The Short Story Collection Everyone Should Read

Totalitarianism is terrifying

A photograph of Varlam Shalamov, 1937 (Wikimedia Commons — image resized by Author)

The history of totalitarianism is wrought with bloodshed. If you want to understand just how terrifying these regimes can be, a read through Varlam Shalamov’s Kolyma Tales is a good place to start.

The book is a collection of short stories based upon the author's experiences as a Gulag prisoner during the…