In this examination of Solzhenitsyn and his work, Lee Congdon explores the consequences of the atheistic socialism that drove the Russian revolutionary movement. Beginning with a description of the post-revolutionary Russia into which Solzhenitsyn was born, Congdon addresses the Bolshevik victory in the civil war, the origins of the concentration camp system, the Bolsheviks' war on Christianity and the Russian Orthodox Church, Solzhenitsyn's arrest near the war's end, his time in the labor camps, his struggle with cancer, his exile and increasing alienation from the Western way of life, and his return home. He concludes with a reminder of Solzhenitsyn's warning to the West - that it was on a path parallel to that which Russia had followed into the abyss.

The book is published by Northern Illinois University Press, an imprint of Cornell University Press. The audiobook is published by University Press Audiobooks.

"Offers the best guide to Solzhenitsyn's views, including their evolution...." (Times Literary Supplement)

"Congdon's sociohistorical and political focus is formidable.... Highly recommended." (Choice)

"The book's lucid style and choice of illustrative examples make for easy and pleasant reading." (The Russian Review)