Iron Curtain

The Crushing of Eastern Europe 1944-56

Anne Applebaum

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English

Penguin
24 July 2013

History; European history; Postwar 20th century history, from c 1945 to c 2000

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Once the Nazis were defeated in 1945, the people of Central and Eastern Europe expected to recover the lives they had led before 1939. Instead, they found themselves subjected to a tyranny that was in many ways as inhuman as the one which they had just escaped. This book explains how Communism was imposed on these previously free societies in the decade after the end of the Second World War. Applebaum describes, in calm but devastating detail, how political parties, the church, the media, young people's organisations - the institutions of civil society on every level - were all quickly eviscerated. Ranging widely across new archival material and many sources unknown in English, she follows the communists' tactics as they bullied, threatened and murdered their way to power. She also chronicles individual lives to show the rapid choices people had to make - to fight, to flee, or to collaborate. Within a remarkably short period after the end of the war, Eastern Europe had been ruthlessly Stalinised. This is a brilliant history of a brutal period in European history, but also a reminder of how fragile free societies are, and how vulnerable they can be to the predations of determined and unscrupulous enemies.

By: Anne Applebaum
Imprint: Penguin
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 197mm, Width: 128mm, Spine: 31mm
Weight: 485g
ISBN: 9780141021874
ISBN 10: 014102187X
Pages: 512
Publication Date: 24 July 2013
Audience: General/trade , Professional and scholarly , College/higher education , ELT Advanced , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active