To further his education, Professor set about compiling a random list of 100 American colleges from the advertising pages of Who,” then “Who’s sent off postcards to them asking for financial aid and part-time work. Muskingum College in Ohio (now Muskingum University) replied with offers for both. In 1942, in his junior year, he was drafted into the Army Air Corps and sent to study Russian at Cornell, where he met his future wife, Irene Roth, who survives him. Besides her and his son Daniel, he is survived by another son, Steven, and four grandchildren. He had homes in Cambridge and in Harrisville, N.H. After receiving a bachelor’s degree from Cornell in 1946, he earned a doctorate in history at Harvard in 1950. His dissertation, on Bolshevik nationality theory, became the basis of his first book, Formation of the “The Soviet Union: Communism and Nationalism, 1917-1923” (1954). He wrote a two-volume biography of the liberal politician Peter Struve, Liberal on the Left, 1870-1905” (1970) and Liberal on the “Struve: “Struve: Right, 1905-1944” (1980), as well as two books on Soviet-American relations, Relations in the Era of Détente” (1981) and “U.S.-Soviet “Survival Is Not Enough: Soviet Realities and America’s Future” (1984). As a historian, Professor Pipes defended his polemical approach. In “The Russian Revolution,” he wrote: Russian Revolution was made neither by the forces of nature nor by “The anonymous masses but by identifiable men pursuing their own advantages. Although it has spontaneous aspects, in the main it was the result of deliberate action. As such it is very properly subject to value judgment.” In the writing of history, he went on, philosophical and moral “fundamental questions can never end.” the dispute is not only over what has happened in the past,” he wrote, “For also over what may happen in the future.” “but Daniel E. Slotnik contributed reporting.
To further his education, Professor set about compiling a random list of 100 American colleges from the advertising pages of “Who’s Who,” then sent off postcards to them asking for financial aid and part-time work. Muskingum College in Ohio (now Muskingum University) replied with offers for both. In 1942, in his junior year, he was drafted into the Army Air Corps and sent to study Russian at Cornell, where he met his future wife, Irene Roth, who survives him. Besides her and his son Daniel, he is survived by another son, Steven, and four grandchildren. He had homes in Cambridge and in Harrisville, N.H. After receiving a bachelor’s degree from Cornell in 1946, he earned a doctorate in history at Harvard in 1950. His dissertation, on Bolshevik nationality theory, became the basis of his first book, “The Formation of the Soviet Union: Communism and Nationalism, 1917-1923” (1954). He wrote a two-volume biography of the liberal politician Peter Struve, “Struve: Liberal on the Left, 1870-1905” (1970) and “Struve: Liberal on the Right, 1905-1944” (1980), as well as two books on Soviet-American relations, “U.S.-Soviet Relations in the Era of Détente” (1981) and “Survival Is Not Enough: Soviet Realities and America’s Future” (1984). As a historian, Professor Pipes defended his polemical approach. In “The Russian Revolution,” he wrote: “The Russian Revolution was made neither by the forces of nature nor by anonymous masses but by identifiable men pursuing their own advantages. Although it has spontaneous aspects, in the main it was the result of deliberate action. As such it is very properly subject to value judgment.” In the writing of history, he went on, “fundamental philosophical and moral questions can never end.” “For the dispute is not only over what has happened in the past,” he wrote, “but also over what may happen in the future.” Daniel E. Slotnik contributed reporting.