The Gulag Archipelago, Volume 1

An Experiment in Literary Investigation

By: Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn

Narrated by: Frederick Davidson

Length: 25 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

“BEST NONFICTION BOOK OF THE 20TH CENTURY.” —Time

Volume 1 of the gripping epic masterpiece, Solzhenitsyn's chilling report of his arrest and interrogation, which exposed to the world the vast bureaucracy of secret police that haunted Soviet society. Features a new foreword by Anne Applebaum.

“The greatest and most powerful single indictment of a political regime ever leveled in modern times.” —George F. Kennan

“It is impossible to name a book that had a greater effect on the political and moral consciousness of the late twentieth century.” —David Remnick, The New Yorker

“Solzhenitsyn’s masterpiece. . . . The Gulag Archipelago helped create the world we live in today.” —Anne Applebaum, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Gulag: A History, from the foreword

©2015 Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn (P)2020 HarperCollins Publishers

Should be required reading in US schools

The narrator to a few hours to get use to and really his reading was the only area of opportunity I could find. We've spent so much time and energy talking crap about the Nazis AND RIGHTLY SO but I am ashamed that our Leftist teachers, historians, media, and universities have not shown us how horrible communism is and was. Be very very careful because the stories in this series may be the future of America, if we are not careful. Just look at our Pravda style media today. Look at how they control the low information people. Look at how they can hide the crimes of the elite. If you are a parent, please listen to or read this book with your kids.

should be required reading again

a very important book. perhaps people have lost track of what the current trend going on in America leads to. this book will remind them.

Hard to explain...

Just finished Volume 1 and it’s difficult imagine what Solzhenitsyn wrote is what actually took place. This is not to say I don’t believe it... on the contrary. It must be believed and it must never be forgotten.

The narrator does an exceptional job with his cadence and tone. His cheeky and at times humorous tone captures the good nature of Solzhenitsyn, as he endeavors to recount the most depressing atrocities of known to man. 5 stars to Davidson.

I will not venture to describe or review the story. It is what it is and it deserves to be read (or heard) by all who value liberty, believe in the dignity of the individual, and care for democratic principles. This is the story of what happens when those things are replaced with the tyranny of communism.

Eye opening!

What an amazing firsthand account of a communistic society. How quickly we forget the lessons of the past.

eye opening account of massive death camps

make no mistake, the gulags were death camps
the author is very clear the enormous human toll of the camps
15 to 20 million people lived in the camps at a time being worked to death
all sent to prison for disagreeing with the soviet state, or even for no reason at all
many many religious were sent because the USSR was declared atheist
the author accounts his own struggle, as a committed marxist, coming to terms with the reality of communism
the author puts the blame squarely on communism itself, not stalin nor lenin
the mass executions of over a million people and the even greater purges of untold millions were all part and parcel of eliminating the ownership of private property and religious institutions, directly derived from communist principles

Listen While You Still Can

This is the realistic accounting of communism then and what it would look like now.....somethings do not change. If this was required reading for students there would be no progressives to push the communists tripe. Alas, somethings do not change. I will continue on with the other 2 volumes.

A must read for everyone

I feel so blessed to have had a chance to listen to this book ! A very sobering experience of the nature of evil, and a picture of tenacity I will never forget.I’m starting book 2 after writing this ! Thank you !

Read this and you'll fiercely resist socialism!

Every human being should read this to understand the Russian people and the application of Communism and totalitarian gov't.

Bad background noise

This book is a masterpiece, Fred Davidson does an ok job as narrator .....
But the recording has awful background noise. Sounds like there is a tv on in the next room or muffled talking in the background. But definitely not recorded in a sound studio. Really irritating and took away from the overall enjoyment of the oration.

Thought provoking

Important reading. Historical but still relevant in current times. Highly recommend to anyone that wants to be enlightened to such important history.