Book cover of The Gulag: A Very Short Introduction

Book description

A vast system of prisons, camps, and exile settlements, the Gulag was one of the defining attributes of the Stalinist Soviet Union and one of the most heinous examples of mass incarceration in the twentieth century, combining the functions of a standard prison system with the goal of isolating and…

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Gulag as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Compared to The Gulag Archipelago, this book is a breeze—check out how tiny it is! I love how it succinctly tells me pretty much everything I need to know about the Gulag, using all the latest research by historians who have accessed top-secret Soviet documents.

Barenberg excels at explaining the Soviet repressive system—why it was set up, what it aimed to accomplish, and how it was constantly changing. But he is equally strong at exploring the depth of suffering borne by millions of men, women, and children. 

If you love The Gulag...

Book cover of The Rosewood Penny

The Rosewood Penny by J.S. Fields,

2023 Queer Indie Award Nominee!

The dragons of Yuro have been hunted to extinction.

On a small, isolated island, in a reclusive forest, lives bandit leader Marani and her brother Jacks. With their outlaw band they rob from the rich to feed themselves, raiding carriages and dodging the occasional vindictive…

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