The Gulag--a vast array of Soviet concentration camps that held millions of political and criminal prisoners--was a system of repression and punish...
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Jul 29, 2008
Karen
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I have been reading some memoirs about the Soviet Gulags, and I discovered that I didn't have enough knowledge of Russian history to process what I was reading about individual experiences. Consequently, I picked up Applebaum's book.
Her book was precisely what I needed. She presents a very systematic explanation of the gulags in three sections: 1) the historical precedents prior to Stalin's regime and the rise of their power under Stalin; 2) Day-to-day life in the gulags; and 3) th More...
Her book was precisely what I needed. She presents a very systematic explanation of the gulags in three sections: 1) the historical precedents prior to Stalin's regime and the rise of their power under Stalin; 2) Day-to-day life in the gulags; and 3) th More...
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May 19, 2008
Eric
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This is a fantastic book. It is a must-read for anyone who has any illusions about communism. It sucks. It is evil. It belongs in the dustbin of history.
Anne Applebaum tells the story of the gulag in fascinating detail, using newly available Soviet archives and published and unpublished memoirs from those who survived the camps. Their stories are chilling, to say the least.
In the Introduction, Applebaum discusses the differences and similarities between the Nazi death cam More...
Anne Applebaum tells the story of the gulag in fascinating detail, using newly available Soviet archives and published and unpublished memoirs from those who survived the camps. Their stories are chilling, to say the least.
In the Introduction, Applebaum discusses the differences and similarities between the Nazi death cam More...
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Apr 04, 2007
Nathan
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In one of my college history classes, a student asked the professor who killed more people - Stalin or Hitler? The answer: we don't know and it doesn't matter - they were both the embodiment of evil. This book is very detailed history of the physical form of that evil and does an amazing job of detailing both the causes and effects that the system had on everyone involved from the police, to the guards, to the horrific effects on the prisoners. It is extremely well written - I had a hard tim
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Jul 21, 2011
Lisa
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I can’t say enough good things about this book. Anne Applebaum has taken advantage of recent archive openings in Russia and conducted thorough and detailed research of the newly available material. Her findings are changing the way people think about the Soviet Gulag system. In the past, most historians had to rely on survivor memoirs and the classic history, The Gulag Archipelago, by Alexander Solzhenitsyn for their information. I think this caused a bias toward the point of view and experience
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Feb 11, 2010
Raymond
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I probably never will get all of, "Gulag," read. Anne Applebaum's awesome, masterful, 586-page history of the Gulag, the labor/concentration camps of the Soviet Union, overwhelms me. A key question which must arise in the minds of most American readers is how and why we know and hear so much of the Holocaust, Nazi Germany's assault upon millions of people, but we know and hear so little of the Gulag. There is at least one important distinction. The German camps came to be outright deat
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Jun 24, 2009
Alina
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Anne Applebaum took her time in writing this book, and the result of her patience is a masterpiece. This is how she describes the book's purpose:
The more we are able to understand how different societies have transformed their neighbors and fellow citizens from people into objects, the more we know of the specific circumstances which led to each episode or torture and mass murder, the better we will understand the darker side of our own human nature. This book was not written "s More...
The more we are able to understand how different societies have transformed their neighbors and fellow citizens from people into objects, the more we know of the specific circumstances which led to each episode or torture and mass murder, the better we will understand the darker side of our own human nature. This book was not written "s More...
Dec 16, 2009
Heather
rated it:
incredibly informative. gulag. the word exists in the imagination as some monstrous, vomitous code word for death and the author cements and gives shape to the word in her million page epitaph. and still, the camps were so varied and far-flung across the expanses of siberia that this can only be an introduction to the atrocities and realities of the russian labour camps that became associated with stalin's mad paranoid tenure, but that existed well before communist russia came into being.
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May 19, 2011
Todd
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"[W]hile the symbol of one mass murder fills us with horror [Swastika], the symbol of another mass murder makes us laugh [Hammer and Sickle]" (xviii). Applebaum also goes on to say that at the time the book was written films about the Gulags were non-existent, yet there were plenty of films featuring "cartoon Russians" like Ivan Drago; there were also multiple movies made about Nazi Germany, but again, no serious consideration of the Gulags. This is the basis of her book, she
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Apr 02, 2008
John
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Among the best accounts of Stalin's system of concentration and labor camps that I know of. She describes not only the organization, operations of the camps as well as life within them, but she also explains the role of slave labor in the development of the Soviet economy and in war production. Very well written, and entirely engaging - despite the horror in the tale. Clearly deserving of the Pulitzer Prize that she was awarded - if I recall correctly.
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Mar 01, 2010
Steve
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Applebaum has provided a detailed and insightful account of a relatively unexplored aspect of twentieth century history. She itemises in brilliant detail the construction and administration of the camps of the Gulag, and the chaos and horror which they contained. One issue from her history which captures interest is how far the escalation in the number of camps,and the structure of repression within the camps, was determined by the policies emanating directly from Lenin and Stalin. In the afterm
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Feb 07, 2010
Steve
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"Gulag: A History" is an exhaustive but still reader-friendly chronicle of the Soviet system of forced labor
prison camps that sprang up shortly after the Bolshevik revolution of 1917, then eventually dissolved after the death of Josef Stalin in 1953.
Author Anne Applebaum breaks the whole story down by category, starting with arrest (one could
find oneself sentenced to ten years or more for merely overhearing a joke about Stalin), transit,
back-breaking More...
prison camps that sprang up shortly after the Bolshevik revolution of 1917, then eventually dissolved after the death of Josef Stalin in 1953.
Author Anne Applebaum breaks the whole story down by category, starting with arrest (one could
find oneself sentenced to ten years or more for merely overhearing a joke about Stalin), transit,
back-breaking More...
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Dec 14, 2008
Jessica
rated it:
Excellent book about the Soviet Gulag system. This book not only gives a complete historical overview, it also goes into detail about the living and social conditions within the camps. And thoughout, it is artfully written. Applebaum begins introducing the topic and its importance, followed by what sparked her interest in it. She uses links at the end of each chapter to lead into the next, to give the reader a reason to keep reading. And she finishes with a strong ending, summarizing why thi
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Jul 13, 2011
Sarah
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Gulag: A History is an amazingly detailed overview of a system I knew nearly nothing about. The writing, while being dry, is full of amazing, rich facts and, while it can become overwhelming at points, it’s spiced up nicely by personal accounts and literature Applebaum uses to underline the points she’s making. This is an incredibly important account of a dark period of history, and will leave readers with a fresh and well-rounded understanding of life in Soviet Russia if they are willing to wad
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May 17, 2011
Lauraadriana
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The title says it all this book is a look into the Gulag, the organized labour camps that housed million of convicts in the Soviet Union from the early 20th century until well into the 1980s...this is an incredibly well researched and tightly documented book. Anne Applebaum gained access to information that had never been released and related it in this books in way that was readable and interesting.
I was fascinated by the personal accounts and also by her take on the propaganda machin More...
I was fascinated by the personal accounts and also by her take on the propaganda machin More...
Nov 05, 2010
JC
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Absolutely fascinating read. Anne Applebaum's 600 page look at the Russian Gulag system is one of the best books I've ever read and takes a deep look at the history of the camps that really became widespread during Stalin's rule. This book won the Pulitzer prize a few years back and was well deserving of it. The entire book is down to earth and extremely clear and presents the facts in an easy to understand manner. I really want to purchase this book and reread it as there are so many interestin
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Aug 10, 2009
Mike
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I knew this book would be a very depressing read before I commenced. It didn't fail to live up to expectations.
Anne Applebaum has written an unbelievable tome on what is now known as the former Soviet Union's gulag archipelago. Years spent reading and researching Russian archives, letters, manuscripts, official memorandum, as well as author interviews, has yielded this mighty sad tale of desperation, death and broken bodies.
The book begins early in Soviet history, and r More...
Anne Applebaum has written an unbelievable tome on what is now known as the former Soviet Union's gulag archipelago. Years spent reading and researching Russian archives, letters, manuscripts, official memorandum, as well as author interviews, has yielded this mighty sad tale of desperation, death and broken bodies.
The book begins early in Soviet history, and r More...
Jun 05, 2008
Cathy
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This book is extremely long (almost 600 pages), but is so well written that it never becomes boring. It mixes history, memoirs of those who were in Gulag, and the author's own experience of Russia and researching the book. Certainly recommended to anyone interested in Gulag, Russia, Solzhenitsyn, etc.
From the book:
"The more we are able to understand how different societies have transformed their neighbors and fellow citizens from people into objects, the more we know of the More...
From the book:
"The more we are able to understand how different societies have transformed their neighbors and fellow citizens from people into objects, the more we know of the More...
Sep 01, 2008
Susie
rated it:
I was just going to give it five stars and write, "Gulag! Nuff said," but then I thought that might be a little disrespectful to the 28.7 million people who went through the Gulag or related camps, psychiatric hospitals, prisons, exile and deportation, and the somewhere between 10 and 20 million who lost their lives as a result. People were sentenced to years in the Gulag for such "crimes" as being late to work, or because someone informed on them, or for literally nothing a
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Dec 20, 2007
Kristin
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Gulag: A History, written by Anne Applebaum, is a chronological and comprehensive work of non-fiction detailing the history of slave labor camps first implemented by Lenin and later overseen by Stalin. It is the first intricate description and analysis of the gulag. Not only does the author give detailed accounts of life and activities in the camps, and its development as a result of the Russian Revolution, but she also offers viewpoints concerning the motives of the system’s creators. Anne A
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Sep 25, 2007
Josh
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People say that Hitler is the devil but after reading this I'm not convinced. Maybe Hitler is the devil's LT. This is the rundown of a well kept secret that is horrifying. I work in a casino and while I read this book there not one person who inquired about what I was reading had any idea what a Gulag is. They would spout off "Them Gulags sure knew how to fight." or some such bull. I was horrified reading this history, the things that people allowed to happen, the rules that people fol
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Jan 05, 2009
Yvonne
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This was absolutely heartbreaking and fascinating. This book won the Pulitzer the year it came out and it was well deserved. The amount of research that was done in order to compile the information and stories within this book is astounding. It may start a little slow for a chapter or two, when describing the politics behind why the camps were started and by whom, but once you get to the camps themselves, you will be horrified, terrified and outraged. READ IT!
Mar 04, 2011
Anjie
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One of the most powerful books I've ever read! So many of us are proud to be an American: let me assure you that this book will make you GRATEFUL to be an American living in America! Having been brought up during the Cold War and brought to think of the Soviet people as being evil; this book changed my outlook completely. We should have been praying for Soviet people instead of fearing them. If you want history during the Stalin era... this is the book to read! It will wake you up to the mostly
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Jul 10, 2010
So this is good, but it's a bit TMI for this reader. About three hundred pages in, I was like, "Okay, I get it. Being in the Gulag really sucked, and these camps weren't well-run. Wow, are we really gonna run through how bad it was in even more detail??" I mean, you pick up that it sucked pretty quickly, and then there's like five hundred more pages describing how MUCH it sucked. So again, yeah, the casual student of the Gulag might be savvy enough to avoid the 600 page history, and mi
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Apr 19, 2010
Mykl
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Recently had read memoirs and historically based fiction regarding Russia/Soviet Union/Gulags. This book is very well researched and provides historical analysis and detailed information. For myself the area in which I learned the most was the continuing role of the Gulags after the 1950's. Perhaps this book deserves five stars I think the difficult nature of the material influenced this review.
Aug 31, 2010
Chris
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A fascinating book.
The gulag story is shocking, but it's also extremely *interesting*, much more so than one might expect - like a huge, horrible series of experiments in human behaviour.
The history of the gulags is extremely varied and took place over a very long period of time. I'll post some quotes to my blog over the next few days.
The gulag story is shocking, but it's also extremely *interesting*, much more so than one might expect - like a huge, horrible series of experiments in human behaviour.
The history of the gulags is extremely varied and took place over a very long period of time. I'll post some quotes to my blog over the next few days.
Aug 29, 2010
Consider how great Russia (the former Soviet Union) would have been if they had “used their powers for good” instead of the evil they forced upon millions. If the USSR had harnessed their imprisoned citizens’ intellect and desire to help Mother Russia, the world would have been in a very different position today.
Nov 10, 2009
Dr.
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This is an important book. A truly damning history that needed to be written in an accesible way for western readers. To this day the events surrounding the soviet Gulag are rather murky and extremely played down in the western view of the times. Nazi concentration camps and atrocities far overshadow these events, but they shouldn't. Everyone should read this book and learn the lessons that it has to teach no matter how hard they may be to swallow.
Nov 07, 2011
Chip
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Interesting and descriptive, but for most of the book overly dry and scholarly, and lacking in emotion. Worth reading, but at times it was a bit of a struggle to keep forging ahead - and given the horrific events at issue, it should have been more moving.
Aug 11, 2011
Karen
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Well-written, documented, organized, HUGE history. So many categories and sub-topics and it was all nicely brought together in a very interesting book. I learned a lot of things I had always wondered about. Very satisfying.
Dec 16, 2009
Elanor
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The compelling thing about this book is it's organization. It relies heavily on well known published memoirs -- including Solzhenitsyn and Ginzburg -- so there isn't a lot of new or shocking inforamtion. What it does do, and where Ginzburg and Solzhenitsyn ~fail, is giving a whole picture chronilogically AND thematically. After reading each chapter, which have obvious headings along the lines of "arrest", "transfer," "women and children" and "work" one
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