István M. Szijártó: Tapasztalatok, cselekvő egyének, felelősség. Oroszország mikrotörténelmének tanulságai [Experience, agency, responsability. The lessons of Russia’s microhistory] Keszthely: Balaton Akadémia Kiadó, 2011. pp. 97. In Hungarian.

This book seeks to answer the question why microhistory is good history by analyzing a few recent works on Russia’s history. While examining the relationship between various dictatorships and the individual at different times, the problems of defining microhistory take shape. First, the Russian microhistorical yearbook, Kazus is treated, then a detailed discussion of Orlando Figes’s book on everyday life is Stalin’s Russia is given, finally its evaluation is presented with the help of Adam Zamoyski’s book about Napoleon’s fatal march against Moscow in 1812.
It is worth talking about these works in considerable detail. First, because they are most interesting in themselves, then, because it is exactly by the thorough analysis of detail that their microhistorical traits are underscored. A specificity of Russian history places historical agency (a key element already in original Italian microhistory) into a special light. This book does not only discuss which of these works can be called microhistory, and why, but also seeks to argue why could microhistory be regarded a better history than traditional or macro-oriented history.

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