The Great Writers series is an informative and revealing look into the lives and literary works of the foremost writers of the Twentieth Century. These stimulating shows focus on world authors whose groundbreaking works m... more »ade a major impact on both literature and society around the globe. Russian writer and Nobel laureate Alexander Solzhenitsyn was born in Kislovodsk in 1918. The son of a Cossack landowner and a teacher, he was educated at the esteemed University of Rostov. He served in the Soviet army from 1941 to 1945, when he was sentenced to eight years in prison for anti-Stalinist remarks written to a friend, and then exiled to Central Russia. There he taught mathematics and began writing. Freed in 1956 and rehabilitated, he used his prison experiences as background for his first novel, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (1962). Three short stories followed in 1963-64 (published in U.S. book form as We Never Make Mistakes in 1971); later his work was denied publication in the Soviet Union. His denunciation of official censorship and the appearance of The First Circle (1968) and Cancer Ward (1968) in the West caused his expulsion from the Soviet Writers Union in 1969. In 1970, he received the Nobel Prize in Literature. Upon publication of his vast, documented expose of the Soviet Union prison system, terrorism, and secret police, first in French in 1973 and then in English in 1974 as The Gulag Archipelago, 1918-1956, Solzhenitsyn was accused of treason and deported in February 1974. He settled initially in Zurich, Switzerland, and then moved to the U.S. in 1976. While in exile, Solzhenitsyn completed The Gulag Archipelago 2 and 3 (1975 & 1978) and other books, including his memoirs, The Oak and the Calf (1980). Soviet officials dropped the charges of treason against him in 1991, and he returned to live in Russia in May 1994.« less
Genres:Documentary Sub-Genres:Documentary Studio:Kultur Video Format:DVD - Color DVD Release Date: 05/30/2006 Release Year: 2006 Run Time: 0hr 45min Screens: Color Number of Discs: 1 SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Total Copies: 0 Members Wishing: 0 MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated) Languages:English