Anne Applebaum Books

In 1932-33, nearly four million Ukrainians died of starvation, having been deliberately deprived of food. Red Famine shows how this happened, who was responsible, and what the consequences were. The book draws on a mass of archival material and first-hand testimony. It includes accounts by survivors describing what human beings can do when driven mad by hunger. It shows how the Soviet state used propaganda to turn neighbours against each other in order to expunge supposedly 'anti-revolutionary' elements. It also records the actions of extraordinary individuals who did all they could to relieve the suffering. The famine was rapidly followed by an attack on Ukraine's cultural and political leadership - and then by a denial that it had ever happened. The Soviet authorities were determined not only that Ukraine should abandon its national aspirations, but that the country's true history should be buried along with its millions of victims. Red Famine, a triumph of scholarship and human sympathy, is a milestone in the recovery of those memories and that history.

Applebaum's account is poised to become the definitive treatment of a significant political atrocity, vividly re-creating a pastoral world to illustrate its destruction. She argues that the deliberate starvation of Ukrainian peasants was part of a broader Soviet policy against the Ukrainian nation. Understanding this history is essential for contemporary Russians as they grapple with their past. Lucid and powerful, her argument that Stalin targeted Ukraine for special punishment is compelling. The narrative chronicles the devastation inflicted upon Ukraine by Stalin and his regime, built on suspicion and fear. By incorporating contemporary voices, the book resonates with current events, reminding readers that history offers both hope and tragedy. It serves as a heartbreaking history of Stalin's Ukrainian famine, illustrating how starvation was weaponized in the Sovietization of Ukraine. Applebaum’s work reveals the horrific consequences of a regime at war with its own people. Her relentless and shocking narrative solidifies her reputation as a leading historian of Soviet crimes, providing a crucial backstory for understanding present-day relations between Russia and Ukraine. This authoritative history is a vital resource for grasping the complexities of national strife.

Collects the writings of a diverse group of people who survived imprisonment in the Gulag, recounting their experiences and relationships, and offering insight into the psychological aspects of life in the camps.

Reveals one of the greatest horrors of the 20th century: the system of Soviet camps that are responsible for the deaths of countless millions. This work presents history of the camp: from its origins under the tsars, to its colossal expansion under Stalin's reign of terror, its zenith in the late 1940s and eventual collapse in the era of glasnost.

One of the world's most celebrated historians and journalists uncovers the networks aiming to undermine democracy. The traditional image of an autocratic state, with a single tyrant at the helm, is outdated. In the 21st century, autocracies function through sophisticated networks of kleptocratic financial systems, security services, and professional propagandists. These members are interconnected not just within their own countries but across borders. Corrupt, state-controlled companies collaborate internationally, while police forces in one nation can train and equip those in another. Propagandists share resources; troll farms promoting one dictator's agenda can easily support another's, emphasizing the same anti-democratic messages. Unlike historical military or political alliances, this network operates more like a conglomerate: Autocracy, Inc. Their interactions are transactional, transcending ideological, geographical, and cultural divides. Their sole commonality is a shared disdain for the democratic world and a desire to undermine its systems and values. This book explores the origins, persistence, and mechanics of this autocratic coalition, as well as how the democratic world has inadvertently bolstered it and what can be done to dismantle it.

Anne Applebaum, a distinguished historian of communism and contemporary politics, addresses a pressing question: how did democracy falter? In this urgent and insightful work, she explores the disillusionment of those who once championed democratic ideals, now succumbing to deceitful leaders. This deeply personal account combines analysis, reportage, and memoir to reveal the troubling trajectory of a political generation. In the years surrounding the fall of the Berlin Wall, a sense of achievement and camaraderie united diverse political groups in Europe and America. However, as time passed, this euphoria faded, common goals diminished, and extremism resurfaced, leading to fractured relationships. Applebaum examines this decline through the lens of individuals entangled in significant public events over the past three decades. As politics becomes polarized, individuals—journalists, intellectuals, civic leaders—face difficult choices regarding the rise of authoritarianism and nationalism. When leaders distort history, propagate conspiracies, or undermine media and judiciary integrity, how should one respond? This essay uniquely intertwines personal experiences with political analysis, offering fresh insights into the dynamics of public life in Europe and America, both present and past.

As Europe's borderlands emerged from Soviet rule, Anne Applebaum travelled from the Baltic to the Black Sea, through Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine and the Carpathian mountains. Rich in vivid characters and stories of tragedy and survival, Between East and West illuminates the soul of a place, and the secret history of its people

At the end of the Second World War, the Soviet Union unexpectedly found itself in control of a huge swathe of territory in Eastern Europe. Stalin and his secret police set out to convert a dozen radically different countries to a completely new political and moral system- Communism. Anne Applebaum's landmark history of this brutal time shows how societies were ruthlessly eviscerated by Communist regimes, how opposition was destroyed and what life was like for ordinary people who had to choose whether to fight, to flee or to collaborate. Iron Curtainis an exceptional work of historical and moral reckoning, and a haunting reminder of how fragile freedom can be. Chosen 16 times as a 'Book of the Year' - The top Non-Fiction pick of 2012'The best work of modern history I have ever read.' A. N. Wilson, Financial Times'The outstanding book of the year . . . a masterpiece.' Oliver Kamm, The Times, Books of the Year 'Exceptionally important, wise, perceptive, remarkably objective.' Antony Beevor 'Explains in a manner worthy of Arthur Koestler what totalitarianism really means . . . it is a window into a world of lies and evil that we can hardly imagine.' Edward Lucas, Standpoint 'At last the story can be told . . . a magisterial history.' Orlando Figes, Mail on Sunday

A FINANCIAL TIMES, ECONOMIST AND NEW STATESMAN BOOK OF THE YEAR 2020 'The most important non-fiction book of the year' David Hare In the years just before and after the fall of the Berlin Wall, people from across the political spectrum in Europe and America celebrated a great achievement, felt a common purpose and, very often, forged personal friendships. Yet over the following decades the euphoria evaporated, the common purpose and centre ground gradually disappeared, extremism rose once more and eventually - as this book compellingly relates - the relationships soured too. Anne Applebaum traces this history in an unfamiliar way, looking at the trajectories of individuals caught up in the public events of the last three decades. When politics becomes polarized, which side do you back? If you are a journalist, an intellectual, a civic leader, how do you deal with the re-emergence of authoritarian or nationalist ideas in your country? When your leaders appropriate history, or pedal conspiracies, or eviscerate the media and the judiciary, do you go along with it? Twilight of Democracy is an essay that combines the personal and the political in an original way and brings a fresh understanding to the dynamics of public life in Europe and America, both now and in the recent past.

Der Holodomor: die umfassende Darstellung eines der größten Menschheitsverbrechen Der gegenwärtige Krieg in der Ukraine ist ohne diese historische Last nicht zu verstehen - der erzwungene Hungertod von mehr als drei Millionen Ukrainern 1932 und 1933, Holodomor genannt, war eine der größten Katastrophen des 20. Jahrhunderts. Und sie hat Folgen bis heute – Stalins „Krieg gegen die Ukraine“ hat sich tief im kollektiven Bewusstsein der osteuropäischen Völker verankert. Pulitzer-Preisträgerin Anne Applebaum vereint in ihrer Darstellung auf eindrückliche Weise die Perspektive der Täter und jene der Opfer: Sie zeigt Stalins Terrorregime gegen die Ukraine, die Umstände der Vernichtungspolitik - und verleiht zugleich den hungernden Ukrainern eine Stimme. Ein gewaltiges Buch, erschütternd und erhellend zugleich. Ausstattung: mit Abb.