Gulag

A History

By: Anne Applebaum

Narrated by: Laural Merlington

Pulitzer Prize, General Nonfiction, 2004

The Gulag - a vast array of Soviet concentration camps that held millions of political and criminal prisoners - was a system of repression and punishment that terrorized the entire society, embodying the worst tendencies of Soviet communism. In this magisterial and acclaimed history, Anne Applebaum offers the first fully documented portrait of the Gulag, from its origins in the Russian Revolution, through its expansion under Stalin, to its collapse in the era of glasnost.

Applebaum intimately recreates what life was like in the camps and links them to the larger history of the Soviet Union. Immediately recognized as a landmark and long-overdue work of scholarship, Gulag is an essential book for anyone who wishes to understand the history of the 20th century.

©2007 Anne Applebaum (P)2012 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

informative to a degree

Anne Applebaum's books are always informative. She is very smug and thin skinned on Twitter. She has a pro-Polish bias. She has a tendency to over hype lesser known Gulag writers at the expense of Solzhenitsyn. That said I will buy every single book she writes.

Horrifying but a Must Read

This is a book that cannot be missed or ignored. For As many people died in the Soviet gulags as were slaughtered in WWII. The numbers are incalculable. And yet this history is not given a mention in school history books or elsewhere. It’s like they didn’t exist. And all the while, communism is touted as a worldwide solution to inequality. Applebaum’s book is as impressive as Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s “The Gulag Archipelago.” A dire must read for any history buff and for anyone with a fear that history will most assuredly repeat itself.

Laura Merlington’s narration is spectacular. So even and so tempered is her voice. #RussianHistory #gulag #Communism #survival #Tagsgiving #Sweepstakes

An essential history not loudly told.

the narrator is amazing and the telling of the history of the Gulag evocative .

Great!

A fantastic reality check from an author who has lost touch with reality during COVID.

Just awesome

Anne Applebaum has written an extremely valuable work of history that needs to be read by more people.