Orlando Figes

Orlando Figes (/ˈfaɪdÊ’iːz/; born 20 November 1959) is a British historian of Russia, and Professor of History at Birkbeck, University of London. He was a Lecturer in History at the University of Cambridge from 1987 to 1999, before taking the Chair of History at Birkbeck College, University of London. Figes is known for his works on Russian history, in particular A People's Tragedy (1996), Natasha's Dance (2002), The Whisperers (2007), "Crimea" (2010) and "Just Send Me Word" (2012). His books have been translated to many languages. A People's Tragedy is a study of the Russian Revolution, and combines social and political history with biographical details in a historical narrative. It was awarded the Wolfson History Prize, the WH Smith Literary Award, the NCR Book Award, the Longman-History Today Book Prize, and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. In 2008 the Times Literary Supplement named A People's Tragedy as one of the 'hundred most influential books since the war'.Natasha's Dance won the Przeglad Wschodni Award for the best foreign book on East European History in Poland in 2009.Natasha's Dance and The Whisperers were both short-listed for the Samuel Johnson Prize, making Figes the only writer to have been short-listed twice for the Samuel Johnson Prize. The Whisperers was also short-listed for the Ondaatje Prize, the Prix Médicis, and the Premio Roma.Crimea: The Last Crusade, on the Crimean War of 1853-56, was published in 2010. Figes serves on the editorial board of the journal Russian History, writes for the international press, broadcasts on television and radio, and reviews books for the New York Review of Books, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Continue Reading »

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