What a great story. I couldn't put the book down. It is a view of WW II and Soviet Terror told from a unique perspective. I was enthralled to read the first hand accurate descriptions of human suffering and maladies. Then to my suprise the Author revealed himself to be one of my professors during Medical School! He never talked about this part of his life during my brief and peripheral association with him, and was a hard but just teacher with glimpses of remarkable human tenderness.

The first hand description of vitamin deficiencies was insightful.

Buy this book and read about human courage and survival

This book is devastating in its depictions of the gulag's horrors, the bizarre and fascinating societal elements of the gulag, and the courage of its survivors. Bardach endured hell and then converted his experiences into a work worthy of deep contemplation. Although I read his account about a year ago, certain passages are still extraordinarily vivid in my mind -- an effect that few books can deliver. Bardach's memoir compelled me to read more gulag literature. I rank his remarkable contribution ahead of Ginzburg's Journey Into the Whirlwind and behind only Varlam Shalamov's amazing Kolyma Tales.

I read this book without putting it down. Dr Bardach was my cleft palate surgeon and an awesome man. I didn't realize what he had went through. I compare his life to Jesus Christ. Jesus was persecuted by his own people just as Dr. Bardach was persecuted by his own government. Dr. Bardach took what he went through and became a better man because of it. He became an excellent surgeon and helped those who are affected with a cosmetic difficulty through not fault of their own. Jesus died so that sinners would be free. I believe Dr. Bardach compares to Jesus in that manner. I knew him but did I know Him? Just as we know of Jesus do we KNOW him? Thanks Dr. Bardach for all you were to me. You have helped me realize who I am.