
A People’s Tragedy
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Narrated by:
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Roger Davis
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By:
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Orlando Figes
About this listen
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.
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Helter Skelter
- The True Story of the Manson Murders
- By: Vincent Bugliosi, Curt Gentry
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 26 hrs and 29 mins
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Prosecuting attorney in the Manson trial Vincent Bugliosi held a unique insider's position in one of the most baffling and horrifying cases of the 20th century: the cold-blooded Tate-LaBianca murders carried out by Charles Manson and four of his followers. What motivated Manson in his seemingly mindless selection of victims, and what was his hold over the young women who obeyed his orders? Now available for the first time in unabridged audio, the gripping story of this famous and haunting crime is brought to life by acclaimed narrator Scott Brick.
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Everything I remembered about the case was wrong..
- By karen on 06-22-12
By: Vincent Bugliosi, and others
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Medieval Myths & Mysteries
- By: Dorsey Armstrong, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Dorsey Armstrong
- Length: 5 hrs and 6 mins
- Original Recording
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The 10 enlightening (and often humorous) lectures of Medieval Myths and Mysteries will show you how far from the “dark” times of legend these centuries were. Uncover the facts about the Knights Templar. Reveal the truth behind the tales of legendary creatures like the Questing Beast and the unicorn. Trace the events of the Black Death and the ways it altered the world in its wake, and much more. With Professor Armstrong, you will dig deep into the ways that later generations reshaped the narrative of the medieval years and perpetuated the myths.
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Interesting, but centered on Britain
- By Ximena on 04-10-20
By: Dorsey Armstrong, and others
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The Thin Line
- Hope vs. Reality in the Era of Weight-Loss Drugs
- By: Scaachi Koul
- Narrated by: Scaachi Koul
- Length: 4 hrs and 31 mins
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Over the next five years, millions of more Americans are expected to take Ozempic and other GLP-1 weight-loss drugs, which are rapidly being recognized as the miracle drugs of this century. If you’re not on them, you’ll probably know someone who is. What are the implications of the widespread use of these drugs, both on our bodies and our society? In this show, you’ll meet people across America who are either taking the jab or thinking about it, and the shocking intentional and unintentional results they are seeing.
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More balanced than expected and very comprehensive
- By Summer Rodriguez on 01-03-25
By: Scaachi Koul
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I Thought It Was Just Me (but it isn’t)
- Telling the Truth about Perfectionism, Inadequacy, and Power
- By: Brené Brown
- Narrated by: Lauren Fortgang
- Length: 10 hrs and 44 mins
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Based on seven years of ground-breaking research and hundreds of interviews, I Thought It Was Just Me shines a long-overdue light on an important truth: Our imperfections are what connect us to each other and to our humanity. Our vulnerabilities are not weaknesses; they are powerful reminders to keep our hearts and minds open to the reality that we're all in this together.
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I'm sure its great if you are a mother ....
- By Leslie A Hill on 08-09-11
By: Brené Brown
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Mythology: Mega Collection
- Classic Stories from the Greek, Celtic, Norse, Japanese, Hindu, Chinese, Mesopotamian and Egyptian Mythology
- By: Scott Lewis
- Narrated by: Madison Niederhauser, Oliver Hunt
- Length: 31 hrs and 37 mins
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Do you know how many wives Zeus had? Or how the famous Trojan War was caused by one beautiful lady? Or how Thor got his hammer? Give your imagination a real treat. This Mega Mythology Collection of eight audiobooks is for you....
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An interesting set of introductions.
- By Kevin Potter on 05-30-19
By: Scott Lewis
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Between 1917 and 1921 a devastating struggle took place in Russia following the collapse of the Tsarist empire. The doomed White alliance of moderate socialists and reactionary monarchists stood little chance against Trotsky’s Red Army and the single-minded Communist dictatorship under Lenin.
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The Russian Revolution of 1917 was one of the most cataclysmic events in world history, profoundly shaping politics, international relations, social patterns, economics and science in the century that followed. It created long-lasting aftershocks which travelled far beyond its geographical borders. How did it happen? What were the sequence of events that led, following the shocking upheaval of the old Romanov order, to a fierce and violent rivalry between a variety of revolutionary factions and the ultimate victory of the Bolsheviks?
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This book reveals the most complete picture ever of the KGB and its operations in the United States and Europe. It is based on an extremely top secret archive which details the full extent of its worldwide network. Christopher Andrew is professor of modern and contemporary history and chair of the history department at Cambridge University, a former visiting professor of national security at Harvard, a frequent guest lecturer at other United States universities, and a regular host of BBC radio and TV programs.
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Lenin
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Drawing on new research, including the diaries, memoirs, and personal letters of both Lenin and his friends, Victor Sebestyen's unique biography - the first in English in nearly two decades - is not only a political examination of one of the most important historical figures of the 20th century but a portrait of Lenin the man. Unexpectedly, Lenin was someone who loved nature, hunting, and fishing and could identify hundreds of species of plants, a despotic ruler whose closest ties and friendships were with women.
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Lenin totally took an extra piece of that cake.
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Beginning with the death of Stalin in 1953, the "sixties" era in the Soviet Union was just as vibrant and transformative as in the West. The ideological romanticism of the revolutionary years was revived, with renewed emphasis on egalitarianism, equality, and the building of a communist utopia. Mass terror was reined in, great victories were won in the space race, Stalinist cultural dogmas were challenged, and young people danced to jazz and rock and roll. Robert Hornsby examines this remarkable and surprising period.
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Comprehensive and Emtertaining
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A Concise History of Russia
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Accessible to students, tourists, and general listeners alike, this book provides a broad overview of Russian history since the ninth century. Paul Bushkovitch emphasizes the enormous changes in the understanding of Russian history resulting from the end of the Soviet Union in 1991. Since then, new material has come to light on the history of the Soviet era, providing new conceptions of Russia's pre-revolutionary past.
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Exhaustive history
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October
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The renowned fantasy and science fiction writer China Mieville has long been inspired by the ideals of the Russian Revolution, and here, on the centenary of the revolution, he provides his own distinctive take on its history. In February 1917, in the midst of bloody war, Russia was still an autocratic monarchy: nine months later it became the first socialist state in world history. How did this unimaginable transformation take place? How was a ravaged and backward country, swept up in a desperately unpopular war, rocked by not one but two revolutions?
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What listeners say about A People’s Tragedy
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- Robert Reitter
- 10-16-19
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.
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5 people found this helpful
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- Elizabeth
- 05-19-23
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.
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- Mike From Mesa
- 05-18-19
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.
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15 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Mark Bruns
- 01-22-19
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.
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13 people found this helpful
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- Bo E
- 08-18-20
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.
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- P. K. Bethune
- 03-04-21
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.
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- Toadocean
- 06-18-19
Perfect
The vast complexities of an entire country and an entire culture are hard to organize and hard to explain. This book has answered so many questions for me. So many questions that I was never able to understand until now. The performance is perfect; and the organization of the book is perfect as well. It’s simply one of the best historical books I’ve ever read.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 11-21-19
Excellent.
Excellent history. Holistic. Beautiful writing. Fantastic narration. Shows the real affect of state terror & the dangers of social engineering on a national scale.
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- Jordan Henderson
- 07-19-21
Seems thorough
I'm no historian and I'm going to have to listen to this several times, I think, but my first listened was eye-opening.
I'd listened to other books on the Period, but this one filled in a lot of blanks. Most don't really talk about the Russian Civil War that followed WWI in such detail. I've always felt that other works short-changed this important event. Not this book.
Remarkably even-handed.
I really couldn't write much without doing damage to the excellent narrative of the book.
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- Michael W.
- 08-12-21
The most comprehensive history of the Russian Revolution by a Western writer.
A sprawling, magisterial history, full of detail and sometimes quite harrowing. If you want to know about the Russian Revolution, its precursors, and its aftermath, read this.
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