Martin Malia

Martin Edward Malia (March 14, 1924, Springfield, Massachusetts – November 19, 2004, Oakland, California) was a historian specializing in Russian history. He taught at the University of California at Berkeley from 1958 to 1991.

One of his colleagues at Berkeley was another prominent Russian historian, Nicholas V. Riasanovsky. In the official Berkeley obituary, Riasanovsky is quoted as saying of Malia: "[he was an] outstanding and now very popular historian, occupying a leading position in the present international discussion of the collapse of the Soviet Union and what that collapse means historically and for the future. (He also was) a brilliant writer in Russian and European intellectual history."

Malia also wrote a famous essay "To the Stalin Mausoleum" (1990) which he signed as Z. The essay was reprinted in Eastern Europe...Central Europe...Europe which was edited by Stephen R. Graubard. He is the author of the foreword to the English version of The Black Book of Communism.

His book History's Locomotives. Revolution and the making of the Modern World (2006) is a good example of historiographic reflection. In the eighth chapter Malia gives a complete and concise survey of debates about the French Revolution from the 19th century up to our time.

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