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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hell is a walk in the park, 5 May 2009
Words fail me after reading this book. It's impossible to exaggerate the nightmare of the Gulags. They make the tortures of hell sound like a picnic in comparison. I've read quite a few books about Stalinism and the Gulags, including Anne Applebaum's excellent Gulag: A History of the Soviet Camps and Simon Sebag Montefiore's Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar, but neither author manages to tell the terrifying story as well as Tim Tzouliadis. He best captures the mentality of the merciless system and catalogues the unremitting misery of the victims. His scholarship (apparent from the absolutely huge notes section and bibliography at the end of the book) is awesome and meticulous, but above all he tells the story better than any other author. The structure of the book, melding personal testimonies with the wider political and diplomatic machinations, and his excellent, readable prose make this easy and satisfying to read.
I thought that telling this story from the point of view of Americans held in the USSR was a novel, original perspective on the Gulag story. And whilst the book is subtitled "From the Great Depression..." it is not only about emigrants from that period, but also American servicemen captured during the Second World War and the Korean War. I had wondered in the past what became of these unfortunates so it was satisfying to learn of the existence of this book and I bought and devoured it right away. For those who have only read the likes of Tom Rob Smith's Child 44, you could disabuse yourself of the book's many fictions by buying Forsaken. Because though this book is anchored around Americans enslaved and murdered in the USSR it is also a general history of the Gulags too, so if you only ever buy one book about the Soviet "corrective labour" camps, buy this one. I really cannot recommend this book highly enough. It deserves six stars.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Gulag and The American Connection--the immigration, the consequences, the complicity, the cover-up, 15 Mar 2009
Following years of groundbreaking, painstaking research through archives on two continents, The Forsaken: An American Tragedy in Stalin's Russia is the resulting chapter from the little-reported pages of history of that period in which thousands of Americans, faced with a devasting Depression at home in the 1930s and lured by the power of the written word and an ideology of communism, immigrated to Stalin's Russia in search of the proverbial greener pastures. The book documents and details the background, the emigration/immigration, the tragic consequences, the complicity and the cover-up of American writers, journalists and academics, as well as the indifferences of both the Franklin Roosevelt Administration and, specifically, the State Department to history, even as it was being written.
Tim Tzouliadis, born in Athens and raised in England, is a graduate of Oxford. He pursued a career as a documentary filmmaker and television journalist; his work has appeared on NBC and the National Geographic Channel.
Written in a style sure to completely capture your interest from the first page, first sentence, you'll find it difficult, at best, to put down this riveting recount straight off the pages of history and from deep within the archives of America and Russia.
In the midst of America's deep Depression, many, searching for a better life, read an English translation of "New Russia's Primer: The Story of the Five-Year Plan," and, in the process, made it a bestseller for seven months and one of the highest selling nonfiction titles of the past decade. They not only devoured the book, believing that the grass was greener on the other side, but they implemented their thoughts with actions by immigrating to Russia to better their lives. Not only would they find the proverb to be untrue, but also, many times, they would travel the dusty highways of horror, tree-lined turnpikes of torture, and the abrasive asphalt avenues of death in their journey through truth.
Originally, "New Russia's Primer: The Story of the Five-Year Plan," had been written for schoolchildren in Russia--it offered explanations that were simple and alluring; the book's depiction of social progress and future happiness were what attracted the Depression immigrants. They read that socialism was no longer a plan, but that to create this socialistic utopia, strong hands were needed. Paucity of jobs prevailed in the USA; jobs were available and accessible in the USSR--for some, Joe Stalin's enticing invitation was simply too tough to resist--as the promise of the workers' paradise beckoned.
In the first eight months of 1931 alone, over 100,000 American applications to immigrate to the USSR were received by the Soviet trade agency in the USSR--and, for the first time, more people left the USA then arrived. That year, 10,000 Americans were hired to fill myriad occupations--they worked as plumbers, painters, barbers, cooks, clerical workers, service-station operators, carpenters, electricians, aviators, engineers, dentists, or librarians.
Some left as individuals, some were members of organizations; many brought their wives and children, albeit they were discouraged from doing so by the U.S. government.
On February 14, 1931, British journalist and New York Times correspondent Duranty called it "the greatest wave of immigration in modern history." This was the same New York Times correspondent, Walter Duranty, who is mentioned by The Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, Inc., in part, in the paragraph below:
"Some prominent journalists of the time, such as New York Times correspondent Walter Duranty, aided the Soviets in concealing their crimes by proliferating their propaganda in the West and slandering those who reported on the Famine in Ukraine. Mr. Duranty was even awarded the Pulitzer Prize for `Excellence in Journalism' for his reports on the Soviet Union and its `successful development,' while in private admitting that up to 10 million people might have starved to death."
Amidst the Terror, more than anyone else, it was Walter Duranty who persuaded President Franklin Roosevelt to grant diplomatic recognition to the Soviet government. As millions were being tortured and killed, the United States was making friendly overtures to Joe Stalin while opening a U.S. Embassy in Moscow.
This gripping history, eye-opening exposé of Stalin's Russia and how a true American tragedy was seeded, concealed, and denied is detailed and documented via extensive notes (pages 365-398), bibliography (pages 399-416) and index (pages 417-436).
A note to readers: as you encounter references to Ukraine, remember that in Soviet times "the Ukraine" was in vogue among Russians while that name was being forced on the country; however, Ukraine has been independent since 1991, and the country should properly be referred to by one word, "Ukraine."
The Forsaken: An American Tragedy in Stalin's Russia documents the `little reported' history of Americans losing their lives in the Gulag. Although their stories are revealed, more important is the exposé of the complicity of American academics, journalists, and writers, who accepted and reported Stalinist propaganda--they first encouraged the immigration; later, they denied evidence of Stalin's Terror.
And, to this day, The New York Times continues to proudly display the Pulitzer Prize for `Excellence in Journalism' that was awarded to its then world-renowned reporter, Walter Duranty. Is the New York Times interested in the truth? Apparently, not--not as long as that Pulitzer remains on display. The West, through its pro-Stalin policy makers, the indifference of the State Department, the cover-up and complicity of the academics, journalists and writers, and the American policy following World War II, accommodated the Soviet's actions. This is the story of the players in and the enablers of the American tragedy.
The Forsaken: An American Tragedy in Stalin's Russia is a remarkable documentary about a topic, which until now has been little reported, little discussed--but, is, nevertheless, much needed to be told. Five stars plus for outstanding reporting--an engrossing, enthralling read sure to generate much discussion as the American tragedy and the tales of the forsaken herald truth's triumph with transparency.
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2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fascinating and important story, 3 Nov 2008
The Foresaken is a fascinating, finely researched and important book. Tzouliadis recounts the largely forgotten story of the emigration of desperate Americans to the USSR in the 1930s at a time when capitalism and liberal democracy seemed to be failing. The book interweaves the personal story of American auto workers, in particular Thomas Sgovio, with the unfolding of Stalin's terror. Tzouliadis gives special scrutiny to the blind eye turned by the US administration to Soviet crimes. He particularly brought home to me the personal tragedy of the terror that is often masked by the scale of the suffering and slaughter.
Tzouliadis has an Orwellian horror of totalitarianism and his anger and eloquence give this book great energy. It is a gripping story well told that has important lessons for our own turbulent time, not least re-enforcing Burke's oft quoted maxim: "all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing".
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