A Look At "The Gulag Archipelago"

The Gulag Archipelago is a book written by Aleksandr Solzenitsyn, detailing the forced (corrective) labor camps in the Soviet Union. Solzenitsyn was sentenced to an 8 year term in the camps, a provided a first hand account of the conditions. He also corresponded with many other former prisoners, and incorporates their experiences as well. It is largely an anecdotal account of the gulags, and so Solzenitsyn refers to his work as an 'experiment in literary investigation'. Often depressing, sometimes sarcastic, the Gulag Archipelago provides a blunt look the worst of humanity. It deals with a part of history that is normally not talked about, and so is extremely fascinating and worth reading.