Give "A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" a read sometime. Powerful short book that portrays life in a Soviet gulag. Much more readable (dare I say "entertaining") than "Gulag Archipelago". Probably a pretty accurate portrayal of "Vlad the Impaler" Putin's current prisons east of the Urals.
I read that right after the Gulag Archipelago and it was an eye opener for sure. There is also a book called "American in the Gulag" that is interesting to read and gave a slightly different slant on life in a gulag.... there were a couple others Solzhenitzen wrote that I read way back and I can't remember the titles at the moment...
