White Nights: The Story of a Prisoner in Russia Hardcover - 1979

Content appears as new, unopened, unread & unblemished in fine black cloth covered boards with DJ displaying minimal surface/edge wear as shown.Kirkus Review: Written in the Fifties, the Israeli prime minister's prison memoir limns the now (post-Solzhenitsyn) familiar horrors of the "white nights" of the Siberian labor camps: the initial prisoners forced to literally build their prison around themselves; the finagling, the hierarchies, the murderous card games among the prisoners; two lavatories for 800 men; the terrible flies eating you up alive, But what's especially striking here is how Begin dealt with his arrest and interrogation; as leader of Betar, the revisionist Zionist organization in Poland, he was considered subversive by the Russians after they signed the Hitler-Stalin pact. To the surprise of no one who's followed the man's career and heard him speak, Begin comes off as one tough cookie. He's subtle to the smallest nuance, oratorical, brave, stubborn, a zealot. A lecture is always on his lips: ""'Citizen Judge,' I began, dispensing with the interpreter, 'you mentioned the autonomous Jewish Republic in the Soviet Union. Permit me to dwell upon this point. . . ."" Was he, the NKVD demanded, head of Betar? Yes. Will he then confess to that? No. Admit, yes--not confess. The Chekist interrogator's hair must have turned gray. Freed after Hitler attacked Russia (and suddenly the Poles were all right again), Begin makes his way to Palestine, having endured the unspeakable in very much the true-believer's style, with hauteur and almost total dissolution of individual personality: the cause is the thing. Utterly fascinating, in that what we come to know here is what has made the man who and how he is Political Prisoners, Prime Ministers Domestic Shipping/Handling/Insurance/Tracking Included within the continental U.S. (Free Shipping). Extra Charges/Fees apply on ALL Shipments Outside The U.S. and Expedited Shipments. Oversize and/or heavy books require additional fees. We will advise, and if required, send invoice via Paypal for extra charges. Written 3.15.2021SK #4889-32821 Img.6063