The Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Washington held a presentation of the book “Gulag: A History” written by Ms. Anne Applebaum, a columnist and member of the editorial board at The Washington Post, on April 29 .

The commentary to the book was offered by senator John McCain (R-Arizona). Over 150 guests took part in the ceremony. Among them were: Ambassador of Lithuania, as well as, charge d’affires of Georgia, Slovakia, D. Fried from NSC and well known Washington journalists: F.Hiatt, L.Spiegel, Ch.Burns, D.Ensor and J.Diehl.

The book received very good recommendations from the critics, who estimate it as one of the best contemporary studies on Soviet terror. Not only is it perceived as a valuable historic analysis, presenting archived information not revealed before, but it also unveils the inhuman treatment of the Soviet regime victims. In a chronological order, starting from the Russian Revolution in 1918 up to the glasnost era in the 80ties, Anne Applebaum explains the logic behind the creation, enlargement and maintenance of the camps. She also justifies a thesis that over time, Gulag had become “a country within country”, by developing almost a separate civilization , its own laws, customs, literature, folklore, slang and morality. By showing every day life of people placed in camps, Anne Applebaum tries to familiarize the reader with the tragedy of over 18 million Gulag victims, in a prevailing majority guilty of nothing.