Anne Applebaum's book is not only a complete history of the Soviet camp system in development, based on archival documents and eyewitness accounts, from its inception in 1918 to the mid-eighties. No less carefully than the chronology and geography of the Gulag, the author tries to restore the logic of the executioners and victims, to understand what made them kill and what helped them survive. Applebaum gives the floor to Russians and Americans, Poles and Jews, communists and anti-communists who passed through the camps, and their testimonies form a picture of incredible integrity and impact. This is a detailed description of the world of the zone with its laws and unspoken rules, a special language and hierarchy. “Gulag Anne Applebaum won a Pulitzer Prize and has been translated into dozens of languages.