Gulag

***Winner of the El Mundo Journalism Award and the Francisco Cerecedo Journalism Award 2021***

An extensive and detailed history of the origin and development of the Soviet Gulags and their legacy to the present day.

Based on studies, memoirs published after the fall of the USSR, and some archives that remained hidden for decades, Anne Applebaum reconstructs in this book a historical account of the origin and evolution of the Soviet concentration camps, bringing this ill-fated and unforgettable episode back to the forefront of the tumultuous history of the 20th century.

With detail and precision, we witness daily life in the camps: self-mutilations to avoid forced labor, marriages between prisoners, the lives of women and children, rebellions, and escape attempts. The book, well-documented, rigorous, and with a new introduction by its author, argues that the Gulag was born not only out of the need to isolate elements that the Communist Party considered enemies, but also to simultaneously acquire a mass of slave laborers who would work in exchange for food on immense projects such as the White Sea Canal or the Kolyma mines.

After describing the horror organized by the Soviet Union, the book narrates how Gorbachev, whose family was directly affected by this repressive policy, decided to end this prison regime, freeing citizens from one of the most perverse and cruel repressive systems the world has ever known.

Review:
"Anne Applebaum's Gulag is an important book. Her many years of meticulous research have provided the author with an immense wealth of fascinating details to recreate a terrible and unforgettable story."
Anthony Beevor, author of Stalingrad