Till My Tale Is Told: Women's Memoirs of the Gulag

This book is, without doubt, shocking, shaming, horrifying and representative of the utter degradation of the Stalin regime but equally, it is filled with courage, strength of spirit, endurance and compassion for one's fellow human beings. A collection of memoirs of women imprisoned in Stalin's purges, reading this is like having a series of intimate conversations with women caught up in something so evil and wicked it defies imagination. I found myself wondering about the Russian psyche, the nature of communism, the parameters of dictatorship and the increasing obsession today's governments have with political correctness. There are scarcely words to describe the future an ordinary, well-educated, Moscow career girl could face for telling a slight joke, having vengeful neighbours, marrying the wrong man, being the child of the wrong parents or, indeed, doing nothing wrong at all. This stuff makes Orwell's 1984 look like The Simpsons and Kafka like Harry Potter. So unjust and farcical were the bases on which these women were incarcerated in prisons and camps no different than those created by Hitler and the Nazis, that you feel the victims and, indeed, the whole of the USSR was caught up in an indescribable nightmare. Truly, I don't have words to describe how sick and devastated I felt on completing this book. Read it and weep. This truly was Armageddon.

Full of interesting characters, cruel soldiers, vicious fellow prisoners. The physical desolation and emotional desperation these women experienced during their respective prison sentences is unforgettable! This book should be required reading for anyone interested in modern-day tragedies.

I think everyone should read this book. It only serves to make us realise how lucky we are and how we, especially in the West, can have nothing to complain about. The sufferings of the various women who in some cases had to fell trees in -50 degrees centigrade for 600grms of bread a day is inspirational. At some points I felt that I was ready fictional accounts as I found it hard to believe that mans inhumanity to man, or in this case, woman could be so mind numbingly awful - and for what.....truly terrifying. Exceptional read you will not be able to put it down and the strength of character of the women will stay with you long after you have finished the book.