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Elaine, August 24, 2008

This is a wonderful, hearth-wrenching book describing ordinary lives in Stalin-era Russia (1920's - Stalin's death). Much of the description is based on interviews with survivors or victim's families, and some diaries. It describes how ordinary people (and I use the word ordinary again because that is an important point - these were not particularly politically-active or necessarily wealthy people - they were mostly just ordinary people) can be made to behave terribly by terrifying them. How these ordinary people can be led to turn against their neighbors, their friends, and even their families in an effort to save themselves.

Figes has done a remarkable job of making this material accessible to a general readership. Beautifully written, based on careful scholarship, it is a must for anyone who wants to understand this era and its impact on ordinary people.

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