The Whisperers

Listener Reviews

1. 5.0(1)

   Man’s Inhumanity to Man

   If this book were required reading in the ideologically compromised schools of the western world, the luxury dalliance with Marx would vanish in a generation. Figes takes you by the hand and leads you through a relentless, deeply depressing, and challenging stream of human tragedy caused by Soviet Utopianism. But he does so personally by person, which makes it all the more tragic. The book itself is a challenge to one’s endurance. The horrors spill forth with a relentless, implacable steadiness. Each story represents thousands of others just like it yet unique. Hell on earth, revealed through actual letters, remembrances, and deep archival research. As it turns out, attempting to transform mankind, with all its natural faults, into more perfect beings requires infinite levels of coercion, brutality, and oppression. Millions of broken eggs, to borrow from Stalin; but no omelettes. Not one. Just millions of anguished and long strangled cries, which Figes gives voice to in these very difficult pages. Read it if you want to develop infinite gratitude for real freedom and humanity, but sadly most can’t handle the truth. Not for the faint of heart or the snowflake; but required for those who value human dignity and understand what it takes to oppose those who would crush it.

   Fatima Mcghee · April 26, 2025

2. 5.0(1)

   the personal story's of a time of fear

   Stalin is rumored to have said when one person diedies it is a tragedy, when a million die it is a statistic. This is a story of individuals. Their stories in a horrific time. This personalized the statistics. It was painful yet illumating. This helped me understand why the current attitude in Russia is the way it is. Highly recommend.

   wesley kronberger · November 10, 2024

3. 5.0(1)

   Mostly excellent pronunciation of Russian names and phrases

   A little repetitive at times, but the author follows characters through the historical process, showing how things turned out in the end. I understand that the Soviets - both individuals and state - would not comment on their cruel treatment of German women at the war’s end, but some sort of authorial reference might have helped put the “official” story in context.

   Rycosso · September 25, 2024

4. 5.0(1)

   Very Personal History, Well Read

   I loved the book and listened through it quickly. It covers a relatively narrow, but extremely interesting, fascinating and often incredible, period of Russian history y great depth, offering an abundance of individual “small” stories to illustrate how people pretty much like you and me lived through that time during which the soviet utopia became ever more dystopic. Very well read, with only the right amounts of inflection to let the strong emotion the text suggests, come through nicely.

   Leanne Burton · August 8, 2023

5. 4.0(1)

   Well worth the time invested

   It’s not an easy topic and not always easy to follow the story. At the beginning it feels disjointed and lacking in purpose but very quickly Figes paints small brush strokes into a beautiful evolving artwork. Individual stories become a history lesson and pull together to form a plot. This is a masterful telling of Stalinist Russia and the years after.

   Richard P. · June 12, 2023

6. 5.0(1)

   Required Reading

   I have listened to SO many books on the broad topic of Soviet Russia. Despite this, this is the first type of book I have listened to of its kind. the only other book series thus far that is somewhat similar is the Gulag Archipelago series. However, the difference primarily lies in that it follows a limited number of families and what happened to the individual members of those families as a result of living under one of the most readily identifiable totalitarian systems in the past 100 years. It does an outstanding job of bridging the gap between macro third person and micro third person. This book would be enjoyed by anyone interested in the result of philosophy, propaganda, historic examples of the danger of religious faith/scientific faith in human logic, the danger of group think, lovers of Russian history, people of religious faith desiring examples of the consequences of faith in everything but a supernatural, and those fascinated by communism from a position of hate yet high intrigue.

   Ariana Ritter · April 22, 2021

7. 5.0(1)

   Fascinating, personal, thorough

   This is the best book I've read about the effects of Stalin's personality cult on the people in Russia. Most histories focus on top officials or government policies or the military, but The Whisperers is all about ordinary citizens. Orlando Figes used first-hand accounts from people in every part of the USSR in every walk of life. He follows the lives of several families all the way from the October Revolution to the break-up of the Soviet Union, tracking the effects of systemic fear and repression through multiple generations. John Telfer did a great job reading. His voice was very clear and precise, distinguishing easily between quotations and exposition. I would gladly listen to anything read by him again!

   Rose Pierce · September 5, 2020

8. 4.0(1)

   In-depth

   I have listened to several books on the subject of the Stalin regime/the Gulag, and this book elaborates on the subject in its own unique way. Highly recommend it for anyone interested in learning more of the Soviet regime.

   ChangeMachine · August 2, 2020