person1960–2018

James Billington

Disciplines:

Summary

American historian of Russia who wrote The Icon and the Axe, Fire in the Minds of Men, and Russia in Search of Itself — and who served as Librarian of Congress for 28 years (1987–2015).

Core Contribution

Created the most comprehensive account of how revolutionary ideology developed as a quasi-religious secular faith — and as Librarian of Congress oversaw the digitization of the Library's collections and the expansion of American cultural memory infrastructure.

Notable Works & Achievements

The Icon and the Axe

Fire in the Minds of Men

Russia in Search of Itself

Historical Influences

Russian history European revolutionary tradition

Intellectual Lineage

Princeton and Oxford Harvard Princeton Library of Congress

Contemporaries & Peers

Richard Pipes Martin Malia

Minds Influenced

Russian and revolutionary historiography History 102

Intellectual Posterity

Fire in the Minds of Men The Icon and the Axe Billington as Russia scholar

Discussing