Orlando Figes is the author of A People's Tragedy, Natasha's Dance, and The Crimean War, among other books. His works have been translated into twenty-seven languages. A professor of history at Birkbeck, University of London and a frequent contributor to The New York Review of Books, Figes is the recipient of the Wolfson History Prize, the W. H. Smith Literary Award, and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. He lives in London.