The Harvest of Sorrow
Soviet Collectivisation and the Terror-Famine
Published on 1. November 2018
Book
Paperback/Softback
448 pages
978-1-84792-567-1 (ISBN)
Description
Robert Conquest's The Harvest of Sorrow helped to reveal to the West the true and staggering human cost of the Soviet regime in its deliberate starvation of millions of peasants and remains one of the most important works of Soviet history ever written.
More deaths resulted from the actions described in this book than from the whole of the First World War.
Epic in scope and rich in detail, The Harvest of Sorrow describes how millions of peasants in the USSR were dispossessed and deported as a result of the abolition of private property, and how millions in the newly established 'collective' farms of the Ukraine and other regions were then deliberately starved to death through impossibly high quotas, the removal of all other sources of food and their isolation from outside help.
With the publication of this and his earlier book, The Great Terror, which revealed the truth about Stalin's political purges, Robert Conquest revealed to the West the staggering human cost of the Soviet regime.
More deaths resulted from the actions described in this book than from the whole of the First World War.
Epic in scope and rich in detail, The Harvest of Sorrow describes how millions of peasants in the USSR were dispossessed and deported as a result of the abolition of private property, and how millions in the newly established 'collective' farms of the Ukraine and other regions were then deliberately starved to death through impossibly high quotas, the removal of all other sources of food and their isolation from outside help.
With the publication of this and his earlier book, The Great Terror, which revealed the truth about Stalin's political purges, Robert Conquest revealed to the West the staggering human cost of the Soviet regime.
Reviews / Votes
This narrative is even more dreadfully surreal, more astoundingly alien, than that of The Great Terror -- Martin Amis Massive and devastating ... The Harvest of Sorrow reveals the truth about the dreadful years as fully and unflinchingly as Mr Conquest's The Great Terror presented it about Stalin's later crimes * The Times * A harrowing story, told with great power and a wealth of detail * Evening Standard * It is to Robert Conquest's undying credit that he has at last brought this incredible story into the light of day * Spectator * Majestic ... The detachment of Conquest's telling adds to the story's horror and its effectiveness * Sunday Times * The first thoroughgoing account of the tragedy ... heartrending * Telegraph * Essential reading for those who wish to understand the nature of the Soviet system * Wall Street Journal *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Vintage Publishing
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (UK-trade)
Dimensions
Height: 236 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 37 mm
Weight
548 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-84792-567-1 (9781847925671)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
11/2018
Vintage Digital
€14.99
Available for download
Person
Robert Conquest (1917 - 2015) was one of the twentieth century's greatest historians of the Soviet Union. He came to international renown on publication of his ground-breaking history The Great Terror: Stalin's Purge of the Thirties in 1968, which revealed the true extent and nature Stalin's political executions and imprisonments. As well as holding academic posts at various universities, including the London School of Economics, Columbia University and Stanford University, he was an acclaimed poet, critic, novelist and translator.