by Kathryn Hadley
The Forsaken by Tim Tzouliadis was published in paperback at the end of last week by Abacus. The book was the winner of the 2008 Longman/History Today Book of the Year award. Every year since 1994 History Today has presented the award in conjunction with the publisher Longman in memory of History Today’s co-founding editors Peter Quennell and Alan Hodge. This year’s judges were Professor Miri Rubin of Queen Mary, University of London, Professor Jeremy Black of University of Exeter, Taylor Downing, a documentary film-maker and historian and Peter Furtado, former editor of History Today.
‘I am in jail in Russia. Go to the nearest police station and report it. Matter of dead or live. Save me please and all the others.’
The author discovered this plea inscribed on a wooden tag smuggled out of a Soviet Gulag camp whilst carrying out research in a State Department Archive. Based on official records, memoirs, newspaper reports and interviews, The Forsaken describes the fate of the thousands of Americans who, in the 1930s in the depths of the Great Depression, emigrated to the communist Soviet Union, lured by the prospect of racial equality and honest work under Stalin’s Five Year Plan. They were, however, betrayed both by Stalin’s Russia and by their own countrymen, when the US embassy failed to protect US citizens caught up in the Terror.
‘I am in jail in Russia. Go to the nearest police station and report it. Matter of dead or live. Save me please and all the others.’
The author discovered this plea inscribed on a wooden tag smuggled out of a Soviet Gulag camp whilst carrying out research in a State Department Archive. Based on official records, memoirs, newspaper reports and interviews, The Forsaken describes the fate of the thousands of Americans who, in the 1930s in the depths of the Great Depression, emigrated to the communist Soviet Union, lured by the prospect of racial equality and honest work under Stalin’s Five Year Plan. They were, however, betrayed both by Stalin’s Russia and by their own countrymen, when the US embassy failed to protect US citizens caught up in the Terror.
For further information read the review by Taylor Downing published in the March issue of History Today.
1 comment:
Thanks ever so much, very useful article. Great information! Very smart, thanks for kindly sharing it with us. Very well done indeed. If you do not mind, please visit my article related to pandeglang district in Banten, Indonesia at Kenali dan Kunjungi Objek Wisata di Pandeglang and if you want to learn how to speek Indonesia just come visit my page at Learn Indonesia Language
Post a Comment