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. The impact of Lenin and Stalin in the growth of communism along with the miasma of political requirements such as special communist classes and educational meetings all in line with the communist perspective were nothing