Why would I choose to review a book of this magnitude? I can only say that names like Dostoevsky, Tolstoy and Solzhenitsyn are names that, to me, are synonymous with detail, depth, mind-blowing capturing of a time that was filled with change and upheaval. Those names, in literature, mean excellence; writing skills that the average writer can only dream of. This book captures the essence of the lives of political prisoners in the Soviet Union as experienced by Solzhenitsyn.