Death and Redemption: The Gulag and the Shaping of Soviet Society [NOOK Book]

Be the first to write a review

Overview

Death and Redemption offers a fundamental reinterpretation of the role of the Gulag--the Soviet Union's vast system of forced-labor camps, internal exile, and prisons--in Soviet society. Soviet authorities undoubtedly had the means to exterminate all the prisoners who passed through the Gulag, but unlike the Nazis they did not conceive of their concentration camps as instruments of genocide. In this provocative book, Steven Barnes argues that the Gulag must be understood primarily as a penal institution where ...

See more details below
Death and Redemption: The Gulag and the Shaping of Soviet Society

Available on NOOK devices and apps  
  • Nook Devices
  • NOOK HD/HD+ Tablet
  • NOOK
  • NOOK Color
  • NOOK Tablet
  • Tablet/Phone
  • NOOK for Windows 8 Tablet
  • NOOK for iOS
  • NOOK for Android
  • NOOK Kids for iPad
  • PC/Mac
  • NOOK for Windows 8
  • NOOK Study
  • NOOK for Web

Want a NOOK? Explore Now

NOOK Book (eBook)
$23.97
BN.com price
(Save 40%)$39.95 List Price

More About This Book

Overview

Death and Redemption offers a fundamental reinterpretation of the role of the Gulag--the Soviet Union's vast system of forced-labor camps, internal exile, and prisons--in Soviet society. Soviet authorities undoubtedly had the means to exterminate all the prisoners who passed through the Gulag, but unlike the Nazis they did not conceive of their concentration camps as instruments of genocide. In this provocative book, Steven Barnes argues that the Gulag must be understood primarily as a penal institution where prisoners were given one final chance to reintegrate into Soviet society. Millions whom authorities deemed "reeducated" through brutal forced labor were allowed to leave. Millions more who "failed" never got out alive.

Drawing on newly opened archives in Russia and Kazakhstan as well as memoirs by actual prisoners, Barnes shows how the Gulag was integral to the Soviet goal of building a utopian socialist society. He takes readers into the Gulag itself, focusing on one outpost of the Gulag system in the Karaganda region of Kazakhstan, a location that featured the full panoply of Soviet detention institutions. Barnes traces the Gulag experience from its beginnings after the 1917 Russian Revolution to its decline following the 1953 death of Stalin.

Death and Redemption reveals how the Gulag defined the border between those who would reenter Soviet society and those who would be excluded through death.

Read More Show Less

Editorial Reviews

Russian Review
Death and Redemption is a well-written and provocatively argued book that all serious students of Soviet history will need to read and contemplate. Drawing from a wide variety of Russian and Kazakh archives and displaying a firm command of the available primary and secondary sources, Barnes has clearly done his research and done it well. Barnes's focus on ideology is new and refreshing. . . . [T]his book is a major achievement. . . . Steven Barnes's monograph is quite simply the best introduction to the Gulag currently available.
— Brian LaPierre
European Legacy
Barnes's Death and Redemption performs a timely and important service. . . . In taking on the Gulag, perhaps the nadir of the Soviet experience, without ideological rancor, Barnes has made a significant contribution to Soviet history, and provided the interested general reader with a fascinating experience.
— John Bokina
Europe-Asia Studies

Steven Barnes' historical study of the Gulag practices of its prisoners' 're-education' and rehabilitation is a compelling contribution to the vast and continually expanding body of scholarly literature on the Stalinist era. . . . I ought to conclude this review with commending and thanking the author for tackling a very difficult subject in a scholarly, objective and thought-provoking manner.
— Elena Katz
Europe Asia Studies
Steven Barnes' historical study of the Gulag practices of its prisoners' 're-education' and rehabilitation is a compelling contribution to the vast and continually expanding body of scholarly literature on the Stalinist era. . . . I ought to conclude this review with commending and thanking the author for tackling a very difficult subject in a scholarly, objective and thought-provoking manner.
— Elena Katz
Russian Review - Brian LaPierre
Death and Redemption is a well-written and provocatively argued book that all serious students of Soviet history will need to read and contemplate. Drawing from a wide variety of Russian and Kazakh archives and displaying a firm command of the available primary and secondary sources, Barnes has clearly done his research and done it well. Barnes's focus on ideology is new and refreshing. . . . [T]his book is a major achievement. . . . Steven Barnes's monograph is quite simply the best introduction to the Gulag currently available.
European Legacy - John Bokina
Barnes's Death and Redemption performs a timely and important service. . . . In taking on the Gulag, perhaps the nadir of the Soviet experience, without ideological rancor, Barnes has made a significant contribution to Soviet history, and provided the interested general reader with a fascinating experience.
Europe Asia Studies - Elena Katz
Steven Barnes' historical study of the Gulag practices of its prisoners' 're-education' and rehabilitation is a compelling contribution to the vast and continually expanding body of scholarly literature on the Stalinist era. . . . I ought to conclude this review with commending and thanking the author for tackling a very difficult subject in a scholarly, objective and thought-provoking manner.
Modern History - Alan Barenberg
[T]his is an important book that should be widely read. Whether or not one fundamentally agrees with its interpretation of the Gulag and its place in Soviet society, this is a well-researched, original, and sophisticated work that challenges many long-held assumptions.
Slavic Review - Kate Brown
Steven A. Barnes does a wonderful job describing how the gulag, created to isolate, purify, and reeducate criminal and political prisoners, failed as an institution.
Read More Show Less

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9781400838615
  • Publisher: Princeton University Press
  • Publication date: 4/4/2011
  • Sold by: Barnes & Noble
  • Format: eBook
  • Pages: 368
  • Sales rank: 1,238,277
  • File size: 630 KB

Meet the Author

Steven A. Barnes is associate professor of history and director of the Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at George Mason University.
Read More Show Less

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix
INTRODUCTION 1
CHAPTER 1: The Origins, Functions, and Institutions of the Gulag 7
CHAPTER 2: Reclaiming the Margins and the Marginal: Gulag Practices in Karaganda, 1930s 28
CHAPTER 3: Categorizing Prisoners: The Identities of the Gulag 79
CHAPTER 4: Armageddon and the Gulag, 1939-1945 107
CHAPTER 5: A New Circle of Hell: The Postwar Gulag and the Rise of the Special Camps 155
CHAPTER 6: The Crash of the Gulag: Releases and Uprisings in the Post-Stalin Era 201
CONCLUSION 254
Notes 259
References 329
Index 341
Read More Show Less

Customer Reviews

Be the first to write a review
( 0 )
Rating Distribution

5 Star

(0)

4 Star

(0)

3 Star

(0)

2 Star

(0)

1 Star

(0)

Your Rating:

Review Guidelines
Add Recommendations
Your Name: Create a Pen Name or

Barnes & Noble.com Review Rules

Our reader reviews allow you to share your comments on titles you liked, or didn't, with others. By submitting an online review, you are representing to Barnes & Noble.com that all information contained in your review is original and accurate in all respects, and that the submission of such content by you and the posting of such content by Barnes & Noble.com does not and will not violate the rights of any third party. Please follow the rules below to help ensure that your review can be posted.

Reviews by Our Customers Under the Age of 13

We highly value and respect everyone's opinion concerning the titles we offer. However, we cannot allow persons under the age of 13 to have accounts at BN.com or to post customer reviews. Please see our Terms of Use for more details.

What to exclude from your review:

Please do not write about reviews, commentary, or information posted on the product page. If you see any errors in the information on the product page, please send us an email.

Reviews should not contain any of the following:

  • - HTML tags, profanity, obscenities, vulgarities, or comments that defame anyone
  • - Time-sensitive information such as tour dates, signings, lectures, etc.
  • - Single-word reviews. Other people will read your review to discover why you liked or didn't like the title. Be descriptive.
  • - Comments focusing on the author or that may ruin the ending for others
  • - Phone numbers, addresses, URLs
  • - Pricing and availability information or alternative ordering information
  • - Advertisements or commercial solicitation

Reminder:

  • - By submitting a review, you grant to Barnes & Noble.com and its sublicensees the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable right and license to use the review in accordance with the Barnes & Noble.com Terms of Use.
  • - Barnes & Noble.com reserves the right not to post any review -- particularly those that do not follow the terms and conditions of these Rules. Barnes & Noble.com also reserves the right to remove any review at any time without notice.
  • - See Terms of Use for other conditions and disclaimers.
Search for Products You'd Like to Recommend

Recommend other products that relate to your review. Just search for them below and share!

Create a Pen Name

Your Pen Name is your unique identity on BN.com. It will appear on the reviews you write and other website activities. Your Pen Name cannot be edited, changed or deleted once submitted.

 
Your Pen Name can be any combination of alphanumeric characters (plus - and _), and must be at least two characters long.

Continue Anonymously
    If you find inappropriate content, please report it to Barnes & Noble
    Why is this product inappropriate?
    Comments (optional)