
I appreciated that the book doesn't end with Khrushchev's rise to power. Figes addresses the era following Stalin, the failure of the millions of people who'd been imprisoned to reintegrate into society, and the effect of immense trauma on the survivors and their children.
The use of *so many* photos make it even more affecting. It turns the people from names on a page to actual living breathing people who lived in an appallingly constricted culture. Then, at the end, the description of the research methodology (over 1000 people from different regions were interviewed) adds that every person mentions was asked to confirm, edit, and clarify/expand upon their stories.
I got to the last page and immediately wanted to read it again. I LOVE when nonfiction makes me feel that way!
The boo:
Disability tag for numerous people with various disabling ailments and the utter lack of any social support system for them outside the family. Also, the offensive use of the archaic term "invalid". Note to the universe: people living with disabilities are, in fact, VALID human beings. It's one thing to use the term (in quotes) to refer to a bureaucratic category of prisoner/military discharge; its casual narrative use is another matter entirely. In a book so fundamentally about human rights, I expected better.
Gender-politics tag for the fascinating ways that communist culture gave women equality in some ways and denied it in others. There were Russian women combat soldiers, not just support staff, in WW2. Glass ceilings happened, and many high level party wives were forced by their husbands to quit work and stay home as a sign of status.
Warnings for mostly non-graphic genocide, war, mass oppression, systematized brain washing, families being ripped apart, generalized mention of sexual violence, trauma, etc. Within the text, there is ableist language and culturally endemic everyday sexism. I did have to stop midway through Stalin's Terror and read something fun, hence the 2 whole weeks it took me to finish this. show less
4 1/2 stars. This book is an epic undertaking of recovering and reclaiming an era of Soviet history that was denied -- despite personal experience -- for decades. It gives an amazing, often heartbreaking, sense of what the Stalin years were like for people from many different walks of life (both privileged and oppressed). All throughout, I kept thinking about the adage "the personal is political, and vice versa", as often senseless totalitarian politics shaped every aspect of life show more (and thus fueled entirely reasonable terror) among the populace.
I appreciated that the book doesn't end with Khrushchev's rise to power. Figes addresses the era following Stalin, the failure of the millions of people who'd been imprisoned to reintegrate into society, and the effect of immense trauma on the survivors and their children.
The use of *so many* photos make it even more affecting. It turns the people from names on a page to actual living breathing people who lived in an appallingly constricted culture. Then, at the end, the description of the research methodology (over 1000 people from different regions were interviewed) adds that every person mentions was asked to confirm, edit, and clarify/expand upon their stories.
I got to the last page and immediately wanted to read it again. I LOVE when nonfiction makes me feel that way!
The boo:
Disability tag for numerous people with various disabling ailments and the utter lack of any social support system for them outside the family. Also, the offensive use of the archaic term "invalid". Note to the universe: people living with disabilities are, in fact, VALID human beings. It's one thing to use the term (in quotes) to refer to a bureaucratic category of prisoner/military discharge; its casual narrative use is another matter entirely. In a book so fundamentally about human rights, I expected better.
Gender-politics tag for the fascinating ways that communist culture gave women equality in some ways and denied it in others. There were Russian women combat soldiers, not just support staff, in WW2. Glass ceilings happened, and many high level party wives were forced by their husbands to quit work and stay home as a sign of status.
Warnings for mostly non-graphic genocide, war, mass oppression, systematized brain washing, families being ripped apart, generalized mention of sexual violence, trauma, etc. Within the text, there is ableist language and culturally endemic everyday sexism. I did have to stop midway through Stalin's Terror and read something fun, hence the 2 whole weeks it took me to finish this. show less
Another publication from Orlando Figes, certainly one of the pre-eminent Russian scholars of our time, worth its weight in gold.
Figes' 'The Story of Russia' takes the last several hundred years of history in Russia and its vicinity and condenses it into a few hundred pages. It's a tall task for any author to elucidate any country's history in a relatively short book, much less a nation with as dramatic a past as Russia. But the author's trademark style of prose, which leads the reader to show more think deeply about issues he presents, makes the book feel longer than it really is, in the very best way. Figes writes like a magician, in that sense, where a book that is really a few hundred pages feels like it covers much more in content. It's what makes his books some of my favorite.
Unlike 'A People's Tragedy', another highly-acclaimed book surrounding the Russian Revolution in 1917 (in my eyes, the definitive text on that subject), Figes handles this extensive history in a broad-brush, more accessible manner for the general public. This is not to say he leaves out critical information or viewpoints; as stated, his prose forces the reader to frequently think outside the box and makes sentences hold more weight than just the words convey. Figes covers the period before the 300-year Romanov dynasty came to power, the dynasty itself, and its downfall leading to the Bolsheviks coming to power. The book is pleasingly current, covering Russia through the beginnings of the Ukrainian invasion two years ago.
The very end of the book, in which Figes discusses Vladimir Putin's reign and wraps up with some thoughts on where Russia is heading in the future, is one of the most powerful and thought-provoking sections of any book I have ever read. The author makes no hyperbolic claims or biased thoughts, and the predictions he made as the book was going to print in late April 2022 are either coming to be accurate or look very realistic in the near future.
Orlando Figes is one of the top Russian scholars of this generation, and of all Russian scholars to date. This book is absolutely critical reading for anyone with an interest in how modern Russia came to be, and where it is likely to head in the near future. 5.0/5.0 stars. show less
Figes' 'The Story of Russia' takes the last several hundred years of history in Russia and its vicinity and condenses it into a few hundred pages. It's a tall task for any author to elucidate any country's history in a relatively short book, much less a nation with as dramatic a past as Russia. But the author's trademark style of prose, which leads the reader to show more think deeply about issues he presents, makes the book feel longer than it really is, in the very best way. Figes writes like a magician, in that sense, where a book that is really a few hundred pages feels like it covers much more in content. It's what makes his books some of my favorite.
Unlike 'A People's Tragedy', another highly-acclaimed book surrounding the Russian Revolution in 1917 (in my eyes, the definitive text on that subject), Figes handles this extensive history in a broad-brush, more accessible manner for the general public. This is not to say he leaves out critical information or viewpoints; as stated, his prose forces the reader to frequently think outside the box and makes sentences hold more weight than just the words convey. Figes covers the period before the 300-year Romanov dynasty came to power, the dynasty itself, and its downfall leading to the Bolsheviks coming to power. The book is pleasingly current, covering Russia through the beginnings of the Ukrainian invasion two years ago.
The very end of the book, in which Figes discusses Vladimir Putin's reign and wraps up with some thoughts on where Russia is heading in the future, is one of the most powerful and thought-provoking sections of any book I have ever read. The author makes no hyperbolic claims or biased thoughts, and the predictions he made as the book was going to print in late April 2022 are either coming to be accurate or look very realistic in the near future.
Orlando Figes is one of the top Russian scholars of this generation, and of all Russian scholars to date. This book is absolutely critical reading for anyone with an interest in how modern Russia came to be, and where it is likely to head in the near future. 5.0/5.0 stars. show less
Rusya’nın her tarafından Stalin teröründen sağ kurtulanların gizli çekmecelerde ve döşek altlarında sakladığı mektuplara, günlüklere, fotoğraflara, kişisel belgelere ve sözlü tanıklıklara dayanılarak kaleme alınan Karanlıkta Fısıldaşanlar birçok Sovyet ailesinin gizli geçmişini açığa çıkarırken, Stalin’in zorba yönetimi altında yaşayan sıradan insanların iç dünyasına daha önce yapılmadığı ölçüde ışık tutuyor. Stalin terörünün show more kişisel ve ailevi yaşam üzerindeki etkisini derinlemesine inceleyen bir ilk kitap.
Karanlıkta Fısıldaşanlar, her sayfada varlığının hissedilmesine karşın, Stalin’le ya da rejimin siyasetiyle ilgili değildir; Stalinizmin bütün değerleri ve ilişkileri etkileyecek biçimde insanların zihinlerine ve duygularına girişiyle ilgilidir. Elinizdeki kitap terörün kökleri muammasını çözmeye ya da Gulag’ın yükselişini ve çöküşünü ortaya koymaya çalışmıyor; ama polis devletinin Sovyet toplumunda nasıl kök salabildiğini ve milyonlarca sıradan insanı nasıl suskun seyirciler ve işbirlikçiler olarak terör sistemi içine
katabildiğini açıklamaya girişiyor. Stalinist sistemin gerçek gücü ve kalıcı mirası ne devlet yapıları ne de lider kültüydü; Rus tarihçi Mihail Gefter’in ifadesiyle, ‘hepimizin içine giren Stalinizm’di.” show less
Karanlıkta Fısıldaşanlar, her sayfada varlığının hissedilmesine karşın, Stalin’le ya da rejimin siyasetiyle ilgili değildir; Stalinizmin bütün değerleri ve ilişkileri etkileyecek biçimde insanların zihinlerine ve duygularına girişiyle ilgilidir. Elinizdeki kitap terörün kökleri muammasını çözmeye ya da Gulag’ın yükselişini ve çöküşünü ortaya koymaya çalışmıyor; ama polis devletinin Sovyet toplumunda nasıl kök salabildiğini ve milyonlarca sıradan insanı nasıl suskun seyirciler ve işbirlikçiler olarak terör sistemi içine
katabildiğini açıklamaya girişiyor. Stalinist sistemin gerçek gücü ve kalıcı mirası ne devlet yapıları ne de lider kültüydü; Rus tarihçi Mihail Gefter’in ifadesiyle, ‘hepimizin içine giren Stalinizm’di.” show less
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