Drawings from the Gulag

Name: Drawings from the Gulag
Brand: Thames and Hudson (Australia) Pty Ltd
SKU: 9780956356246
Price: 60.99 NZD
Availability: OutOfStock

By FUEL and Danzig Baldaev and Damon Murray and Stephen Sorrell

0.0 (0 reviews)

4.41

( 164 ratings, 24 reviews)

Summary

Drawings from the Gulag features 130 haunting illustrations by Danzig Baldaev that chronicle the brutal history and daily realities of the Soviet Gulag system from 1918 onwards. Baldaev, initially trained to document criminal tattoos at Kresty prison, was permitted by the KGB to travel across the USSR, capturing the lives of inmates and guards alike. His sketches vividly portray inmates ranging from the lowest zek to the violent vor, exposing methods of torture, mass murder, and the oppressive atmosphere under the camp administration.
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Format: Hardback

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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This book will appeal to readers interested in history, political oppression, and art that documents human suffering. It suits those seeking a visual and historical exploration of the Soviet Gulag and the resilience of its prisoners through raw, graphic narrative art.

Contains 130 drawings describing the history, horror and peculiarities of the Gulag system from its inception in 1918. This title depicts methods of torture and mass murder undertaken by the administration, as well as the atrocities committed by criminals on their fellow inmates.

Description

Drawings from the Gulag consists of 130 drawings by Danzig Baldaev describing the history, horror and peculiarities of the Gulag system from its inception in 1918. Baldaev's father, a respected ethnographer, taught him techniques to record the tattoos of criminals in St Petersburg's notorious Kresty prison, where he worked as a guard.

He was reported to the KGB who unexpectedly supported his work, allowing him the opportunity to travel across the former USSR. Witnessing scenes of everyday life in the Gulag, he chronicled this previously closed world from both sides of the wire.

With every vignette, Baldaev brings the characters he depicts to vivid life: from the lowest zek (inmate) to the most violent tattooed vor (thief), all the practices and inhabitants of the Gulag system are depicted here in incredible, and often shocking, detail.

In documenting the attitude of the authorities to those imprisoned, and the transformation of those citizens into survivors or victims of the Gulag system, this 'graphic novel' vividly depicts methods of torture and mass murder undertaken by the administration, as well as the atrocities committed by criminals on their fellow inmates.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Roland Elliott Brown from The Observer highlights the dark depth of Baldaev's work, describing it as a transformation of psychological trauma into 'a terrifying work of sadistic pornography'. The review emphasises Baldaev’s unique background and the harrowing insight his drawings provide into the Soviet penal system, shedding light on a previously hidden world.