The Gulag Archipelago, Volume 1

An Experiment in Literary Investigation

De: Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn

Narrado por: Frederick Davidson

“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

Necessary Listening

Terrifying and instructive. Take it a bit at a time.
Don't let other reviewers' impatience with the narrator put you off. After a chapter or so you'll see why he was selected for the job -- I personally can't imagine anyone else doing it. His voice becomes inseparable from Solzhenitsyn's.

This masterpiece has been a traumatic experience.

Were I still young, I would probably enjoy every wrench and twist and taunt and fracture and sob and scream of this report. But, I am old and know that it really happened over and over, and is happening somewhere now, and will happen again. I don’t think that I will be going on to Volume 2. Beautiful work, but I can’t take it. I might reconsider if I didn’t have to do it alone.

A must read warning to Americans

Everyone needs to read this. We continue on the current path at our own peril.

Eye Opening

A book that informs us about the depravity of human behavior when extreme ideologies become the norm within a society.

A must read for the 21 century.

If you have not read this book, you have no realistic picture of the nature of politically correct thinking.

Eerily relevant

But seldom taught or discussed or used, as it should be, to warn humanity against statists, social visionaries and most especially anything resembling Socialism in any form.

Don’t let the background noise scare you off

Lots of reviews are talking about the background noise being too distracting but it’s minimal at most. Barely even noticeable. Certainly not bad enoug to warrant missing out on this. Expertly read, unbelievable story of intense suffering. Absolutely amazing audiobook.

Anyone within North America should listen to it

Great book. It makes you think and appreciate beyond doubt how lucky we are in the West.

Poignant and hilarious expose of Marxism

This was my wife’s favorite books in the 1980s. I finally listened and was captivated by the great insights into the horrors of soviet Russia. It vividly and humorously portrays the evils of Marxism with the constant revelations of the tortures and brutality inflicted on ordinary citizens. Everyone should read it now.

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.