Exploring the inner life of a russia where everyone was afraid to talk and society spoke in whispers, whether to protect friends and family or to betray them orlando figes tells the story of how russians tried. Those who were its victims were frequently quite blameless. The mother to give her child to the soviet state that is our task. The whisperers by orlando figes from the awardwinning author of a peoples tragedy and natashas dance, a landmark account of what private life was like for russians in the worst years of soviet repression there have been many accounts of the public aspects of stalins dictatorship. Private life in stalins russia, by orlando figes due to which linked it with my memoir family matters and more. Cohenmay 23, 2012 many western observers believe that vladimir putins authoritarian regime has in effect banned a russian edition of a widely acclaimed 2007 book by the british historian orlando figes, the whisperers. Drawing on a huge range of sources letters, memoirs, conversations orlando figes tells the story of how russians tried to endure life under stalin.
In partnership with the memorial society, a human rights nonprofit, figes gathered several hundred private family archives from homes across russia and carried out more than a thousand interviews with survivors as well as perpetrators of the stalinist repressions. The whisperers by orlando figes josef stalin is commonly credited with the aphorism, a single death is a tragedy. Figes and his team have unearthed diaries and accounts from archives and interviewed hundreds of survivors. In this powerful work of history, orlando figes chronicles. Those who shaped the political system became, very frequently, its victims. Iscriviti a prime tutte le categorie vai ricerca ciao, accedi account e liste accedi account e liste ordini iscriviti a. He is the author of peasant russia, civil war, a peoples tragedy. Book summary moving from the revolution of 1917 to the death of stalin and beyond, orlando figes recreates the moral maze in which russians found themselves, where one wrong turn could destroy a family or, perversely, end up saving it. Alexander cockburn, the sunday times uk this book is the result of a largescale research project and its importance cannot be overestimated. Private life in stalins russia, 2007, isbn 00805074619, p. The whisperers begins in the period of the 1917 bolshevik revolution and the costly civil war that followed. The whisperers by orlando figes penguin books new zealand.
His large team of researchers sought out the basic material as collected in archived memoirs of the period and in interviews with old people. The soviet union in the cold war from stalin to gorbachev, which is a brilliant summary of that period. Figes has gone to tremendous lengths in this book to obtain first hand accounts of the great terror, the state security services such as the nkvd and cheka. This letter, dated april 6, 2011, draws attention to numerous errors and misrepresentations in just a few sample fragments of the whisperers not the entire book, as figes would have nation. The whisperers a new york times notable book of 2007a tremendous achievement. Their books did indeed reflect the experience of people like. Stories of my life in soviet russia, by sol tetelbaum that was published recently. Orlando figes the whisperers provides a shocking insight into life in the old soviet union as ordinary people lived it day in and day out. His book the whisperers followed the approach of oral history. Orlando figess heartbreaking the whisperers explores the suppression of the family in the ussr, says geraldine bedell geraldine bedell sun. The approach figes takes is unusual with historical accounts. A new york times notable book of 2007 a tremendous achievement.
In this powerful work of history, orlando figes chronicles the private history of family life during the violent and repressive reign of josef stalin. The sunday times londonthe whisperers is a triumphant act of recovery. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading the whisperers. Orlando figes is the author of a peoples tragedy, natashas dance, and the crimean war, among other books. Whether youve loved the book or not, if you give your honest and detailed thoughts then people will find new books that are right for them. It brings right home to the reader, the real risks and fear under which soviet citizens were crushed into submission by a corrupt, crass, ineffective, bullying, dim political elite. A professor of history at birkbeck, university of london and a frequent contrib. Private life on the stalins conveyor of deaths some thoughts about orlando figes book by sol tetelbaum fremont, ca usa i learned about the book the whisperers. As figes, a leading historian of the soviet period, concludes in the whisperers, his extraordinary book about the impact of the gulag on the inner world of ordinary citizens, a great. As a followup i read orlando figes s the whisperers, which while not as scholarly as kotkin is compulsively readable and gives an unmatched portrait of soviet life for mostly ordinary people, and vladislav zuboks a failed empire. It is figes s achievement to have given, in the whisperers, a sense of the diversity and unpredictability attendant even on one of the darkest phases of 20thcentury history. A new york times notable book of 2007a tremendous achievement.
Drawing on a vast collection of interviews and archives, the whisperers recreates the anguish of family. The sunday times london the whisperers is a triumphant act of recovery. Vladimir ilich lenin died in 1924, with stalin emerging as the new leader by 1928. Orlando figess heartbreaking the whisperers explores the suppression of the family in the ussr, says geraldine bedell.
Orlando figes book the whisperers is one of the most powerful books i have read in a very long time. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. The whisperers recreates the sort of maze in which russians found themselves, where an unwitting wrong turn. Private life in stalins russia first edition by figes, orlando isbn. In down to earth terms, the author details how the socialist establishment subverted family life with the goal of producing a compliant populace. Private life in stalins russia by orlando figes drawing on a huge range of sources letters, memoirs, conversations orlando figes tells the story of how russians tried to endure life under stalin, brilliantly conveying the reality of their terrible choices. From the awardwinning author of a peoples tragedy and natashas d. The propaganda image of the ideal child was a precocious political orator mouthing agitprop.
If you are the publisher or author of this book and feel that the. The project was led by orlando figes with support from the arts and humanities research council and the leverhulme trust. Private life in stalins russia is the telling of the absolute disregard and wholesale destruction of life in stalinist russia. Other readers will always be interested in your opinion of the books youve read. His works have been translated into twentyseven languages. This is not a typical historical book that laconically cites events in chronological order attempting to focus on several exciting episodes. Given the lives lost during his rule, the attribution is fitting regardless of whether the attribution is correct.
Orlando figes the whisperers is a groundbreaking account of daily life in the chaotic and paranoid atmosphere of stalinist russia. The author examines history from the point of view of the people who lived in those times, relying mostly on oral history to retell the past. Orlando figes is professor of history at birkbeck college, university of london. The socalled new society that resulted was notable for the lack of affection parents showed childrenwhich, as figes notes, was the habit of the old aristocracy, now spread into the larger citizenry. 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. Private lives in stalins russia, by orlando figes a new history of stalinist russia tells the hidden stories of everyday betrayal and loss. The underlying premise of the book is that all the written and printed, primary source material from the stalin era is so unreliable that the only way and best way of understanding it is by interviewing people who experienced it. The whisperers by orlando figes books the guardian.
Figes, the preeminent russian historian in the english language, has made it his lifes work to preserve and understand the nightmarish soviet centurythe whisperers is the remarkable, deeply moving resultcrammed full of humanity, like a dostoevsky novel brought to life. The underlying premise of the book is that all the written. This book should be made compulsory reading in russia today. The whisperers, figes s followup, is an altogether more sombre and claustro phobic volume, structured as it is around lives constrained by oppression and reduced to hushed forms of communication. Orlando figes fails to make the most of a rich vein of material in his survey of private life in the ussr, the whisperers, says robert service. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.
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