Sasha’s Reviews > A People's Tragedy: The Russian Revolution, 1891-1924 > Status Update

"Guilt was the psychological inspiration of the revolution. Nearly all of these radical intellectuals were acutely conscious of their wealth and privilege."

"Convinced that their own ideas were the key to the future of the world, that the fate of humanity rested on the outcome of their own doctrinal struggles, the Russian Intelligentsia divided up the world into the forces of progress and reaction - friends and enemies of the people's cause, leaving no room for doubters in between.

Here were the origins of the totalitarian worldview."

A spectacular history book so far. Figes writes history so vividly that it's coming alive in my imagination as if it's good fiction.