Praise

“One of the greatest non-fiction books I’ve ever read . . . Hughes brings us an entire world.” —Los Angeles Times

“A great achievement: Hughes has a story to tell as vivid, large-scale, and appalling as anything by Dickens or Solzhenitsyn, but one that’s virtually unknown—until the writing of this splendid book.” —Susan Sontag

“Engrossing . . . richly peopled with bizarre and compelling characters.” —The New York Times Book Review

“A magnificent history, with a richness of detail that is as mesmerizing as it is horrifying. . . . It is both passionate and compassionate.” —The Washington Post Book World

“Splendid . . . Robert Hughes combines the narrative skills of the authors of Mutiny on the Bounty with the sharp eye of de Tocqueville.” —Gorde Vidal

“A brilliant and enduring achievement . . . history of the highest order combining thorough research with vivid narrative and thoughtful assessment.” —Arthur M. Schlesinger