The Forsaken

Sunday Times review of The Forsaken: From the Great Depression to the Gulags by Tim Tzouliadis

During the Great Depression of the 1930s, thousands of Americans left their homes and emigrated to the Soviet Union in search of a better life. They came from every walk of life (farmers, engineers, salesmen, cooks and clerks), but nearly all of them were from their country's 13m unemployed. Disillusioned with America, they placed their hopes in the “economic miracle” of Stalin's Five-Year Plan. At a time when the capitalist system appeared doomed, the USSR had growth and jobs. Perhaps they even thought that they would find a fairer, more humane society. People sold up everything to make the journey east. They believed they were departing for the “promised land”...

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