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| A People's Tragedy: Russian Revolution, 1891-1924 | 
 enlarge | Author: Orlando Figes
Publisher: Pimlico
Category: Book
List Price: £18.00
Buy Used: £7.89
You Save: £10.11 (56%)
New (19) from £11.32
Avg. Customer Rating:  20 reviews
Sales Rank: 4780
Media: Paperback
Edition: New edition
Pages: 934
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.9
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.2 x 2.2
ISBN: 071267327X
Dewey Decimal Number: 947.0841
EAN: 9780712673273
ASIN: 071267327X
Publication Date: July 31, 1997
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 The best marathon you'll ever run October 23, 2006
20 out of 24 found this review helpful
This is a long book, for those looking for short sharp read look elsewhere because you won't find it here. What you will find is a book that humanises an often sterile topic. by bringing out human examples again and again Figes does not just cater for the undergraduate historian searching for information but also personalises the plight of the russian people in such a way that is both captivating and informative, making it a good read for any audience. This is no harry potter, you won't find people reading it around a swimming pool but if you have the time it is well worth it. Most importantly do not be put off by its size. the author assumes little prior knowledge whilst at the same time allowing the learned reader an even more in-depth look at the chaos and brutality of imperial Russia and beyond. For beginners and scholars alike this book is second to none and a must for anyone with an interest in the soviet union. To understand any nation especially one governed by rigid ideals one must understand the events and context in which those ideals were introduced, moulded, and ultimately distorted.
 Painstaking August 24, 2005
11 out of 63 found this review helpful
My goodness. This is one of the most highly recommended and respected texts known to historians today, regarding the topic of the enthralling Russian past. Figes manages neither to grip the reader, nor to do real justice to the amazing events that took place in the coups, revolutions and atrocities of the Tsarist and Soviet regimes. In short the book is too long to read and an utter bore. I would recommend something a little less exhauating and time wasting such as "Russia A Complete History" by Peter Neville or even Geoffrey Hosking's "Russia and the Russians". Avoid Figes...
whatever did happen to leon trotsky May 4, 2004
26 out of 30 found this review helpful
Having already read "Natasha's Dance", "A People's Tragedy" had a lot to live up to - it did. In this superb book, Figes describes the social forces and events that led to, then ruined, the democratic revolution in Russia. The book achieves a rare balance between the stories of the great personalities who helped shape the revolution, and the lives of the common people who felt its effects. He is even-handed, taking to task both left- and rightist interpretations of the revolution and the motivations of those involved; it is this impartiality that condemns both the old tsarist regime and the new Bolshevik dictatorship. "A People's Tragedy" is long, but is an enthralling, if grim, read throughout.
 Excellent Read December 16, 2003
22 out of 30 found this review helpful
Very good one volume history of Russia from pre-revolution to post-revolution times.Figes tells the story of revolutionary Russia from a late 20th century perspective relying on fact without an overly 'leftist' or 'rightist' bias. Anyone calling this a 'rightist' history criticising the Bolsheviks has clearly failed to grasp the horrendous state of the Russian nation post 1917. Why only 4 stars? Figes lets himself down slightly with the title - 1891-1924. In truth, this book finishes at the end of the Civil War in 1920/21 and glosses over the post-Civil War famines and economic reforms in too little detail, with little attention paid to the rise of Stalin in the party structure. An extra 100 pages to fatten out these themes would have been appreciated.
 The literary equivalent of Hollywood history August 12, 2003
38 out of 99 found this review helpful
This is sure to appeal to fans of rightist populist histories but it ultimately mistakes anecdote and character studies for an analysis of historical forces. It is, ultimately, an unsubtle and simplistic attack on revolution and Marxism - there is much weakness of understanding here. Weak on the barbarism of 'Imperial Russia', weak on the locatedness of the civil war within a world economic structure, and weak on an awareness of the political philosophies under discussion. The revolution was a democratic revolution, it was of the people and overthrew a despotic regime. That the Bolsheviks lost sight of their own aims was a consequence of forces more complex and failings of wider political contexts than Figes seems willing, or able, to consider.The extra star is for the sheer gall of taking the 'more pages = better' equation to such preposterous lengths.
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