I've just started a book called "The Whisperers" by Orlando Figes. Figes is a brilliant writer and a good historian. Those two do not always go hand in hand, sadly, so it is always a pleasure to read something that is 1) well researched 2)thoroughly analysed and coherently organised and 3) interestingly written.
From a historiograhpical point of view, it is a microhistory but then over a relatively long period of time (30 years) and collected from a very large amount of sources. So perhaps a "microhistoire totale", a history of the ordinary people on a large scale.
The topic itself is of course also very intriguing and very little researched in Western history-writing. There is plenty of work already completed on the topic of the life and mentality of ordinary people under a long-lasting totalitarian regime, but most of that has been done in the ex-soviet states. There are two issues with that: 1)Language 2)credibility/point of reference. These researches usually only consider the rather small scope of specific (nationality) groups and usually concentrate on a shorter period of time.
I'll write something longer once I've read it. Just thought to share some initial thoughts based on the first few chapters...
I'll write something longer once I've read it. Just thought to share some initial thoughts based on the first few chapters...
