The Gulag Archipelago, 1918-1956, Vol. 1

Product Description In this masterpiece, Solzhenitsyn has orchestrated thousands of incidents and individual histories into one narrative of unflagging power and momentum. Written in a tone that encompasses Olympian wrath, bitter calm, savage irony, and sheer comedy, it combines history, autobiography, documentary, and political analysis as it examines in its totality the Soviet apparatus of repression from its inception following the October Revolution of 1917. This first volume involves us in the innocent victim's arrest and preliminary detention and the stages by which he is transferred across the breadth of the Soviet Union to his ultimate destination: the hard labor camp. About the Author Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn (1918-2008) was born in Kislovodsk, Russia. A twice-decorated captain in the Soviet Army, he was stripped of his rank, arrested, and convicted for privately criticizing Stalin in 1945. Exiled from the USSR in 1974, he eventually settled in the United States before returning to his homeland twenty years later after the Soviet system had collapsed. Among his acclaimed works are the novels One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich and The First Circle. His literary awards include the Nobel Prize for Literature and the Medal of Honor for Literature. Frederick Davidson (1932-2005), also known as David Case, was one of the most prolific readers in the audiobook industry, recording more than eight hundred audiobooks in his lifetime, including over two hundred for Blackstone Audio. Born in London, he trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and performed for many years in radio plays for the British Broadcasting Company before coming to America in 1976. He received AudioFile's Golden Voice Award and numerous Earphones Awards and was nominated for a Grammy for his readings.