Gulag

A History

By: Anne Applebaum

Narrated by: Laural Merlington

Length: 27 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

Pulitzer Prize, General Nonfiction, 2004

The Gulag - a vast array of Soviet concentration camps that held millions of political and criminal prisoners - was a system of repression and punishment that terrorized the entire society, embodying the worst tendencies of Soviet communism. In this magisterial and acclaimed history, Anne Applebaum offers the first fully documented portrait of the Gulag, from its origins in the Russian Revolution, through its expansion under Stalin, to its collapse in the era of glasnost.

Applebaum intimately recreates what life was like in the camps and links them to the larger history of the Soviet Union. Immediately recognized as a landmark and long-overdue work of scholarship, Gulag is an essential book for anyone who wishes to understand the history of the 20th century.

©2007 Anne Applebaum (P)2012 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Great book, with serious narration problems

Most of the narration was great, however I am shocked that there was no russian-speaking advisor to help the narrator pronounce the Russian names and words. Clearly, this narrator put zero effort to try to pronounce any of the Russian words even close to what they should sound like. She butchered them so badly that for a native Russian speaker it was absolutely torturous to hear. There were times where she mispronounced the same word in three different ways in the same sentence. If I had known about this, I would have volunteered my time to help her with the pronunciation. This oversight is absolutely inexcusable.

Compelling account of Soviet forced labor camps

A well-researched history of the Soviet forced labor camps shines the light on the logistics behind the pain and horror suffered by millions.

Not to be petty, but has no one demonstrated to the narrator how to pronounce Eastern European names? This should be a requirement for anyone narrating a book on this subject. My eye twitches every time she awkwardly struggles to enunciate Dzierżynski’s name only to end up with a bizarre four-syllable scramble. Took me a second to figure out whom she meant.

A true eye opener.

This is an incredible journey through the Gulags of Russia. I never studied this topic in history, the focus was on the cold war and arms race, which is a shame. Throughout the work, Anne does a fantastic job at describing conditions faced by the helpless "prisoners" and exiles. She really did her homework in the Russian archives and through interviews to uncover the facts and stories that would be forgotten otherwise. Not only does Anne detail the events that occured over nearly a century, but she does so with the emotion and empathy the topic deserves, by painting a truly gruesome picture for the listener. In addition to the contents of the book, the reading was excellent. The quality of audio had no annoying tics or interruptions, and the narrator did a phenomenal job in articulating russian words and projecting the author's intent. Once more, this was a fantastic uncovering of a truth for me, and a lot to take in. It is definitely an audio book I will be listening to for at least a second time.

Riveting account of human depravity

Sad account of history to which we are likely to return. In many, many ways, Applebaum told of the Gulag, the psychiatric hospitals, the White Sea canal, Lenin's role, etc. Very detailed, and very moving.

Pronunciation is bad

The narrator cannot correctly pronounce Russian names at all. For a book written by an author as well versed in Eastern Europe, the narrator insulted her work by butchering pronunciation to the my great displeasure. If you're reading this narrator, Bukhta Nakhodka is pronounced Boo-(kh makes a hard h) -ta Na-khodka not Bookta nak hotka, the ship Dzurma is pronounced as Jur (like in jury) -ma, not the dezurema. Such butchering of names really killed much of the experience for this otherwise great book. Other than this, the narrator did ok.

Very enlightening

An incredible and gripping history. I found it extremely informative as well as easy to read and stay engaged. This is a weighty subject but there is no doubt in my mind as to it's importance. Truly an education about the darkest side of communist Russia, the incredible suffering of it's oppressed and about humanity in general. This is one of the more important books you will read.

mixed feelings

The story itself is immensely sad, and I actually had to take a break from it. At the same time, it is utterly fascinating, though the DREADFUL pronunciation of the foreign names sometimes makes it challenging to focus. Still, I cannot recommend the book highly enough - it is extremely well written and very, very important.

Excellent Work

This is my third Anne Applebaum book. I listened to them basically in the reverse order she wrote them - Red Famine first, then Iron Curtain, then this one. Gulag was the hardest to actually listen to. It was the least linear and had the most abstract narrative. There were moments when it was a bit tough to follow. That said, it is an excellent book and very worthy of the Pulitzer Prize it won. Anne Applebaum is a national treasure and her work is more important now than ever. I actually think she’s quite courageous - Putin has killed people for less than writing the things she’s written.

And yes the narrator’s pronunciation is atrocious. I don’t speak a word of Russian and even I struggled with her pronunciation. That said her actual voice is very good and if you can just bear with it she’s fine.

excellent and thorough

Very worthwhile, particularly in the context of Russia's invasion of Ukraine (even though it was written prior to the current ongoing atrocities)

informative to a degree

Anne Applebaum's books are always informative. She is very smug and thin skinned on Twitter. She has a pro-Polish bias. She has a tendency to over hype lesser known Gulag writers at the expense of Solzhenitsyn. That said I will buy every single book she writes.