A People’s Tragedy

By: Orlando Figes

Narrated by: Roger Davis

Length: 47 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

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

Drawing on vast original research, Figes conveys above all the shocking experience of the revolution for those who lived it, while providing the clearest and most cogent account of how and why it unfolded.

Now including a new introduction that reflects on the revolution’s centennial legacy, A People’s Tragedy is a masterful and definitive record of one of the most important events in modern history.

©2018 Orlando Figes (P)2018 Audible, Ltd

A Great Story

Gripping and well told, this is the story of how Bolshevism came to win out in Russia. The writing and narration are both superb.

Excellent History of Russian Revolution

This is the second Figes book I’ve listened to and it was another excellent one. I didn’t like the narrator so much.

Easily one of the top 100 books in History ... maybe one of the top 100 books in all topics

An absolute necessity for anyone with a moderately serious interest in History ... Important not only for the topic itself and the Bolshevik Revolution deserves more serious studies of this caliber but this books is also important as an example of the method or architecture of the solid and consequential approach in telling the story behind the event. You might not like this event, but you should have this work on your [audio] bookshelf.

The three Russian Revolutions

Orlando Figes has given us an excellent history of The Russian Revolution and, to give the necessary background to explain what happened and why, starts this book by looking at the state of both Russia and the Russian people in the years leading up to the start of the 20th century. The background information is so thorough that it takes up almost 1/3 of the book and is, by itself, almost worth the cost of the book The remainder of the book covers the Menshevik and Bolshevik revolutions, the resulting civil war, The Terror unleashed by the Bolsheviks against first The Bourgeoisie and then against The Peasants and ends with the death of Lenin.

I bought this book because I wanted to know more about why the Russian Revolution happened, how and why the Bolsheviks managed to grab and hold power from the democratic revolution of early 1917 and how and why the Whites lost the resulting civil war, but learned as well how little I actually knew of Russia before the revolution, how poor the peasants were, how little experience Russians had with democratic institutions, how blind the Monarchy and Nobility were in understanding what was happening and how close Lenin and the Bolsheviks came to failing. I started this book understanding very little of what happened and why, and finished knowing a great deal more about the causes of the revolution and why all of the counter-revolutionary movements failed, even though the people were sick of the tyranny of the Bolsheviks.

The book, at 48 hours, is long but never boring. The history and politics of what was happening is clearly explained, the roles of those involved are clear and the failures of many of those involved are clearly related to their unwillingness to see what was happening rather than see what they wanted to see. The book is not kind to the Bolsheviks and it is clear from his speeches and letters that Lenin himself was the main reason that the revolution turned from its democratic beginnings and became the tyranny that caused the deaths of thousands in The Terror and of millions in the great famine, as well as the beginnings of the police state. Prior to reading this book I was familiar with many of the names of those in the Bolshevik movement - Trotsky, Zinoviev, Bukharin, Kamenev and others - but could not have explained precisely what they believed and how their views differed from each other, from Lenin and from Stalin, but all of that is also covered in this book.

Parts of the book are difficult to listen to, particularly those involving the famine and the forcible requisitioning of food and grain from the farmers. Those people become real in the telling rather than just the statistic they used to be for me, and the tragedy, made by the Bolshevik leaders, is painful to read about with only the saving grace of the relief effort made by the United States to feed those who were starving and provide grain for future harvests. In addition the wide-spread torture used by both the Reds and Whites as well as the pogroms against the Jews are covered and are painful to listen to.

The narration is excellent, the material is well organized and makes a history of what happened and why it happened easy to understand. The book also explains how Stalin gathered his power and became head of the Soviet government after the death of Lenin in spite of Lenin’s attempt to prevent his rise to power,

Highly recommended for anyone interested in this period of history.

Excellent

A thorough and well written narrative of the Russian revolution. Brilliantly captures the experiences and suffering of the those who lived through it and highlights well its tragic outcomes.

excellent and not dry

this is a difficult subject to write about. the probability that the story will be dry and difficult to listen to is huge, but this book overcomes that.

One of the best books I’ve read

As usual, Figes does it again. You’ll not find another account of the revolution so well done. Most importantly, it is neither poisoned by a tone of right leaning dismissiveness/fatalism of the revolution or left leaning revisionism and fetishization of the bolsheviks. It’s an honest social history, with plenty of criticism for both the whites and the reds. You won’t find a better, more fair account of the revolution on Amazon. If you’re going to screech in the reviews because he didn’t confirm all your political biases one way or they other, it’s not the book for you. If you however, seek understanding, buy the book.

Masterpiece

Should be required reading for anyone who has any doubts about the virtues (or lack there of as the case may be) of socialism and communism. The brutishness of the system and the brutality of its application, all in the name of “the people” are described in great clarity by Figes.

I’m reminded by the quote by HL Mencken, “The urge to save humanity is almost always a false front for the urge to rule it.” We would do well to remember that today.

Long but worthwhile for the interested

Exceptionally thorough coverage of the Russian Revolution. Chapter 51 was particularly haunting. Very little of Stalin in this but covers right up to the death of Lenin plus a little after.

Dense, detailed history of the Russian Revolution

This book was well researched and packed with details. Personally, I found the book tough to follow and often dry at times because I knew little about the Russian Revolution prior to reading this book. Consequently, I lacked context and background that would have helped me to better understand and appreciate the book. The narrative did seem to focus on some minor characters that distracted from and confused the overall historical narrative. For someone that was hoping to get a broader, big picture overview of the Russian Revolution I felt mired, bogged down, and confused by all the details in this book. I expect that this book would be appreciated by scholars of Russian History but it is a tough read for someone like me looking for more of an introductory, big picture understanding of the Russian Revolution.