Anne Applebaum: Red Famine; Stalin's War on Ukraine

Just starting...

Nearly finished...Will need to digest as far as I can, before posting Steve Patriarca

The scope and mastery of sources of this work is matched by the emotional power of this take of horrors. I stopped about halfway through...partially because of the overwhelmingly impact of the narrative and, feeling perhaps that I had ‘supped full of horrors’ I needed a break. I was glad I did as on picking it up again devoured the rest with appalled and riveting fascination.

As ever this showed the vital importance and centrality of history and historical events. Holodomor was perhaps almost inevitable given how the Soviet State ( aka Stalin) developed.Napoleon’s claim about ‘the State’ was never more terrifyingly true.

The ending and the beginning of remembering and coming to terms with the horrors of the past was magnificently moving, encouraging...and put current events clearly in their historical and political tradition.

The other main idea/characteristic that I have taken away is not an original element but it was importantly and subtly reiterated. This was the phenomenal power of language and individual words. To be named/accused/revealed ( all true,sometimes simultaneously, sometimes sequentially) was to be condemned and there were moments when I felt that just thinking was a crime. (thank you George O!)

A must read and a wonderfully written one too.