Anne Applebaum. The Iron Curtain: The Suppression of Eastern Europe (1944–1956)

Applebaum sheds light on forgotten worlds full of hope, suffering, and dignity... This is one of the most captivating 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 archival materials and eyewitness accounts. Applebaum meticulously reconstructs various aspects of the sociopolitical and economic processes in the socialist bloc, demonstrating how propaganda and political control mechanisms functioned, and revealing the role of intelligence agencies in suppressing opposition and social movements. She also vividly 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.