Books by Orlando Figes

Opening with a panorama of Russian society, from the cloistered world of the Tsar to the brutal life of the peasants, this book follows workers, soldiers, intellectuals and villagers as their world is consumed by revolution and then degenerates into violence and dictatorship.

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.'

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.

The terrible conflict that dominated the mid 19th century, the Crimean War killed at least 800,000 men and pitted Russia against a formidable coalition of Britain, France and the Ottoman Empire. It was a war for territory, provoked by fear that if the Ottoman Empire were to collapse then Russia could control a huge swathe of land from the Balkans to the Persian Gulf. But it was also a war of religion, driven by a fervent, populist and ever more ferocious belief by the Tsar and his ministers that it was Russia's task to rule all Orthodox Christians and control the Holy Land.Orlando Figes' major new book reimagines this extraordinary war, in which the stakes could not have been higher and which was fought with a terrible mixture of ferocity and incompetence. It was both a recognisably modern conflict - the first to be extensively photographed, the first to employ the telegraph, the first 'newspaper war' - and a traditional one, with illiterate soldiers, amateur officers and huge casualties caused by disease. Drawing on a huge range of fascinating sources, Figes also gives the lived experience of the war, from that of the ordinary British soldier in his snow-filled trench, to the haunted, gloomy, narrow figure of Tsar Nicholas himself as he vows to take on the whole world in his hunt for religious salvation.

Drawing on a huge range of sources - letters, memoirs, conversations - Orlando Figes tells the story of how Russians tried to endure life under Stalin. Those who shaped the political system became, very frequently, its victims. Those who were its victims were frequently quite blameless. 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.

The authors examine the diverse ways that language and other symbols - flags, songs, codes of dress - were used to identify competing sides and to create new meanings in the political struggle of 1917, and find that the Revolution was in many ways a battle to control these systems of symbolic meaning.

Lov mig, at du kommer tilbage fortæller den ekstraordinære kærlighedshistorie om Lev og Svetlana, der mistede hinanden under Anden Verdenskrig og først genforenedes, efter at Lev havde gennemlevet et årti i Gulag. Her skulle Lev "genopdrages" efter et landsforræderi, der bestod i som krigsfange at tolke fra tysk til russisk. Arbejdet i Gulag var hårdt, kosten nøje rationeret, kulden modbydelig, håbløsheden stor. Da Lev i sommeren 1946 pludselig får brev fra Svetlana – sin forlovede, som han ikke har set i fem år! – begynder en intens brevveksling, der i løbet af de næste knap 10 år bliver til tusindvis af breve, som af bestikkelige, venligt stemte vagter bliver smuglet ud og ind af lejren.Brevene er et enestående vidnesbyrd om livet i Gulag, og gennem et omhyggeligt udviklet kodesprog fortæller Lev om sine oplevelser, frustrationer og tanker. Gulags mentale fængsel virker i perioder mere indespærrende end de hårde lejrforhold. Men bogen er også en inderligt smuk fortælling om kærligheden mellem de to. En kærlighed, der både har sine højdepunkter og svære tider, hvor den anden er så langt væk, at det føles uvirkeligt. Uger uden breve kan gøre vanvittig! Kan de vælge hinanden og være hinanden tro? Ja, det kan de. Og det lille håb om genforening plejer og passer de, indtil den sommerdag i 1954, hvor Lev får sin frihed. Siden lever de sammen i en menneskealder. Lev dør i 2008, Svetlana i 2010."Denne fængslende bog er lige så fascinerende og inspirerende, som den er hjerteskærende … Det er umuligt at læse den uden at fælde en tåre."– Financial TimesOrlando Figes (f. 1959) er professor ved Birkbeck College, University of London, og en af Storbritanniens mest fremtrædende historikere. Hans omfattende forfatterskab er oversat til 27 sprog. På dansk er tidligere udkommet "Hviskerne – privatliv i Stalins Rusland".