Richard Pipes – författare

This study analyzes the evolution of the Russian state from the 9th century to the 1880s, and its unique role in managing Russian society. The development of Russia was different from that of the rest of Europe. The natural poverty of geographical conditions made it extremely difficult to construct an effective regime, and a "patrimonial" state arose in which the country was conceived as the personal property of the tsar. The book describes the evolution of this regime, and analyzes the political behaviour of the principal social groupings, peasantry, nobility, bourgeoisie and clergy, and accounts for their failure to stand up to the increasing absolutism of the tsar. Only the intelligentsia were able to make such a stand, and the book shows how in countering this challenge, Russia developed into a bureaucratic police state.

-- Times Literary Supplement

Was Lenin a visionary whose ideals were subverted by his followers? Or was he a cynical misanthrope, even crueler than Stalin? This book, which contains newly released documents from the Lenin archive in Russia, lays bare Lenin the man and the politician, leaving little doubt that he was a ruthless and manipulative leader who used terror, subversion, and persecution to achieve his goals.Edited and introduced by the eminent scholar Richard Pipes in collaboration with Y.A. Buranov of the Russian Center for the Preservation and Study of Documents of Recent History in Moscow, the documents date from 1886 through the end of Lenin's life. They reveal, among other things, that:• Lenin's purpose in invading Poland in 1920 was not merely to sovietize that country but to use it as a springboard for the invasion of Germany and England;• Lenin took money from the Germans (here we have the first incontrovertible evidence for this);• in 1919 Lenin issued instructions to the Communist authorities in the Ukraine not to accept Jews in the Soviet government of that republic;• as late as 1922 Lenin believed in the imminence of social revolution in the West, and he planned subversion in Finland, Turkey, Lithuania, and other countries;• Lenin had little regard for Trotsky's judgment on important matters and relied heavily on Stalin;• Lenin assiduously tracked dissident intellectuals and urged repressive action or deportation;• Lenin launched a political offensive against the Orthodox Church, ordering that priests who resisted seizure of church property be shot--"the more the better."

A committed terrorist in Russia, an admired professor in America: the astounding story of Sergei Degaev’s double life, told in full detail for the first timeSergei Degaev (1857–1921), a political terrorist in tsarist Russia, disappeared after participating in the assassination of the chief of Russia’s security organization in 1883. Those who later knew and admired the quietly brilliant Professor Alexander Pell at the University of South Dakota never guessed this was actually Degaev, who had triple-crossed friends and associates while entangled in the revolutionary movement of his homeland. This book is the first in any language to tell in detail the extraordinary story of one of the world’s most intriguing revolutionaries, his role in building and betraying the earliest political terrorist network, and his subsequent conventional academic career in America.The well-known historian Richard Pipes uses previously unexplored Russian archives to draw a brilliant psychological, political, and sociological portrait of Degaev. Pipes pursues his protagonist on a twisting journey of changing loyalties and fateful collaborations within the network that provided the model for all modern terrorist organizations. A cunning conspirator, Degaev went on to reinvent himself in the United States as a beloved mathematics professor. Either of his lives would be considered remarkable; that Degaev lived both is nothing short of amazing.

A distinguished historian, Harvard professor, and White House adviser looks back on his own life and on the tumultuous twentieth centurySixteen-year-old Richard Pipes escaped from Nazi-occupied Warsaw with his family in October 1939. Their flight took them to the United States by way of Italy, and Pipes went on to earn a college degree, join the U.S. Air Corps, serve as professor of Russian history at Harvard for nearly forty years, and become adviser to President Reagan on Soviet and Eastern European affairs. In this engrossing book, the eminent historian remembers the events of his own remarkable life as well as the unfolding of some of the twentieth century’s most extraordinary political events.From his youthful memories of bombs falling on Warsaw to his recollections of the conflicts inside the Reagan administration over American policies toward the USSR, Pipes offers penetrating observations as well as fascinating portraits of such cultural and political figures as Isaiah Berlin, Ronald Reagan, and Alexander Haig. Perhaps most interesting of all, Pipes depicts his evolution as a historian and his understanding of how history is witnessed and how it is recorded.

Why have Russians chosen unlimited autocracy throughout their history? Why is democracy unable to flourish in Russia?​Russian Conservatism and Its Critics provides the first account of Russia’s immemorial commitment to the theory and practice of autocracy, the most formative and powerful idea in Russia’s political history. Richard Pipes considers why Russian thinkers, statesmen, and publicists have historically always argued that Russia could prosper only under an autocratic regime. Beginning with an insightful study of the origins of Russian statehood in the Middle Ages, when the state grew out of the princely domain but was not distinguished from it, Russian Conservatism and Its Critics includes a masterful survey of Russia’s major conservative thinkers and demonstrates how conservatism is the dominant intellectual legacy of Russia. Pipes examines the geographical, historical, political, military, and social realities of the Russian empire—fundamentally unchanged by the Revolution of 1917—that have traditionally convinced its rulers and opinion leaders that decentralizing political authority would inevitably result in the country’s disintegration. Pipes has written a brilliant thesis and analysis of a hitherto overlooked aspect of the Russian intellectual tradition that continues to have significance to this day.

Mr. Pipes writes trenchantly, and at times superbly....No single volume known to me even begins to cater so adequately to those who want to discover what really happened to Russia....Nor do I know any other book better designed to help Soviet citizens to struggle out of the darkness."-- Ronald Hingley, The New York Times Book ReviewGround-breaking in its inclusiveness, enthralling in its narrative of a movement whose purpose, in the words of Leon Trotsky, was "to overthrow the world," The Russian Revolution draws conclusions that have already aroused great controversy in this country-and that are certain to be explosive when the book is published in the Soviet Union. Richard Pipes argues convincingly that the Russian Revolution was an intellectual, rather than a class, uprising; that it was steeped in terror from its very outset; and that it was not a revolution at all but a coup d''etat -- "the capture of governmental power by a small minority."From the Trade Paperback edition.

The author of the classic two-volume study, The Russian Revolution and Russia Under the Bolshevik Regime, now distills those works into an authoritative new chronicle of Russia between 1900 and the death of Lenin. "A deep and eloquent condemnation."--The New York Times.From the Trade Paperback edition.

Pipes is a widely recognized authority on Russia and is currently Baird professor of History at Harvard University. This is the final volume in his magisterial history of the Russian Revolution, covering the period from the outbreak of the Civil War in 1918 to Lenin''s death in 1924.From the Trade Paperback edition.

Russian history was typically studied through liberal or socialist lenses until Richard Pipes first published his translation of Karamzin's Memoir. Almost fifty years later, it is still the only English-language edition of this classic work. Still fresh and readable today, the Memoir-in which Alexander I's state historian elaborates his arguments for a strong Russian state-remains the most accessible introduction to the conservatism of Russia's ancien regime. This annotated translation is a "faithful rendition of the letter and spirit of the original," which not only introduces readers to the sweep of Karamzin's ideas, but also weaves together a fascinating version of Russia's rich history. With a new foreword by Richard Pipes, Karamzin's Memoir on Ancient and Modern Russia is a touchstone for anyone interested in Russia's fascinating and turbulent past.Richard Pipes is Baird Professor of History at Harvard University.Nikolai M. Karamzin (1766-1826) was a Russian historian, poet, and journalist. He was appointed court historian by Tsar Alexander I.

A significant political figure in twentieth-century Russia, Alexander Yakovlev was the intellectual force behind the processes of perestroika (reconstruction) and glasnost (openness) that liberated the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe from Communist rule between 1989 and 1991. Yet, until now, not a single full-scale biography has been devoted to him.In his study of the unsung hero, Richard Pipes seeks to rectify this lacuna and give Yakovlev his historical due. Yakovlev's life provides a unique instance of a leading figure in the Soviet government who evolved from a dedicated Communist and Stalinist into an equally ardent foe of everything the Leninist-Stalinist regime stood for. He quit government service in 1991 and lived until 2005, becoming toward the end of his life a classical western liberal who shared none of the traditional Russian values. Pipes's illuminating study consists of two parts: a biography of Yakovlev and Pipes's translation of two important articles by Yakovlev. It will appeal to specialists and students of Soviet and post-Soviet studies, government officials involved with foreign policy, and general readers interested in the history of Russia and the Soviet Union.

A significant political figure in twentieth-century Russia, Alexander Yakovlev was the intellectual force behind the processes of perestroika (reconstruction) and glasnost (openness) that liberated the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe from Communist rule between 1989 and 1991. Yet, until now, not a single full-scale biography has been devoted to him.In his study of the unsung hero, Richard Pipes seeks to rectify this lacuna and give Yakovlev his historical due. Yakovlev's life provides a unique instance of a leading figure in the Soviet government who evolved from a dedicated Communist and Stalinist into an equally ardent foe of everything the Leninist-Stalinist regime stood for. He quit government service in 1991 and lived until 2005, becoming toward the end of his life a classical western liberal who shared none of the traditional Russian values. Pipes's illuminating study consists of two parts: a biography of Yakovlev and Pipes's translation of two important articles by Yakovlev. It will appeal to specialists and students of Soviet and post-Soviet studies, government officials involved with foreign policy, and general readers interested in the history of Russia and the Soviet Union.

In the words of George F. Kennan, Russia remains a region where "the conflicts of outlook and persuasion" have been as violent as any seen in our century. As crisis follows crisis, Western observers find the tragic complexities and cruel paradoxes of post-totalitarian Russia no less mystifying than those they encountered during the Soviet era. Looking beyond the horizon and cutting beneath the headlines, in Remaking Russia eighteen distinguished essayists of diverse backgrounds offer original insights on the three central questions Russians are now debating among themselves: Who are we? Where are we going? How do we get there? Their perspectives will retain their long-term relevance whatever the outcome of Kremlin power struggles.

In the words of George F. Kennan, Russia remains a region where "the conflicts of outlook and persuasion" have been as violent as any seen in our century. As crisis follows crisis, Western observers find the tragic complexities and cruel paradoxes of post-totalitarian Russia no less mystifying than those they encountered during the Soviet era. Looking beyond the horizon and cutting beneath the headlines, in Remaking Russia eighteen distinguished essayists of diverse backgrounds offer original insights on the three central questions Russians are now debating among themselves: Who are we? Where are we going? How do we get there? Their perspectives will retain their long-term relevance whatever the outcome of Kremlin power struggles.

One of the most enduring dreams is of a Utopian society in which all possessions are held in common ownership, and there is never a quarrel over "mine" and "thine". As Professor Pipes argues in this book, such a dream has never been translated into reality in the secular world, despite the best efforts of socialist and communist ideologues. Acquisitiveness is deeply ingrained in all living creatures and all societies for both economic and psychological reasons. Where there are no guarantees of property there are no limits to state authority and no regulatory bodies of law, and hence no guarantee of individual liberty, or "civil rights". Herein lies the crux of the author's argument.

In the words of George F. Kennan, Russia remains a region where "the conflicts of outlook and persuasion" have been as violent as any seen in our century. As crisis follows crisis, Western observers find the tragic complexities and cruel paradoxes of post-totalitarian Russia no less mystifying than those they encountered during the Soviet era. Looking beyond the horizon and cutting beneath the headlines, in Remaking Russia eighteen distinguished essayists of diverse backgrounds offer original insights on the three central questions Russians are now debating among themselves: Who are we? Where are we going? How do we get there? Their perspectives will retain their long-term relevance whatever the outcome of Kremlin power struggles.

In the words of George F. Kennan, Russia remains a region where "the conflicts of outlook and persuasion" have been as violent as any seen in our century. As crisis follows crisis, Western observers find the tragic complexities and cruel paradoxes of post-totalitarian Russia no less mystifying than those they encountered during the Soviet era. Looking beyond the horizon and cutting beneath the headlines, in Remaking Russia eighteen distinguished essayists of diverse backgrounds offer original insights on the three central questions Russians are now debating among themselves: Who are we? Where are we going? How do we get there? Their perspectives will retain their long-term relevance whatever the outcome of Kremlin power struggles.

From one of our greatest historians, a magnificent reckoning with the modern world''s most fateful idea.With astonishing authority and clarity, Richard Pipes has fused a lifetime''s scholarship into a single focused history of Communism, from its hopeful birth as a theory to its miserable death as a practice. At its heart, the book is a history of the Soviet Union, the most comprehensive reorganization of human society ever attempted by a nation-state. Drawing on much new information, Richard Pipes explains the countryís evolution from the 1917 revolution to the Great Terror and World War II, global expansion and the Cold War chess match with the United States, and the regime''s decline and ultimate collapse. There is no more dramatic story in modern history, nor one more crucial to master, than that of how the writing and agitation of two mid-nineteenth-century European thinkers named Marx and Engels led to a great and terrible world religion that brought down a mighty empire, consumed the world in conflict, and left in its wake a devastation whose full costs can only now be tabulated.From the Hardcover edition.

Richard Pipes is the patriarch of American political science; for many years he was director of the Research Center for Russian Studies at Harvard University. He has written several dozen books and several hundred articles on the history of the USSR and the problems of modern Russian life. In his new book, Richard Pipes writes about what is happening now in our country. According to Pipes, modern Russians feel isolated from the rest of the world, do not know exactly which development model to choose, and try to compensate for their confusion with harsh statements and actions. Meanwhile, it is now that Russia has a unique historical chance to abandon the previous "patrimonial" model of the state, in which the rulers own the country, and do not just govern it. What is needed for this, what measures need to be taken in domestic policy, the economy, what kind of foreign policy to pursue - Pipes dwells on these issues in detail. If Russia continues to follow the old path, an unenviable fate awaits it: very little time will pass, and Russia will leave the historical arena as a strong and significant state, the author argues.