The Kremlin Fesses Up (a Bit)

Entire families could be wiped out just for belonging to the wrong class or for some alleged misdeed. In one case study, Gregory recounts the story of Vladimir Moroz, whose father was executed in 1937 and whose mother was sent to the gulag. Vladimir, 15, ended up in an orphanage and then was sent to a labor camp, where he soon perished. His crime: "defaming" Soviet leaders for what they did to his parents. "Under the pretence of progress, morality is collapsing," he wrote in his confiscated diary.

Such moving stories explain why this slim book is just the right antidote to the often daunting studies most scholars produce after working in the archives. The hefty books certainly serve their purpose. But Gregory has wisely chosen to reach out to a broader audience by providing a highly accessible primer on the deadly workings of the state that proclaimed itself the workers' paradise. In the process he provides a timely reminder of how quickly a utopian vision can be transformed into a nightmarish reality.

NEWSWEEK senior editor Andrew Nagorski is the author of "The Greatest Battle: Stalin, Hitler, and the Desperate Struggle for Moscow That Changed the Course of World War II."

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