Selected 16 times as 'Book of the Year' - the top non-fiction choice of 2012. The best work of modern history I have ever read, says A. N. Wilson of the Financial Times.
At the end of World War II, the Soviet Union suddenly found itself in control of a large swath of territory in Eastern Europe. Stalin and his secret police sought to transform twelve radically different countries into a completely new political and moral system: Communism. Anne Applebaum's iconic history of this harsh era shows how societies were ravaged by communist regimes, how opposition was dismantled, and what life was like for ordinary people who had to choose whether to fight, flee, or collaborate.
A haunting reminder of how fragile freedom can be, Iron Curtain is an exceptional work of historical and moral reckoning.
ANNE APPLEBAUM is a historian and journalist, a regular columnist for the Washington Post and Slate, and the author of several books, including Gulag: A History, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 2004. She is Director of Political Studies at the Legatum Institute in London, and divides her time between Britain and Poland, where her husband, Radek Sikorski, serves as Foreign Minister.
"The outstanding book of the year... a masterpiece," says Oliver Kamm of The Times, Books of the Year. "Extremely important, wise, insightful, Remarkably objective," adds Anthony Beevor.
"Explains in a manner worthy of Arthur Koestler what totalitarianism really means... it is a window into a world of lies and malice that we cannot imagine," emphasizes Edward Lucas of Standpoint.
"At last the story can be told... a magisterial history," says Orlando Figes of the Mail on Sunday.
Pages: 656, Dimensions: 12.8x12.8cm
