Gulag : a history

Applebaum, Anne 1964- (Author).

Summary: A fully documented history of the Soviet camp system, from its origins in the Russian Revolution to its collapse in the era of glasnost. Anne Applebaum first lays out the chronological history of the camps and the logic behind their creation, enlargement, and maintenance. Applebaum also examines how life was lived within this shadow country: how prisoners worked, how they ate, where they lived, how they died, how they survived. She examines their guards and their jailers, the horrors of transportation in empty cattle cars, the strange nature of Soviet arrests and trials, the impact of World War II, the relations between different national and religious groups, and the escapes, as well as the extraordinary rebellions that took place in the 1950s. She concludes by examining the disturbing question why the Gulag has remained relatively obscure, in the historical memory of both the former Soviet Union and the West.

Item details

ISBN: 0767900561
ISBN: 9780767900560
Physical Description: print
677 pages : illustrations, maps, portraits ; 24 cm
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher: New York : Doubleday, 2003.

Contents / Notes

Bibliography, etc. Note:	Includes bibliographical references and index.
Formatted Contents Note:	Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- Part I. The origins of the Gulag, 1917-1939. Bolshevik beginnings ; "The first camp of the Gulag" ; 1929: the great turning point ; The White Sea Canal ; The camps expand ; The Great Terror and its aftermath -- Part II. Life and work in the camps. Arrest ; Prison ; Transport, arrival, selection ; Life in the camps ; Work in the camps ; Punishment and reward ; The guards ; The prisoners ; Women and children ; The dying ; Strategies of survival ; Rebellion and escape -- Part III. The rise and fall of the camp-industrial complex, 1940-1986. The war begins ; "Strangers" ; Amnesty--and afterward ; The zenith of the camp-industrial complex ; The death of Stalin ; The Zeks' revolution ; Thaw--and release ; The era of the dissidents ; The 1980s : smashing statues -- Epilogue: Memory -- Appendix: How many?
Awards Note:	Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction, 2004