To Build a Castle - Hardcover

Bukovskii, Vladimir

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0670716405 ISBN 13: 9780670716401

Publisher: Viking Press, 1979

Synopsis

Expelled Soviet political protester and activist recounts his dozen years imprisoned in jails, labor camps and psychiatric hospitals, his fight for change and freedom, and profiling modern daily Russian existence

About this title

Review

"Sometimes ironic, sometimes detached, sometimes written in cold fury, but always compelling." —The New Yorker

"This is a landmark book and a human document that remains vital.” —Sir Tom Stoppard, Oscar-winning screenwriter of Shakespeare in Love

“Vladimir Bukovsky has written an extraordinary account of his life in the Soviet Union.... Listen closely.” —New York Times

"A huge story we must not forget. Even inside prison, a revolt of the mind is possible." —Masha Alyokhina, co-founder of the anti-Putinist punk rock group Pussy Riot, who read To Build a Castle while serving time as a prisoner of conscience

"This book is important." —Former US President Ronald Reagan

"If human bravery were a book, it would be To Build a Castle. Bukovsky’s memoir serves as testimony to the horrors of totalitarianism, a reference manual of the Soviet gulag during the Brezhnev years, and an unforgettable tribute to the courage of dissidents like Bukovsky. Unfortunately, the book is a reminder we still very much need today, when Western moral equivalence would have us believe that such monsters no longer exist. They do, and 'To Build a Castle' is an essential guide to understanding them, and how to fight them." —Garry Kasparov, Chairman of the Human Rights Foundation

"Bukovsky is properly outraged, but he is also bitterly amusing." —TIME Magazine

“One of the masterpieces of the period.” —Michael Ledeen, former consultant to the US National Security Council, Department of State, and Department of Defense

"A gripping and evocative account of the evil empire from a man who helped bring it down." —Edward Lucas, Senior Editor, The Economist, author of THE NEW COLD WAR: Putin’s Russia and the Threat to the West

"To Build a Castle is a fascinating document of its era, as well as the inspiring story of one man's courageous battle against a totalitarian state. While the era Vladimir Bukovsky chronicles has long passed, this memoir has not lost its relevance. Its insights on freedom, justice, personal responsibility, and the temptation of communist utopia remain as timely as ever. Bukovsky has an eye for both mundane and striking details that bring this tale to life, and tells his story with superb clarity, compassion, and wry humor. An engrossing and satisfying read." —Cathy Young, assistant editor at Reason, columnist for Newsday and Real Clear Politics

Edition details

• Publisher: Viking Press
• Publication date: 1979
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0670716405
• ISBN 13: 9780670716401
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1