This is the last in the series, and it continues the author’s eclectic writing style, mixing personal experiences with those of other survivors of the Gulag system. He introduced the idea of the Gulag being a nation, so this volume describes the inhabitants and extrapolates the system to the entire Russian state. His arguments are pretty convincing; you can’t create such a system of forced labor, in which the majority of the “workers” die of malnutrition, freezing temperatures, and murder by the hands of their captors.

The Gulag extended beyond the camps, forming communities of exiles after their release. Life as an exile was so bad that many former inmates returned to the work camps as “free” laborers or by committing new crimes (which was easy to do within the Soviet system). The author argues that the Archipelago so impacted Soviet society that the entire nation was swallowed by the Gulag, turning Russia into one large work camp. A society characterized by paranoia, distrust, and total submission to the state.

This photo of the author in the infamous Ekibastuz special camp (for 58s, political offenders) perfectly conveys the stoic, distrustful expression common to all survivors. That thin coat was what they wore (if they were lucky) in -50F weather working outdoors. Many froze to death at work or on the long hike back to the unheated barracks. Imagine a society with this mentality, even if they don’t show it on their faces.

These books were long, probably unnecessarily so, but they left me with an indelible impression of just how poorly people treat each other; the Gulag was filled with Russian citizens, many of whom fought during the Second World War.

Man’s inhumanity to man knows no bounds…