Лучшие книги Файджеса Орландо

Figes (history, Univ. of London; A People's Tragedy) describes the twists and turns of Russian history through cultural and artistic events from the founding of Rus in the 12th century through the Soviet era. He uses Tolstoy's War and Peace as a centerpiece of art imitating life. The title of Figes's book comes from the scene in which Natasha Rostov and her brother Nikolai are invited by their "uncle" to a rustic cabin to listen to him play Russian folk music on his guitar. Natasha instinctively begins a folk dance that is prompted by "unknown feelings in her heart." Tolstoy would have us believe that "Russia may be held together by unseen threads of native sensibilities," writes Figes. Nowhere is the clash between the European culture of the upper class and the Russian culture of the peasantry more evident. "The complex interactions between these two worlds had a crucial influence on the national consciousness and on all the arts of the 19th century." This interaction is a major feature of this book, which traces the formation of a culture. The writing style is distinctly nonacademic, making for a very enjoyable read. Recommended for academic and public libraries. Harry Willems, Southeast Kansas Lib. Syst., Iola

The Whisperers is a triumphant act of recovery. In this powerful work of history, Orlando Figes chronicles the private history of family life during the violent and repressive reign of Josef Stalin. Drawing on a vast collection of interviews and archives, The Whisperers re-creates the anguish of family members turned against one another--of the paranoia, alienation, and treachery that poisoned private life in Russia for generations. A panoramic portrait of a society in which everyone spoke in whispers, The Whisperers is "rigorously compassionate. . . . A humbling monument to the evil and endurance of Russia's Soviet past and, implicitly, a guide to its present" (The Economist).

It is history on an epic yet human scale. Vast in scope, exhaustive in original research, written with passion, narrative skill, and human sympathy, A People's Tragedy is a profound account of the Russian Revolution for a new generation. Many consider the Russian Revolution to be the most significant event of the twentieth century. Distinguished scholar Orlando Figes presents a panorama of Russian society on the eve of that revolution, and then narrates the story of how these social forces were violently erased. Within the broad stokes of war and revolution are miniature histories of individuals, in which Figes follows the main players' fortunes as they saw their hopes die and their world crash into ruins. Unlike previous accounts that trace the origins of the revolution to overreaching political forces and ideals, Figes argues that the failure of democracy in 1917 was deeply rooted in Russian culture and social history and that what had started as a people's revolution contained the seeds of its degeneration into violence and dictatorship. A People's Tragedy is a masterful and original synthesis by a mature scholar, presented in a compelling and accessibly human narrative.

Written in a narrative style that captures both the scope and detail of the Russian revolution, Orlando Figes' history is certain to become one of the most important contemporary studies of Russia as it was at the beginning of the 20th century. With an almost cinematic eye, Figes captures the broad movements of war and revolution, never losing sight of the individuals whose lives make up his subject. He makes use of personal papers and personal histories to illustrate the effects the revolution wrought on a human scale, while providing a convincing and detailed understanding of the role of workers, peasants, and soldiers in the revolution. He moves deftly from topics such as the grand social forces and mass movements that made up the revolution to profiles of key personalities and representative characters. Figes' themes of the Russian revolution as a tragedy for the Russian people as a whole and for the millions of individuals who lost their lives to the brutal forces it unleashed make sense of events for a new generation of students of Russian history. Sympathy for the charismatic leaders and ideological theorising regarding Hegelian dialectics and Marxist economics--two hallmarks of much earlier writing on the Russian revolution--are banished from these clear-eyed, fair-minded pages of A People's Tragedy. The author's sympathy is squarely with the Russian people. That commitment, together with the benefit of historical hindsight, provides a standpoint Figes can take full advantage of in this masterful history.

Книга британского историка Орландо Файджеса — всестороннее и основательное исследование масштабного и кровопролитного конфликта, в котором можно усмотреть прообраз тотальных войн XX века. Не изменяя традиционной манере исторического повествования и излагая события в строгой хронологической последовательности, автор сумел превратить дела давно минувших дней в напряженный рассказ о трагических переплетениях дипломатической, военной и религиозной истории государств-участников конфликта (России, Турции, Франции и Великобритании) с личными судьбами политиков, солдат, офицеров, медсестер, врачей, маркитанток, журналистов и других людей, волею судеб оказавшихся втянутыми в огненный вихрь Крымской войны — войны империй, в которой не было победителей.

From the “master of historical narrative” (Financial Times), a dazzling, richly detailed, panoramic work—the first to document the genesis of a continent-wide European culture.

The nineteenth century in Europe was a time of unprecedented artistic achievement. It was also the first age of cultural globalization—an epoch when mass communications and high-speed rail travel brought Europe together, overcoming the barriers of nationalism and facilitating the development of a truly European canon of artistic, musical, and literary works. By 1900, the same books were being read across the continent, the same paintings reproduced, the same music played in homes and heard in concert halls, the same operas performed in all the major theatres.

Drawing from a wealth of documents, letters, and other archival materials, acclaimed historian Orlando Figes examines the interplay of money and art that made this unification possible. At the center of the book is a poignant love triangle: the Russian writer Ivan Turgenev; the Spanish prima donna Pauline Viardot, with whom Turgenev had a long and intimate relationship; and her husband Louis Viardot, an art critic, theater manager, and republican activist. Together, Turgenev and the Viardots acted as a kind of European cultural exchange—they either knew or crossed paths with Delacroix, Berlioz, Chopin, Brahms, Liszt, the Schumanns, Hugo, Flaubert, Dickens, and Dostoyevsky, among many other towering figures.

As Figes observes, nearly all of civilization’s great advances have come during periods of heightened cosmopolitanism—when people, ideas, and artistic creations circulate freely between nations. Vivid and insightful, The Europeans shows how such cosmopolitan ferment shaped artistic traditions that came to dominate world culture.

This is the extraordinary true story of two young Russians, Lev and Svetlana. Kept apart for fourteen years by the Second World War and the Gulag, they stayed true to each other and exchanged thousands of secret letters as Lev battled to survive in Stalin's camps. Using this remarkable cache of smuggled correspondence, Orlando Figes tells the tale of two incredible people who, swept along in the very worst of times, kept their devotion alive.

Viele Darstellungen behandeln die sichtbaren Aspekte der stalinistischen Diktatur: die Verhaftungen und Prozesse, die Versklavung und das Morden in den Gulags. Kein Buch hat jedoch bislang die Auswirkungen des Regimes auf das Privat- und Familienleben der Menschen untersucht, den Stalinismus, der uns alle ergriff , wie es ein russischer Historiker einmal formuliert hat. Auf der Basis von Hunderten Interviews mit Zeitzeugen und zahllosen bislang unbekannten Dokumenten liefert nun Orlando Figes in Die Flüsterer erstmals einen unmittelbaren Einblick in die Innenwelt gewöhnlicher Sowjetbürger und zeigt an zahlreichen eindringlichen Beispielen, wie Einzelne oder Familien in einem von Misstrauen, Angst, Kompromissen und Verrat beherrschten Alltag um ihr Überleben kämpften. Für die Zeit der Revolution von 1917 bis zu Stalins Tod und darüber hinaus rekonstruiert Figes das moralische Gespinst, in dem sich die allermeisten Russen gefangen sahen: Eine einzige falsche Bewegung konnte eine Familie zerstören oder am Ende womöglich deren Rettung bedeuten. Keiner konnte sich sicher fühlen, nicht einmal die überzeugtesten Anhänger des Regimes. Wahrheit und Wahn, Schuld und Unschuld waren in diesem Unterdrückungssystem immer wieder auf fatal miteinander verquickt. Orlando Figes neues Meisterwerk in seiner erzählerischen Wucht und Aufrichtigkeit vergleichbar mit Grossmans Jahrhundertroman Leben und Schicksal ist das breit angelegte Porträt einer Gesellschaft, in der jeder nur noch flüstert entweder um sich und andere zu schützen oder um zu verraten. Ein ebenso schonungsloser wie ergreifender Bericht davon, wie schwach und wie unvorstellbar stark Menschen in einer von Paranoia geprägten totalitären Gesellschaft werden können.

From “the great storyteller of Russian history” ( Financial Times ), a brilliant account of the national mythologies and imperial ideologies that have shaped Russia’s past and politics―essential reading for understanding the country today

On the brink of the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution, read the most vivid, moving, and comprehensive history of the events that changed the world

It is history on an epic yet human scale. Vast in scope, exhaustive in original research, written with passion, narrative skill, and human sympathy, A People's Tragedy is a profound account of the Russian Revolution for a new generation. Many consider the Russian Revolution to be the most significant event of the twentieth century. Distinguished scholar Orlando Figes presents a panorama of Russian society on the eve of that revolution, and then narrates the story of how these social forces were violently erased. Within the broad stokes of war and revolution are miniature histories of individuals, in which Figes follows the main players' fortunes as they saw their hopes die and their world crash into ruins. Unlike previous accounts that trace the origins of the revolution to overreaching political forces and ideals, Figes argues that the failure of democracy in 1917 was deeply rooted in Russian culture and social history and that what had started as a people's revolution contained the seeds of its degeneration into violence and dictatorship. A People's Tragedy is a masterful and original synthesis by a mature scholar, presented in a compelling and accessibly human narrative.

What caused the Russian Revolution?

Did it succeed or fail?

Do we still live with its consequences?

Orlando Figes teaches history at Birkbeck, University of London and is the author of many acclaimed books on Russian history, including A People's Tragedy, which The Times Literary Supplement named as one of the '100 most influential books since the war', Natasha's Dance, The Whisperers, Crimea and Just Send Me Word. The Financial Times called him 'the greatest storyteller of modern Russian historians.'

The Crimean War was the denning conflict of the nineteenth century and one of the fiercest battles in Russia's history: pitting its empire against an alliance of Britain, France and Turkey, killing at least 800,000 men and completely redrawing the map of Europe. It was the first conflict to use photography, the telegraph and newspapers, - the original "total war". Orlando Figes' vivid new book reinterprets this extraordinary conflict. Bringing to life ordinary soldiers in snow-filled trenches, surgeons on the battlefield and the haunted, fanatical figure of Tsar Nicholas himself, Crimea tells the human story of a tragic war.

Mitme silmapaistva ajalookäsitluse autor Orlando Figes vaatleb Vene revolutsiooni mitte ühe lühiajalise episoodina 1917. aastal, vaid kui terve sajandi kestnud ajalootsüklit. Sellise tõlgenduse kohaselt sai Vene revolutsioon alguse 1891. aasta suure näljahäda ajal puhkenud rahutustest ja lõppes nõukogude režiimi kokkuvarisemisega. Aja jooksul revolutsiooni vorm ja iseloom küll muutusid, aga utoopilised sihid jäid samaks nii nagu ka erakordselt vägivaldsed vahendid, mida eesmärkide saavutamiseks rakendati.
Revolutsiooni vägivaldsele põhiolemusele panid aluse Lenin ja n-ö vanad, oktoobripöörde korraldanud bolševikud. Stalini ajastul järgnes sellele 1930. aastate suur terror ja kujunesid välja nõukogude režiimi põhilised võimustruktuurid. Kui Hruštšov 1956. aastal Stalini kuriteod hukka mõistis, algasid katsed „revolutsiooni tööle panna“. Pikale nn stagnatsiooniajale järgnesid Gorbatšovi uutmised, mis viisid omakorda Nõukogude Liidu lagunemiseni.
Orlando Figes on Londoni ülikooli Birkbecki kolledži ajalooprofessor. Ta on kirjutanud Venemaa ajaloost mitmeid raamatuid, sealhulgas eesti keeles ilmunud „Saada mulle vaid sõna“ (2012), „Sosistajad. Eraelu Stalini Venemaal“ (2010) ja „Nataša tants“ (2003).
336 lk

What caused the Russian Revolution?
Did it succeed or fail?
Why are we still all living with its consequences?

In his remarkable new book Orlando Figes describes and takes apart the story of Russia's century of revolution in the shortest space possible. Starting with the horrific famines of 1891, Figes charts a vast experiment in state-building. The manipulation of many millions of people, first by Tsarist ministers and then by the Communists - on a scale and with a ferocity that their predecessors could not dream of - aimed to totally transform Russian society. Through war and peace Russia's rulers battled to subdue and control their vast state, fighting off a mass of real and imagined enemies until exhaustion, corruption and intellectual bankruptcy brought the whole terrible experiment to an end.

As the Soviet Union becomes ever more distant in our memory, Revolutionary Russia is an invaluable reminder of why this one, hideously violent and callous state became for so long the great focus of the hopes and fears of much of humankind.

This is the first non-Soviet history of the Volga countryside during the Russian revolution and civil war of 1917-1921. The product of extensive study of numerous archival sources--many of them from central government archives, and previously considered highly secret--it reconstructs the revolutionary experience of the peasantry in the crucial Volga region, situated immediately behind the military fronts between the Reds and the Whites. Figes examines in detail the impact of the revolution on the villages. With the destruction of the old agrarian state, the task of reforming the social life of the countryside was left to the peasants, who set about reconstructing the order according to traditional peasant notions of social justice. The ability of the Bolsheviks to mobilize the peasantry is explained in terms of political and social developments at the village level during the civil war. The civil war, Figes argues, left a deep scar on the peasant economy and peasant-state relations, which influenced the entire development of the Soviet regime.