Orlando Figes

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Orlando Figes (born 1957) is one of Britain's leading historians of modern Russian history and a professor at Birkbeck, University of London. He frequently reviews books for The Guardian and the London Review of Books.

Contents

1 Overview
2 Prizes
3 Works
4 Sources

Overview

Figes was born in London and is the son of Feminist writer Eva Figes. His sister is the author and editor Kate Figes. He studied history at the University of Cambridge, graduating with a rare double-starred First in 1982.

Although he has published an extensive range of academic work, he is most famous for his popular works on the subject, most notably A People's Tragedy and Natasha's Dance. Figes borrows from a broad range of historiographical styles, most notably modern cultural history. This approach has given his writing an anecdotal style – a technique, critics argue, designed to increase sales rather than accurately reassess the past.

The Sovietologist Richard Pipes, author of the book The Russian Revolution, has accused Figes of plagiarism. Figes successfully sued Pipes and The Sunday Times for defamation.

Prizes

1997 – Wolfson History Prize

Works

Peasant Russia, Civil War: The Volga Countryside in Revolution, 1917-21, 1989, ISBN 019822169X
A People's Tragedy: Russian Revolution 1891-1924, 1996, ISBN 071267327X
With Boris Kolonitskii: Interpreting the Russian Revolution: The Language and Symbols of 1917, 1999, ISBN 0300081065
Natasha's Dance: A cultural History of Russia, 2002, ISBN 0140297960

Sources

http://books.guardian.co.uk/departments/history/story/0,6000,803578,00.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2002/09/01/boami201.xml

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