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The Gulag Archipelago: 1918-1956 (Paperback)

by Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn (Author) "How do people get to this clandestine Archipelago?..." (more)
Key Phrases: committed escaper, nonpolitical offenders, work assigner, Special Camps, Soviet Union, Civil War (more...)
4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (66 customer reviews)

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"Best Nonfiction Book of the Twentieth Century" -- Time magazine

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"Best Nonfiction Book of the Twentieth Century" (Time magazine ) --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

  • Paperback: 512 pages
  • Publisher: Harper Perennial Modern Classics (January 22, 2002)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0060007761
  • ISBN-13: 978-0060007768
  • Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 1.2 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (66 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #235,080 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
How do people get to this clandestine Archipelago? Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
committed escaper, nonpolitical offenders, work assigner, former zeks, camp keepers, transit prison, convoy guards, corrective labor camps, latrine bucket, special settlers, punishment cell, exile system, prisoner transport, camp compound, supreme measure, service yard, convoy troops
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Special Camps, Soviet Union, Civil War, State Security, Criminal Code, Solovetsky Islands, Central Committee, World War, Red Army, October Revolution, Black Marias, Camp Divisions, Alexander Dolgun, February Revolution, Medical Section, Belomor Canal, Communist Party, Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, Supreme Court, Comrade Stalin, United States, District Party Committee, East Prussia, Father of the Peoples, Fatherland War
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24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The Most Important Nonfiction Work of the 20th Century, February 3, 2004
By David A Jones (Gurley, AL United States) - See all my reviews
How thin is the veil we call Civilization!! This book is indeed a tedious read by virtue of its length. However, Solzhenitsyn's history is written with the prosaic style of a Tolstoy or Dostoyevsky.
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn was a Captain in the Soviet Army as it charged through Nazi occupied Poland when he was arrested on trumped-up charges in February 1945. Thus began his odyssey through Gulag, "the country within a country". The perpetually weak economy of Communism could not survive without the forced labor of millions of is own citizens who became prisoners for one reason or another, or no reason at all. Solzhenitsyn relates his own experiences as well as those of other prisoners with whom he became acquainted while incarcerated. He relates how ordinary Russians were arrested and charged with fraudulent charges (if charged at all), interrogated, tortured and forced to confess under extreme duress, and sent off to labor for the good of the Motherland.
Throughout the book, Solzhenitsyn asks the reader incredulously, "how did we let this happen?" That is no doubt one of the most important questions posed in all of human history. If we study history in order to prevent the repetition of our mistakes, then Solzhenitsyn's work should be required reading of all residents of Planet Earth.
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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A voyage through hell, January 15, 2005
By George Coppedge (Czech Republic) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)      
"The line between good and evil runs through the heart of every human being."

This abridged edition of Solzhenitsyn's hauntingly intimate portrait of his own arrest, interrogation, imprisonment, rebellion, and eventual release during Stalin's purges is a book like no other. This book, written by a constantly watched and persecuted dissident - bent but not broken by the brutality of Stalinist work camps, shares the author's (and his other inmates') personal experiences falling into this dark, usually fatal, abyss. Solzhenitsyn's original work was published in 1971 and produced an absolutely damning indictment of communism in Russia. Indeed, the stunning quality and importance of his writing earned him a Nobel prize.

Besides his own experiences, Solzhenitsyn collected personal stories from hundreds of his fellow inmates. The sadism of interrogators, the cruelty of guards, the indifference of neighbors, the paranoia of the public, the betrayal of stoolies, and the true comradery of innocent inmates are presented in vivid, factual detail. In addition to this, the author also presents an encyclopeadic knowledge of the entirety of the gigantic Stalinist security apparatus (normal labor camps, special labor camps, transfer camps, railroad transfers, prisons, holding cells, interrogation cells, NKVD, SMERSH, commissars, exile communities, and still more).

But at the heart of it all, the book remains an unforgettable journey through man-made hell. Stalin meant to destroy every man, woman, and child arrested, regardless of their innocence, and he largely succeeded. But survivors like Solzhenitsyn did truly 'tear down the wall' and made this world a far better place to live in. We all owe him a huge debt of gratitude!
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Masterpiece, July 17, 2005
It is hard to measure how profound a book like this is, because it covers such a wide range of subjects almost subtlely. The things that you are likely to remember are the descriptions of torture, the small amounts of food, and so forth. What you remember is the things that made you cringe, and realise that you probably would have given up had you been placed in the same situation.

But as Solzhenitsyn tried repeatedly to bring out, it was the so-called "little" things that really either killed you, or gave you hope. As an example, many people might recall the sticking of hot metal up certain areas of the human anatomy; but as Solzehnitsyn said, this was most often not necessary. Seemingly mundane (relatively speaking) things like sleep deprivation was enough to drive even the most stable men insane. It was not the hot flash of pain that would get most people, but the exhaustion of wakefulness. Monotony could be every bit as much your enemy as freezing temperatures; and it was just as likely to send you to your death. These are but two examples, Solzehnitsyn gives up many more.

If there is any book that can and should be read by everyone, it is this book. One need not be interested in communism, political theory, or such things for this book to have meaning. This book is above all about the human condition. It is a biograpy and autobiography about every man who has ever suffered greatly, and it is a lesson to every man who has never suffered greatly.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars An expose on the evil heart of Communism
One of the most monumental accounts of one of the cruellest ideologies of history,this book should be read by all
Layer by layer Solzhenitsyn exposes the hideous system of... Read more
Published 13 days ago by Gary Selikow

5.0 out of 5 stars A powerful book
Probably one of the most important works I have ever read. Solzhenitsyn gives voice to the millions of voiceless victims of Stalin's Soviet Russia. Read more
Published 29 days ago by LAS

5.0 out of 5 stars true believer in the power of literature
I cannot stop admiring the courage of the author and his belief in art as the most powerful and necessary form of preserving memory of history and humanity. Read more
Published 4 months ago by whj

5.0 out of 5 stars Do You Believe Man Has the Capacity for Pure Evil?
I'm encouraged to see this book is still a good seller despite its publication back in 1976. We should never forget the lessons contained herein. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Steven Parker

5.0 out of 5 stars A Stunning Work
This is the best history book I've ever read, it made me cringe and rage at times, and gave me nightmares but in the long run, it was an exceptionally enlightening read. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Ghost

5.0 out of 5 stars Shocking History
This book makes me want to never complain about anything ever again.

The Gulag Archipelago details the suffering faced by countless millions in the U.S.S.R. Read more
Published 6 months ago by A. Barber

5.0 out of 5 stars Time's Top Non-Fiction Book of the 20th Century
This review refers only to Volume 3 (Sections 5 thru 7)

This amazing volume chronicles Solzhenitsyn's years in a Siberian labor camp for political prisoners and later... Read more
Published 8 months ago by David Zimmerman

5.0 out of 5 stars Encyclopedic in Scope. Please Click on Links Below to My Unabridged-Version Reviews
Instead of repeating other reviewers, let's consider some details related to comparison of Nazi and Communist camps, Russian history, Soviet geopolitics, etc. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Jan Peczkis

5.0 out of 5 stars A soul-shaking earthquake of a book...
What can be added to what has already been celebrated about this book? I'm only embarrassed to have read the abridged version, somewhat mockingly--even if authorized by... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Mark Nadja

5.0 out of 5 stars The single greatest literary work of the twentieth century.
The title of this review is truly the way I feel about this book. The first volume relates stories of arrest and interrogation, the second volume tells of life in the camps, and... Read more
Published 12 months ago by John R. Farrish

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