Orlando Figes, author of A Peoples’ Tragedy: The Russian Revolution 1891-1924 and a number of other highly respected books on modern Russia, came to speak to Harrodian ‘A’ Level Russian History students on Monday 4th June. He first gave students the benefit of what The Observer has called his ‘astonishing knowledge’ of Tsarist Russia by talking for about 20 mins, then took questions on many aspects of the revolution including the role of Lenin, the impact of collectivisation, and the nature of socialism in the USSR.
Professor Figes' visit lasted an hour and was extremely useful and interesting for the students. Thank you to the Eisler family for arranging the visit, and for providing copies of A Peoples’ Tragedy for the school, and another of Orlando’s books on the revolution for every student.