Applebaum sheds light on forgotten worlds full of hope, suffering and dignity... This is one of the most charming and profound works on Europe's past to date.
— THE WASHINGTON POST
Renowned American journalist and political analyst Anne Applebaum examines the formation and early evolution of communist regimes in Eastern Europe after World War II. Her analysis of events, primarily in Hungary, East Germany and Poland liberated by the Red Army, is supported by numerous archive materials and eyewitness accounts. Applebaum carefully reconstructs various aspects of socio-political and economic processes in the socialist bloc, shows how the mechanisms of propaganda and political control functioned, and reveals the role of the secret services in suppressing the opposition and social movements. She also clearly demonstrates how and why the collapse of the "Eastern Bloc" became inevitable when a rift appeared in its key pillar, the Soviet Union, and the Iron Curtain fell.
