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Although the first book of Orlando Figes was critically acclaimed, it did not receive any awards. Figes, however, was able to reap numerous awards when he published his subsequent books. The second book, A People’s Tragedy, was named the winner of the Wolfson History Prize as well as the NCR Book Award. It was also named the recipient of the year for the W.H. Smith Literary Award. Natasha’s Dance, another book of Figes, was also recommended by many of its readers and was even nominated for one of the most prestigious prizes in literature. In any case, the book gave readers a mesmerizing glimpse of how folk and European elements of the counry’s culture often clashed with each other. Figes also took time out to explain how Russians saw their “soul” and gave examples of how “Russianness” can best be characterized. It may seem like that Orlando Figes only had time to research his non-fiction or historical works, but in truth Figes was also a prolific contributor to the New York Review. His many essays touched on different subjects regarding Russian culture and Literature. Moreover, Figes also dabbled with filmmaking and as a result, he was hired to write and present a BBC film that talked about the invention of color photography. The Whisperers, which was published in 2007, is one of the most amazing reads produced by Figes. Research for the book mainly consisted of interviews of over 400 persons. Majority of the people he interviewed had been part of Memorial, a human rights organization, while some had been selected randomly for their experiences and memories of the Stalin-ruled years of Russia. Research for The Whisperers took four years to complete and would not have been possible if not for the funding provided by the Leverhulme trust and Art and Humanities Research Council. Orlando Figes’ work became even more astonishing when the author chose to focus on something internal, particularly how repression affected one’s internal life. The author also delved into the amount of influence the Soviet empire exercised as well as how their campaigns of Terror affected relationships between families. The book also touched on the psychological effects of the Terror campaigns, and Figes showed how it is possible for a person’s feelings, thoughts, and moral choices can change because of a simple bird. As with his previous book, Orlando Figes received nominations for the Ondaatje Prize, the Samuel Johnson Prize and France’s own Medici’s Prize. With his readers and colleagues fully expecting him to write only about Russian history, everyone was thus surprised when they found out the topic of Figes’ next book. Entitled Crimea: The Last Crusade, Figes talked about how the world’s superpowers came to be.
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