The Forsaken: An American Tragedy in Stalin's Russia

by Tim Tzouliadis

Overview

“Gripping and important . . . an extremely impressive book.” —Noel Malcolm, Telegraph (London)

A remarkable piece of forgotten history- the never-before-told story of Americans lured to Soviet Russia by the promise of jobs and better lives, only to meet tragic ends

In 1934, a photograph was taken of a baseball team. These two rows of young men look like any group of American ballplayers, except perhaps for the Russian lettering on their jerseys. The players have left their homeland and the Great Depression in search of a better life in Stalinist Russia, but instead they will meet tragic and, until now, forgotten fates. Within four years, most of them will be arrested alongside untold numbers of other Americans. Some will be executed. Others will be sent to "corrective labor" camps where they will be worked to death. This book is the story of lives-the forsaken who died and those who survived.

Based on groundbreaking research, The Forsaken is the story of Americans whose dreams were shattered and lives lost in Stalinist Russia.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781440637032
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	07/17/2008
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	448
Sales rank:	751,330
File size:	623 KB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Born in Athens, Timotheos Tzouladis was raised in England. A graduate of Oxford, he subsequently pursued a career as a documentary filmmaker and television journalist whose work has appeared on NBC and National Geographic television. He lives in London.

Table of Contents

1 The Joads of Russia 1

2 Baseball in Gorky Park 12

3 "Life Has Become More Joyful!" 23

4 "Fordizatsia" 30

5 "The Lindbergh of Russia" 38

6 "The Captured Americans" 48

7 "The Arrival of Spring" 61

8 The Terror, the Terror 78

9 Spetzrabota 93

10 "A Dispassionate Observer" 108

11 "Send Views of New York" 122

12 "Submission to Moscow" 135

13 Kolyma Znaczit Smert 148

14 The Soviet Gold Rush 160

15 "Our Selfless Labor Will Restore Us to the Family of Workers" 173

16 June 22, 1941 187

17 The American Brands of a Soviet Genocide 203

18 An American Vice President in the Heart of Darkness 215

19 "To See Cruelty and Burn Not" 228

20 "Release by the Green Procurator" 247

21 The Second Generation 258

22 Awakening 274

23 "Citizen of the United States of America, Allied Officer Dale" 286

24 Smert Stalina Spaset Rossiiu 303

25 Freedom and Deceit 317

26 The Truth at Last 336

27 "The Two Russias" 351

28 Thomas Sgovio Redux 360

Acknowledgments 363

Notes 365

Bibliography 399

Index 417

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

" The horror that was Stalinist Russia is still incomprehensible to many Americans . . . Reading this book is certain to open their eyes."
-Richard Pipes, The New York Sun

" Gripping and important . . . an extremely impressive book."
-Noel Malcolm, Telegraph (London)

" Tzouliadis's clear, strong narrative discloses the terrible fates which awaited those . . . who wandered into the Soviet sphere. . . . [A] grim, brilliantly told story."
-Financial Times

Editorial Reviews

The horror that was Stalinist Russia is still incomprehensible to many Americans . . . Reading this book is certain to open their eyes.” —Richard Pipes, The New York Sun

“Gripping and important . . . an extremely impressive book.” —Noel Malcolm, Telegraph (London)

“Tzouliadis's clear, strong narrative discloses the terrible fates which awaited those . . . who wandered into the Soviet sphere. . . . [A] grim, brilliantly told story.” —Financial Times

From the Publisher