A Professor of History at the University of London’s Birkbeck College, Orlando Figes made headlines for reviews he wrote of other scholars’ books on Amazon. After identifying himself as the author, Orlando Figes experienced a series of overblown legal proceedings, despite the fact that his reviews, both positive and negative, have been described as entirely normal for Internet discourse. For the first time following the affair, Orlando Figes sat down for an in-depth interview with the Sunday Times in October 2010. Although he wrote informed reviews entirely in conformity with Amazon’s publication standards, Orlando Figes told the Sunday Times: “The truth of the matter is I just didn’t put too much thought by it”. Orlando Figes considers one of his mistakes not posting under his real name, which later piqued the authors he had criticized. Orlando Figes explains that the appeal of the anonymous review process was that he could share his true feelings about other works in a forum where he “didn’t think anyone would pay any attention to them”. People did pay attention to Orlando Figes’ comments, however, due to the nature of academia. Remarks that in another context would have been considered fairly tame were taken as grave insults—a prime example of Sayre’s Law, according to the author of the Sunday Times piece. By the time the media storm had blown over, Orlando Figes and the other scholars involved had incurred significant legal expenses. As the author of the reviews, Orlando Figes was obliged to offer restitution. Following these events, Orlando Figes has re-evaluated how he wants to spend the rest of his professional life. To begin with, Orlando Figes has vowed not to use the Internet, except to check e-mail. His family is helping him keep this commitment. Celebrated for his contributions to Russian history, Orlando Figes intends to continue researching and writing, although he does not think he will continue to write the type of lengthy history books that have characterized his past work. An expert in the oral history of the Soviet Union, some of Orlando Figes’ books have been translated into more than 20 languages and are best sellers.