Orlando Figes is one of the greatest historians of today whose works have been recognized and applauded
. His works on Russian history is remarkable and gives a closer look at the events.Orlando Figes was born in the year 1959 to Eva Figes who is a feminist writer. He did his schooling in North London from the year 1971 to 1978 at William Ellis School. After the schools he joined Gonville and Caius College at Cambridge and graduated in history with rare double-starred First in the year 1982. He completed his PhD from Trinity College in History and worked there as Fellow from 1984-99. From 1987 to 1999 he worked as a lecturer at the University of Cambridge and later joined as Chair of History at Birkbeck College at the London University.
Orlando Figes has a sister named Kate Figes who is also a writer and editor. He is married to Stephanie Palmer who is a human rights lawyer and at the same time works as a senior lecturer of Law at Cambridge University and is also a barrister at Londons Blackstone Chambers. They are proud parents of two daughters Alice and Lydia. He stays at Cambridge, Umbria in Italy and London. He is known for his writing on Russian history and all his books are based on it. His book A Peoples Tragedy speaks about the Russian revolution and includes the political and social history and also goes into the narratives and the personal stories of not only the public figures like Prince Georgy Lvov, Writer Maxim Gorky and general Alexei Brusilov but also some unknown farmers and workers.
His other books Peasant Russia and Civil War are a detail study of the peasants and their life in the Volga region during the Russian revolution and the Civil War. His other Book which fetched him recognition was Natashas Dance in which he describes the cultural history of Russia. The Name of the book has been taken from one of the characters in Leo Tolstoys book War and Peace. The book has been nominated for Samuel Johnson prize, for which Figes other book The Whisperers was also nominated making Figes the only writer to be nominated twice for this award. The other books written by Figes are Crimea: The Last Crusade which is based on Crimean war and the latest is the Just Send Me Word published in 2012.