| The Gulag Archipelago, 1918-1956 - An Experiment in Literary Investigation, V-VII
(1978)
|
| Front Cover |
Book Details |
|
| Genre |
Non-Fiction |
| Subject |
Political Prisoners - Russia |
| Publication Date |
May 1978 |
| Format |
Hardcover (9.2
x
6.2
mm)
|
| Publisher |
HarperCollins |
| Language |
English |
|
|
| Description |
| Describes individual escapes and attempted escapes from Stalin's camps, a disciplined, sustained resistance put down with tanks after forty days, and the forced removal and extermination of millions of peasants |
| Personal Details |
| Store |
Bookman's |
| Purchase Price |
$8.64 |
| Acquire Date |
4/1/2010 |
| Condition |
Fine/Fine |
| Rating |
0 |
|
| Product Details |
| Dewey |
365.450947 |
| ISBN |
0060139129 |
| Cover Price |
$16.95 |
| No. of Pages |
584 |
| First Edition |
No |
| Rare |
No |
|
| Notes/Review |
$8.00 + $0.64 tax
-------------------------------------------------
The 5 star rating is for the whole work, not just this volume.
A truly epic work. The Gulag Archipelago chronicles the Soviet concentration camp system in all its facets. It lays out the history of the camp system: its organization, procedures and methods. It's the story of the perversion of the Soviet judicial system. It compares and contrasts the prisons and camps to the same under the Tsars. It is also a memoir. Like any Russian novel, it also tells the stories of hundreds of people.
Before reading any of it, I was prepared for a difficult time with it. I was a bit afraid that it would not only be depressing but tedious. And I guess it was. One section is basically a description of several court cases. He throws a lot of names out, and although I consider myself well schooled on Russian history almost none of the names means anything to me.
It is also a story of triumph. Individual triumphs against an evil system, triumphs of perseverance, triumphs of will. The tenacity of life. |
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