Avastsystemofprisons,camps,andexilesettlements,theGulagwasoneofthedefiningattributesoftheStalinistSovietUnionandoneofthemostheinousexamplesofmassincarcerationinthetwentiethcentury,combiningthefunctionsofastandardprisonsystemwiththegoalofisolatingandpunishingallegedenemiesoftheSovietregime.itstretchedthroughouttheSovietUnion,fromcentralMoscowtothefarthestreachesofSiberia.Fromitscreationin1930toitspartialdismantlinginthemid-1950s,approximately25millionpeoplepassedthroughtheGulag.Prisonersandexileswereforcedtoworkinbrutalconditions,andmillionsperished.AlthoughthemajorityofprisonersandexileswerereleasedafterStalin’sdeath,thiswasnotanendtotheirstruggles.SurvivorsattemptedtoreintegratethemselvesintoaSovietpolitical,social,andeconomicsystemthatwashardlywelcoming.Althoughsomeformerprisonerswroteorspokeabouttheirexperiencesintheyearsanddecadesafterrelease,itwasnotuntilafterthecollapseoftheSovietUnionthatafullreckoningbecamepossible.TheGulag:AVeryShortIntroductionexaminestheGulaganditslegacybasedonprisonertestimony,archivalsources,andtheverylatestscholarshipinthehumanitiesandsocialsciences.Itanswerspressingquestionssuchas:whatwastheGulag,andwhywasitcreated?HowdiditfitintotheSovietsocial,cultural,andeconomicsystem?Whatdidprisonersandexiles,whocamefromawiderangeofbackgrounds,experienceintheGulag?Whatweretheirprospectsforsurvival?Howdidformerprisonersandexilesattempttocometotermswiththeirexperiencesafterrelease?ThisVeryShortIntroductionfocusesonthreethemes--theclosesocial,cultural,political,andeconomicconnectionsbetweentheworldoftheGulagandtheSovietUnionatlarge;thediverseidentitiesofprisonersandexilesandhowthisaffectedtheirexperiences;andthelong-termlegaciesoftheGulagintheSovietUnionandthepost-Sovietsuccessorstates.Ultimately,TheGulag:AVeryShortIntroductiontreatstheGulagasoneofthequintessentialinstitutionsoftheStalinistSovietUnionandanexampleofhowmodernstates,particularlythosewithutopianambitions,havesoughttomanagepopulationsthroughincarcerationandforcedlabor.
