Alfred J. Rieber (born 1931) is an American historian specializing in
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
n and
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
history.
Biography
He graduated ''
magna cum laude
Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some So ...
'' from
Colgate University
Colgate University is a private liberal arts college in Hamilton, New York. The college was founded in 1819 as the Baptist Education Society of the State of New York and operated under that name until 1823, when it was renamed Hamilton Theologi ...
, where he was a member of
Phi Beta Kappa
The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...
. He obtained his MA (1954) and PhD (1959) from the Russian Institute at
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
. He wrote his doctoral thesis on
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...
and the
French Communist Party
The French Communist Party (french: Parti communiste français, ''PCF'' ; ) is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its MEPs sit in the European Unit ...
in the 1940s.
He has taught at numerous prestigious institutions, including
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world.
Charte ...
, the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
, the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
,
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
, and the
Central European University
Central European University (CEU) is a private research university accredited in Austria, Hungary, and the United States, with campuses in Vienna and Budapest. The university is known for its highly intensive programs in the social sciences and ...
in
Budapest, Hungary
Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population of ...
. He taught at the University of Pennsylvania for 30 years and was chair of the history department for ten years. He also taught for more than two decades at the Central European University (CEU), again chairing the history department for four years. He won several teaching awards throughout his career for excellence in teaching.
As a historian, he has published widely in the field of Russian and Soviet history. Among his notable books are ''Struggle for the Eurasian Borderlands: From the Rise of Early Modern Empires to the End of the First World War'' (Cambridge, 2014) which won the Bentley Prize of the
World History Association
The World History Association (WHA) is an academic association that promotes the study of world history through the encouragement of research, teaching, and publication. It was founded in 1982.
The WHA provides many opportunities for connecting w ...
and its sequel ''Stalin's Struggle for Supremacy in Eurasia'' (Cambridge, 2016) which was shortlisted for the
Pushkin Book Prize The Pushkin House Book Prize is an annual book prize, awarded to the best non-fiction writing on Russia in the English language. The prize was inaugurated in 2013. The prize amount as of 2020 has been £10,000. The advisory board for the prize is ma ...
.
Rieber has also written three historical
detective novels
Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as specu ...
: ''To Kill a Tsar'' (2010); ''The Kiev Killings'' (2013); and ''Siberian Secrets'' (2014), all published by the New Academia Press.
Bio
/ref>
Bibliography
* Rieber, A. J. (1962). ''Stalin and the French Communist Party 1941—1947.'' New York: Columbia University Press.
* Rieber, A. J., & Nelson, R. C. (1966). ''A Study of the U.S.S.R. and Communism: An Historical Approach by Alfred J. Rieber and Robert C. Nelson.'' Chicago: Scott, Foresman.
* Rieber, A. J., & Nelson, R. C. (1964). ''The USSR and Communism: Source Readings and Interpretations.'' Chicago: Scott, Foresman.
* Bari︠a︡tinskiĭ, A. I., & Rieber, A. J. (1966). ''The Politics of Autocracy: Letters of Alexander II to Prince A.I. Bariatinskii, 1857-1864.'' Paris: Mouton.
* Rieber, A. J. (1983). ''Social Foundations of the Russian Bureaucracy in the Twentieth Century: Final report to National Council for Soviet and East European Research.'' Washington, D.C: National Council for Soviet and East European Research.
* Rieber, A. J. (1987). ''The Cold War as Civil War.'' Washington, D.C: National Council for Soviet and East European Research.
* Presni︠a︡kov, A. E., Moorhouse, A. E., & Rieber, A. J. (1993). ''The Formation of the Great Russian State: A Study of Russian History in the Thirteenth to Fifteenth Centuries.'' Gulf Breeze, FL: Academic International Press.
* Rieber, A. J. (1995). ''Zhdanov in Finland.'' Pittsburgh, PA: Center for Russian and East European Studies, University of Pittsburgh.
* Rieber, A.J. (2001)
From Reform to Empire: Russia's “New” Political History
''Kritika: Explorations in Russian and Eurasian History''. ''2''(2), pp. 261–268.
* Rieber, A.J. (2003)
Civil Wars in the Soviet Union
''Kritika: Explorations in Russian and Eurasian History''. ''4''(1), pp. 129–162.
* Rieber, A. J. (2003)
Changing Concepts and Constructions of Frontiers: A Comparative Historical Approach
''Ab Imperio''. (1), pp. 23–46.
* Rieber, A. J., & Siefert, M. (2003). ''Extending the Borders of Russian History: Essays in Honor of Alfred J. Rieber.'' Budapest: Central European University Press.
* Rieber, A.J. (2006)
The Problem of Social Cohesion
''Kritika: Explorations in Russian and Eurasian History'' ''7''(3), pp. 599–608.
* Rieber, A. J. (2010). ''Merchants and Entrepreneurs in Imperial Russia.'' Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.
* Rieber, A. J. (2013). ''Forced Migration in Central and Eastern Europe, 1939-1950.'' Hoboken: Taylor and Francis.
* Rieber, A. J. (2013). ''Salami Tactics Revisited: The Hungarian Communists on the Road to Power.'' Trondheim: NTNU.
* Rieber, A. J. (2014)
A Tale of Three Genres: History, Fiction, and the Historical Detektiv
''Kritika: Explorations in Russian and Eurasian History''. ''15''(2), pp. 353–363.
* Rieber, A. J. (2014). ''The Struggle for the Eurasian Borderlands: From the Rise of Early Modern Empires to the End of the First World War.'' Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
* Rieber, A.J. (2015)
Struggle over the Borderlands
''Kritika: Explorations in Russian and Eurasian History''. ''16''(4), pp. 951–959.
* Rieber, A. J. (2015). ''Stalin and the Struggle for Supremacy in Eurasia.'' Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
* Rieber, A. J., & Rubinstein, A. Z. (2016). ''Perestroika at the Crossroads.'' London: Routledge.
* Rieber, A., & Kotsonis, Y. (2018). ''The Imperial Russian Project: Autocratic Politics, Economic Development, and Social Fragmentation.'' Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
* Rieber, A. J. (2022). ''Stalin as Warlord.'' New Haven and London: Yale University Press.
Articles about Alfred Rieber
* Wortman, Richard. (2020)
Myriad Designs and Legacies of Regret: Alfred J. Rieber's Early Articles
''Kritika: Explorations in Russian and Eurasian History'', ''21''(1), pp. 127–158.
References
External links
An Interview with Alfred J. Rieber
(2009). ''Kritika: Explorations in Russian and Eurasian History'', ''10''(2), pp. 227–237
Faculty Page, Central European University.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rieber, Alfred
1931 births
Living people
21st-century American historians
21st-century American male writers
Colgate University alumni
Columbia University alumni
University of Pennsylvania faculty
University of Pennsylvania historian
Historians from New York (state)
American male non-fiction writers