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  • Published: 25 June 2014
  • ISBN: 9780141043678
  • Imprint: Penguin Press
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 496
  • RRP: $17.99
Categories:

Revolutionary Russia, 1891-1991

A Pelican Introduction




A Pelican introduction to the century of Russia's revolutionary experience

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.

  • Published: 25 June 2014
  • ISBN: 9780141043678
  • Imprint: Penguin Press
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 496
  • RRP: $17.99
Categories:

About the author

Orlando Figes

Orlando Figes is Professor of History at Birkbeck College, University of London. Born in London in 1959, he was previously a Lecturer in History and Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. A People’s Tragedy received the Wolfson Prize, the NCR Book Award, the W.H. Smith Literary Award, the Longman/History Today Book Prize and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. He is the author of many other books on Russian history including Natasha’s Dance: A Cultural History of Russia, The Whisperers: Private life in Stalin’s Russia, Crimea: the Last Crusade and Just Send Me Word: A True Story of Love and Survival in the Gulag.

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Praise for Revolutionary Russia, 1891-1991

Insightful and convincing... Figes integrates his analysis into a highly readable story, and he shows himself to be a master of historical narrative. Readers will find themselves absorbing a great deal of information and insight with very little effort

David Priestland, Financial Times

A primer intended for readers unfamiliar with the territory, it sparkles with ideas, vivid storytelling, poignant anecdotes and pithy phrases... Fresh and dramatic

Victor Sebestyen, Sunday Times