Author:Orlando Figes
From the award-winning author of The Whisperers, Orlando Figes Natasha's Dance: A Cultural History of Russia is a dazzling history of Russia's mighty culture.
Orlando Figes' enthralling, richly evocative history has been heralded as a literary masterpiece on Russia, the lives of those who have shaped its culture, and the enduring spirit of a people.
'Wonderfully rich ... magnificent and compelling ... a delight to read' Antony Beevor
'A tour de force by the great storyteller of modern Russian historians ... Figes mobilizes a cast of serf harems, dynasties, politburos, libertines, filmmakers, novelists, composers, poets, tsars and tyrants ... superb, flamboyant and masterful' Simon Sebag-Montefiore, Financial Times
'Awe-inspiring ... Natasha's Dance has all the qualities of an epic tragedy' Mail on Sunday
'It is so much fun to read that I hesitate to write too much, for fear of spoiling the pleasures and surprises of the book' Sunday Telegraph
'Magnificent ... Figes is at his exciting best' Guardian
'Breathtaking ... The title of this masterly history comes from War and Peace, when the aristocratic heroine, Natasha Rostova, finds herself intuitively picking up the rhythm of a peasant dance ... One of those books that, at times, makes you wonder how you have so far managed to do without it' Independent on Sunday
'Thrilling, dizzying ... I would defy any reader not to be captivated' Literary Review
Orlando Figes is Professor of History at Birkbeck College, University of London. He is the author of Peasant Russia, Civil War, A People's Tragedy, Natasha's Dance, The Whisperers and Just Send Me Word. His books have been translated into over twenty languages.
excellent... Tillyard offers insightful and balanced analysis of this ambivalent figure
—— Jane Darcy , Times Literary SupplementThey say that if you remember the 1960s you weren't really there. But if you really weren't, then the next best thing is to read this fascinating book. With the meticulous attention worthy of a Vidal Sassoon haircut, Virginia Nicholson has shaped her dazzling kaleidoscope of facts, feelings and observations, into a razor-sharp account of the women who lived through that tumultuous decade
—— Juliet NicolsonEssential reading for all those who lived through it, and for those who came after
—— Marina Lewycka, author of A Short History of Tractors in UkrainianIntimate, immersive, often moving, How Was It For You? subtly but powerfully subverts complacent male assumptions about a legendary decade
—— David KynastonHow Was It For You? brings it all back. As always Virginia Nicholson's book is full of fascinating history and fascinating new material. It makes it feel like the Sixties have never been away, which they never have been, as far as I'm concerned. Wonderful
—— Hunter DaviesA hugely ambitious, kaleidoscope of a book, written in a sympathetic but also hard-headed tone that captures squalor and tragedy as well as glamour
—— Richard Vinen, author of The Long '68Virginia Nicholson's social history of the lives of women during the 1960s is an absorbing study of an extraordinary age. Beautifully written and intensively researched, it covers a wide range of characters and many levels of society, uncovering with remarkable perspicacity a world of rebellion and change. I am sure How Was It for You? will remain a vital study for many years to come
—— Selina HastingsWritten with verve, wit and empathy, this account of the 1960s skilfully interweaves the lives of individual women with broader social and cultural changes. Virginia Nicholson nudges the reader to reconsider the well- beaten tracks and to reflect upon out-of-the-way experiences. Best of all How Was It For You? neither idealises nor excoriates the bouncy, controversial decade
—— Sheila RowbothamEvery baby boomer should read this great and wonderfully revelatory book if only to shout, 'Ah yes, that's exactly what it was like for me!'
—— Anne Sebba, author of Les ParisiennesFor those of us who missed the 60's, Virginia Nicholson catapults this era to roaring, authentic life. Rich with intimate voices and a keen edged analysis of the public perceptions at work, this book brilliantly evokes the struggle between the urgent change and the heavily freighted forces of tradition that defined this singularly compelling decade. Read it. It is unputdownable
—— Priya ParmarA tremendous achievement... a triumph of research and organisation - but also of sympathy
—— Observer on Millions Like UsAn important and humane book of female social history
—— The Times on Perfect Wives in Ideal HomesA ground-breaking book, richly nuanced with titbits of information, insight and understanding
—— Daily Mail on Singled OutVirginia Nicholson is the outstanding recorder of British lives in the twentieth century. She has told us how it was for British women - and therefore of course for men and children - in the twentieth century. The formidable research and sympathetic understanding of so many different lives make this account of the 1960s - that swinging, sexy, revolutionary decade - the most vivid and moving of all her works. A fascinating decade, a fascinating book
—— Carmen Callil, author of Bad FaithI loved this. Yes, the 1960s were good fun, sometimes. But Virginia Nicholson forensically unpicks what "promiscuity" really meant for flower-chicks, fearful of seeming un-cool. They were perpetuating a society as patriarchal and phallocentric as ever - even in the counter-culture. I was there, and she's right. Amazingly right about so many things. Roll on the 1970s when things did change - but that's for another of her excellent books
—— Valerie Grove, author of Laurie LeeSparklingly readable . . . Having read Nicholson's magisterial and sensuous overview of the decade, I feel I'm floating above the Sixties (a bit like Lucy in the Sky) and looking down on them with a new understanding
—— Ysenda Maxtone Graham , The TimesThe stories are terrific
—— Rosie Boycott , Financial TimesThis vivid comprehensive study brought so many memories flooding back to me! It's a treat for those of us who were around in the sixties, and delightfully instructive for those who weren't
—— Dame Jacqueline WilsonSparkling . . . there is a wonderfully diverse range of voices . . . we have a long way to go, but reading this book made me grateful for how far we have come
—— Daisy Goodwin , The Sunday TimesClever . . . absorbing
—— Bell Mooney , Daily Mail