ABSTRACT
The Gulag Archipelago is a classic statement of social reality. It will rank as a foremost contribution to the literature on power and powerlessness long after the biography of the author ceases to be a point of contention or argumentation. A sure measure of a classic is that anyone specialist is unable either to encapsulate or for that matter emasculate its contents. From this flows a second measure of high quality: the desire it arouses in every field and specialist to interpret the book’s contents from a particular professional vantage point. In a work such as this, ubiquity and grandeur go together.
