What is The Gulag Archipelago?
Q: What is The Gulag Archipelago?
A: The Gulag Archipelago is a book in three volumes by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn that chronicles the forced labour camps in the Soviet Union from the 1930s to the 1950s.
Q: How was the book written and when was it published?
A: The book was written between 1958 and 1968 and was published in the West in 1973.
Q: Who provided the accounts for the narrative?
A: The narrative relies on accounts from people who experienced the events, including the author himself, who was a prisoner in one of the labour camps.
Q: What does the word "archipelago" signify in the title?
A: The word "archipelago" compares the network of labour camps to a vast chain of islands.
Q: How was the book received in the Soviet Union?
A: In the Soviet Union, the book circulated in samizdat until its official publication in 1989.
Q: Is The Gulag Archipelago now part of the high-school curriculum in Russia?
A: Yes, since the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the formation of the Russian Federation, The Gulag Archipelago is included in the high-school curriculum in Russia. It has been compulsory reading for high-school students since 2009.
Q: What is the background of The Gulag Archipelago?
A: The book was written by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, who was a prisoner in one of the Soviet Union's labour camps. It is a collection of accounts of the experiences of people who were also imprisoned in these camps. The book was published in the West in 1973 and has since become an important account of Soviet history.
