Robert Conquest
Born 15 July 1917 · Died 5 August 2015
From Malvern, England, United Kingdom · Nationality: United States, United Kingdom, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland · Writes fiction and nonfiction
Robert Conquest was born in Malvern, Worcestershire, the son of an American businessman and a Norwegian mother. He was educated at Winchester College, the University of Grenoble, Oxford University, where he was an exhibitioner in modern history and took his bachelor's and master's degrees in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, and his doctorate in Soviet history. In 1937, after a year studying at the University of Grenoble and traveling in Bulgaria, he returned to Oxford and joined the Communist Party. When When World War II began, he became an intelligence officer in the Light Infantry. In 1940, he married Joan Watkins, with whom he had two sons. In 1944, while posted to Bulgaria as a liaison officer to the Bulgarian forces fighting under Soviet command, he met Tatiana Mihailova, who later became his second wife. After the war, he became the press officer at the British embassy in Sofia, Bulgaria, where he witnessed the gradual rise of Soviet communism in the country, and he became disillusioned with communism. He returned to London, helping Tatiana escape at the same time, divorced his first wife and married Tatiana.
He joined a branch of the Foreign Office, then left in 1956 to become a freelance writer and historian. His first books, Power and Politics in the USSR and Soviet Deportation of Nationalities, were published in 1960. In addition to historical works, he also published science fiction.
Quotes
“Truth can thus only percolate in the form of hearsay.”
p. 569 “On political matters basically the best, though not infallible, source is rumour at a high political or police level.”
p. 569
Quotes from Wikiquote (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Books by Robert Conquest in order
Books by Robert Conquest in the order they were published, from New Lines (1956) to The Dragons of Expectation (2004).
- 1New Lines
New Lines1956 - 2Common Sense About Russia
Common Sense About Russia1960 - 3Power and Policy in the U.S.S.RPower and Policy in the U.S.S.R1961
- 4Pasternak AffairPasternak Affair1962
- 5The Last Empire
The Last Empire1962 - 6Marxism TodayMarxism Today1964
- 7Russia After Khrushchev
Russia After Khrushchev1965 - 8Industrial Workers in the U.S.S.R
Industrial Workers in the U.S.S.R1967 - 9Agricultural Workers in the U.S.S.R
Agricultural Workers in the U.S.S.R1968 - 10Justice and the Legal System in the U.S.S.R
Justice and the Legal System in the U.S.S.R1968 - 11The Great Terror
The Great Terror1968 - 12The Soviet Police System
The Soviet Police System1968 - 13The Soviet Political System
The Soviet Political System1968 - 14The Nation KillersThe Nation Killers1970
- 15Where Marx Went Wrong
Where Marx Went Wrong1970 - 16LeninLenin1972
- 17Kolyma
Kolyma1978 - 18Present Danger
Present Danger1979 - 19We & TheyWe & They1980
- 20Inside Stalin's Secret Police
Inside Stalin's Secret Police1985 - 21The Harvest of Sorrow
The Harvest of Sorrow1986 - 22Tyrants and Typewriters
Tyrants and Typewriters1989 - 23Stalin
Stalin1991 - 24The Dragons of Expectation
The Dragons of Expectation2004