La Revolución Rusa

A MAGISTERIAL ESSAY ON THE MOST DECISIVE POLITICAL EVENT OF THE 20TH CENTURY, BY THE AUTHOR OF THE EUROPEANS.

Orlando Figes marks a milestone in historiography with this essay on the most decisive political event of the 20th century: the seizure of power by Bolshevism in Russia. Without indoctrination or manipulation, the author brings before us the terrifying panorama presented by Lenin's Russia, portraying the father of Bolshevism as the political and organizational genius he was, but without forgetting his absolute lack of political scruples, derived from his interpretation of Marxism. His obsessive and sectarian personality proves decisive in understanding what happened in Russia from April 1917, when he returned there thanks to the permission granted by the German general staff. Figes shows us a Lenin whose obstinacy bordered on hysteria every time a moment of political crisis brought up the question of power, the only thing that, in reality, mattered to him.

Subtly intertwining the public and private spheres, Figes aligns himself with historiographical currents that, beyond the trajectories of leaders or general structures, emphasize the lives of ordinary people. Thus, he brings to light a shocking social reality, the result of a historical process that radically altered the trajectory of a people. Using the press, personal diaries, and correspondence of those people who until now have remained in the shadows, Figes passionately recounts the great milestones of the Revolution, while also giving us a moving image of everyday life.

Critics have said:
«This book has done more to help us understand the Russian Revolution than any other book I know.»
Eric Hobsbawm

«One of the most ambitious works on this key era of the 20th century.»
El País

«Orlando Figes has written a great history book. There are topics [...] in which the level reached by historiography [...] makes it very difficult to mark a milestone. Figes has achieved it in the case of the most decisive political event of the 20th century: the seizure of power by Bolshevism in Russia.»
Revista de Libros

«Figes's work is particularly interesting because it is solidly based on Russian sources themselves, and since some of these come from private individuals, it allows us to delve into the psychology of the millions of protagonists and victims of the most relevant revolution of the 20th century.»
César Vidal, Libertad Digital

«The most moving account of the Russian Revolution since Doctor Zhivago.»
The Independent

«I doubt there is anyone in the world who knows the Revolution as well as Figes does. [...] It combines dramatic power, absorbing narrative, and masterful erudition — a magnificent tour de force.»
Sunday Telegraph

«An engaging and well-documented book [...]. It will stand for a long time as a standard of historical scholarship.»
The New York Times Book Review

«Few historians have the courage to tackle big themes; fewer still have the acuity to pull it off [...]. A People's Tragedy will do more to help us understand the Russian Revolution than any other book I know.»
The London Review of Books

«This book is not just history; it is a historical event.»
The Independent on Sunday