Orlando Figes – författare

»För att förstå Putins Ryssland idag behöver man bara läsa Figes enastående skildring.« Antony Beevor

Ingenstans har orden "den som behärskar det förflutna behärskar framtiden" varit mer sanna än i Ryssland. Genom historien har makthavare gång på gång skrivit om landets förflutna för att passa sina intressen – något som är relevant i förståelsen för hur landet tänker och agerar idag.

Orlando Figes skildrar tusen år av rysk historia, från Kievriket till Putins invasion av Ukraina, ur ett nytt och avslöjande perspektiv där han visar hur personer och händelser format nationens själ och självbild.

Med fängslande berättarstil och skarp analys utforskar Figes de autokratiska tendenserna, föreställningarna om tsaren som folkets fader, den "ryska själen" och den upplevda skymfen från västvärlden.

A 2022 BOOK OF THE YEAR FOR: Sunday Times * Irish Times * Spectator * Financial Times * Telegraph * Aspects of History‘The history book you need if you want to understand modern Russia' ANNE APPLEBAUM‘A magnificent, magisterial thousand year history of Russia . . . by one of the masters of Russian scholarship' SIMON SEBAG MONTEFIORE‘A great historian at the peak of his powers' WILLIAM DALRYMPLE'[An] excellent short study’ MAX HASTINGS, SUNDAY TIMES‘If you really want to understand Putin’s Russia today, anchored in its past of myths, then you simply have to read Figes’s superb account’ ANTONY BEEVOR'A lucid chronological journey that ably illustrates how narratives from the nation’s past have been used to shape its autocratic present’ OBSERVER'A valuable, instructive overview' INDEPENDENT -------------------------From the great storyteller of Russia, a spellbinding account of the stories that have shaped the country’s past – and how they can inform its present.No other country has been so divided over its own past as Russia. None has changed its story so often. How the Russians came to tell their story, and to reinvent it as they went along, is a vital aspect of their history, their culture and beliefs. To understand what Russia’s future holds – to grasp what Putin’s regime means for Russia and the world – we need to unravel the ideas and meanings of that history.In The Story of Russia, Orlando Figes brings into sharp relief the vibrant characters that comprise Russia’s rich history, and whose stories remain so important in making sense of the world’s largest nation today – from the crowning of sixteen-year-old Ivan the Terrible in a candlelit cathedral, to Catherine the Great, riding out in a green uniform to arrest her husband at his palace, to the bitter last days of the Romanovs.Beautifully written and based on a lifetime of scholarship, The Story of Russia is a major and definitive work from the great storyteller of Russian history: sweeping, suspenseful, masterful.-------------------------PRAISE FOR ORLANDO FIGES‘An outstanding historian and writer, he brings distant history so close that you could feel its heartbeat’KARL OVE KNAUSGAARD'Figes knows more about Russia than any other historian'MAX HASTINGS, SUNDAY TIMES

From the award-winning author of The Whisperers, Orlando Figes Natasha's Dance: A Cultural History of Russia is a dazzling history of Russia's mighty culture.Orlando Figes' enthralling, richly evocative history has been heralded as a literary masterpiece on Russia, the lives of those who have shaped its culture, and the enduring spirit of a people.'Wonderfully rich ... magnificent and compelling ... a delight to read'Antony Beevor'A tour de force by the great storyteller of modern Russian historians ... Figes mobilizes a cast of serf harems, dynasties, politburos, libertines, filmmakers, novelists, composers, poets, tsars and tyrants ... superb, flamboyant and masterful'Simon Sebag-Montefiore, Financial Times'Awe-inspiring ... Natasha's Dance has all the qualities of an epic tragedy'Mail on Sunday'It is so much fun to read that I hesitate to write too much, for fear of spoiling the pleasures and surprises of the book'Sunday Telegraph'Magnificent ... Figes is at his exciting best'Guardian'Breathtaking ... The title of this masterly history comes from War and Peace, when the aristocratic heroine, Natasha Rostova, finds herself intuitively picking up the rhythm of a peasant dance ... One of those books that, at times, makes you wonder how you have so far managed to do without it'Independent on Sunday'Thrilling, dizzying ... I would defy any reader not to be captivated'Literary ReviewOrlando Figes is Professor of History at Birkbeck College, University of London. He is the author of Peasant Russia, Civil War, A People's Tragedy, Natasha's Dance, The Whisperers and Just Send Me Word. His books have been translated into over twenty languages.

Orlando Figes' Crimea is a powerful history of the Crimean War, the conflict that dominated the nineteenth century.The Crimean War one of the fiercest battles in Russia's history, killing nearly a million men and completely redrawing the map of Europe. Pitting the Tsar's empire against an alliance of Britain, France and the Ottoman Empire, it was the first conflict to use photography, the telegraph and newspapers; a war over territory, from the Balkans to the Persian Gulf; a war of religion, driven by a fervent, populistbelief by the Tsar and his ministers that it was Russia's task to rule all Orthodox Christians and control the Holy Land; it was 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. 'Lucid, well-written, alive and sensitive, it tells us why this neglected conflict and its forgotten victims deserve our remembrance' Oliver Bullough, Independent'Figes paints a vivid portrait of a bloody and pointless conflict ... he knows more about Russia than any other historian'Max Hastings, Sunday Times'A fine, stirring account' Mark Bostridge, Financial Times'A wonderful subject, on every level, and with Orlando Figes it has found the historian worthy of its width and depth' Norman Stone, Standpoint'Figes is a first-class historian, as his splendid new book amply demonstrates' Dominic Sandbrook, Daily TelegraphOrlando Figes is Professor of History at Birkbeck College, University of London. He is the author of Peasant Russia, Civil War, A People's Tragedy, Natasha's Dance, The Whisperers and Just Send Me Word. His books have been translated into over twenty languages.

Orlando Figes' The Whisperers is a groundbreaking account of daily life in the chaotic and paranoid atmosphere of Stalinist Russia. Exploring the inner life of a Russia where everyone was afraid to talk and society spoke in whispers, whether to protect friends and family - or to betray them - Orlando Figes tells the story of how Russians tried to endure life under Stalin's Terror. Where a junior worker might inform on their superior to get their job; a husband to get rid of a lover; a neighbour out of petty jealousy. Where living a double life became the norm and yet, somehow, a few defied the state. Those who shaped the political system became, very frequently, its victims. Those who were its victims were frequently quite blameless. Drawing on hundreds of family archives from across the whole spectrum of Russian society, The Whisperers recreates the sort of maze in which Russians found themselves, where an unwitting wrong turn could either destroy a family or, perversely, later save it: a society in which everyone spoke in whispers - whether to protect themselves, their families, neighbours or friends - or to inform on them. 'Wonderful ... an amazing panoramic view ... I've rarely read anything like it'Claire Tomalin 'Awesome ... one of the most unforgettable books I have ever read. I defy anyone to read it without weeping at its human suffering, cruelty and courage' Simon Sebag Montefiore, Mail on Sunday 'This is a heart-rending book ... its importance cannot be overestimated ... This book should be made compulsory reading in Russia today'Antony Beevor, author Of Stalingrad'A masterful account of lost and stolen lives'Sunday TimesOrlando Figes is Professor of History at Birkbeck College, University of London. He is the author of Peasant Russia, Civil War, A Peoples Tragedy, Natasha's Dance and The Whisperers. He lives in Cambridge and London. His books have been translated into over twenty languages.

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.'

'Magnificent. Beautifully written, immaculately researched and thoroughly absorbing from start to finish. A tour de force that explains how Europe's cultural life transformed during the course of the 19th century - and so much more' Peter FrankopanFrom the bestselling author of Natasha's Dance, The Europeans is richly enthralling, panoramic cultural history of nineteenth-century Europe, told through the intertwined lives of three remarkable people: a great singer, Pauline Viardot, a great writer, Ivan Turgenev, and a great connoisseur, Pauline's husband Louis.Their passionate, ambitious lives were bound up with an astonishing array of writers, composers and painters all trying to make their way through the exciting, prosperous and genuinely pan-European culture that came about as a result of huge economic and technological change. This culture - through trains, telegraphs and printing - allowed artists of all kinds to exchange ideas and make a living, shuttling back and forth across the whole continent from the British Isles to Imperial Russia, as they exploited a new cosmopolitan age.The Europeans is Orlando Figes' masterpiece. Surprising, beautifully written, it describes huge changes through intimate details, little-known stories and through the lens of Turgenev and the Viardots' touching, strange love triangle. Events which we now see as central to European high culture are made completely fresh, allowing the reader to revel in the sheer precariousness with which the great salons, premieres and bestsellers came into existence.

From Orlando Figes, international bestselling author of A People's Tragedy, Just Send Me Word is the moving true story of two young Russians whose love survived Stalin's Gulag. Lev and Svetlana, kept apart for fourteen years by the Second World War and the Gulag, 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.Orlando Figes was granted exclusive access to the thousands of letters between Lev and Sveta that form the foundation of Just Send Me Word, and he was able to interview the couple in person, then in their nineties. These real-time and largely uncensored letters form the largest cache of Gulag letters ever found.Reviews:'One is overcome with admiration for the kindness, bravery and generosity of people in terrible peril ... It is impossible to read without shedding tears' Simon Sebag Montefiore, Financial Times'This powerful narrative by a distinguished historian will take its place not just in history but in literature' Robert Massie'Electrifying, passionate, devoted, despairing, exhilarating ... a tale of hope, resilience, grit and love' The Times'Moving ... a remarkable discovery' Max Hastings, Sunday Times 'The gulag story lacks individuals for us to sympathise with: a Primo Levi, an Anne Frank or even an Oskar Schindler. Just Send Me Word may well be the book to change that' Oliver Bullough, Independent'Immensely touching ... [a] heartening gem of a book' Anna Reid, Literary Review'The remarkable true story of a love affair between two Soviet citizens ... as much a literary challenge as a historical one: the book can be read as a non-fiction novel' Telegraph'Remarkable ... Figes, selecting and then interpreting this mass of letters, makes them tell two kinds of story. The first is a uniquely detailed narrative of the gulag, of the callous, slatternly universe which consumed millions of lives ... The second is about two people determined not to lose each other' Neal Ascherson, Guardian'A quiet, moving and memorable account of life in a totalitarian state ... The book often reads like a novel ... captivating' Evening Standard'Orlando Figes has wrought something beautiful from dark times' Ian Thomson, Observer'A heart-rending record of extraordinary human endurance' Kirkus Reviews'[A] remarkable tale of love and devotion during the worst years of the USSR ... [Figes's] fine narrative pacing enhances this moving, memorable story' Publishers WeeklyAbout the author:Orlando Figes is Professor of History at Birkbeck College, University of London. He is the author of Peasant Russia, Civil War, A People's Tragedy, Natasha's Dance, The Whisperers and Crimea. He lives in Cambridge and London. His books have been translated into over twenty languages.

This is the first book in any language to offer a comprehensive analysis of the political culture of the Russian Revolution. Orlando Figes and Boris Kolonitskii examine the diverse ways that language and other symbols—including flags and emblems, public rituals, songs, and codes of dress—were used to identify competing sides and to create new meanings in the political struggles of 1917. The revolution was in many ways a battle to control these systems of symbolic meaning, the authors find. The party or faction that could master the complexities of the lexicon of the revolution was well on its way to mastering the revolution itself.The book explores how key words and symbols took on different meanings in various social and political contexts. “Democracy,” “the people,” or “the working class,” for example, could define a wide range of identities and moral worlds in 1917. In addition to such ambiguities, cultural tensions further complicated the revolutionary struggles. Figes and Kolonitskii consider the fundamental clash between the Western political discourse of the socialist parties and the traditional political culture of the Russian masses. They show how the particular conditions and perceptions that colored Russian politics in 1917 led to the emergence of the cult of the revolutionary leader and the culture of terror.

The most vivid, moving and comprehensive history of the Russian Revolution available today.Unrivalled in scope and brimming with human drama, A People's Tragedy is widely hailed as the definitive account of the Russian Revolution.Orlando Figes weaves scholarship and storytelling to capture both the epic scale and personal cost of 1917. Gripping and compassionate, he draws on the diaries and letters of workers, soldiers, intellectuals and villagers as their world degenerates into violence and dictatorship, conveying above all the shocking experience of the revolution for those who lived it.Illustrated with over 100 photographs and now including a new introduction that reflects on the revolution's centennial legacy, A People's Tragedy is - a masterful and definitive record of one of the most important events in modern history‘A modern masterpiece.’ Andrew Marr‘The most moving account… since Doctor Zhivago.’ Independent