The BBC reports:
A leading Russian historian has admitted writing anonymous online reviews condemning his rivals’ work.
Orlando Figes, a professor at Birkbeck College in London, wrote the negative reviews on the Amazon website.
His admission follows a row between top UK historians over the string of reviews that praised Figes while criticising other authors.
In a statement, Figes – who is now on sick leave – “apologised wholeheartedly” to all concerned.
Robert Service, a respected historian of the Soviet Union and the subject of one of Figes’ anonymous reviews, wrote in the Guardian newspaper that the “secretive rubbishing of my work… [was] disgraceful.”
Well, no newspaper or magazine will print anonymous letters or comments from the readers, and if sometimes they do it, the editors know the real identity of those writers.
It’s amazing that in the online culture, mega websites like Amazon could accept this kind of practices.
Critics with no real face are just cowards.
Tags: Amazon, BBC, Orlando Figes