"This is an important and ground-breaking study of the catastrophe of the Stalinist Gulag. Golfo Alexopoulos demonstrates how the ruthless exploitation of prisoners, hunger, and a lack of medical care turned Stalinist camps into 'destructive-labor camps.' I am certain that this book’s findings about Gulag medicine and the true scale of prisoner mortality will be widely cited and discussed."—Oleg Khlevniuk, National Research University Higher School of Economics (Russian Federation) and author of Stalin: New Biography of a Dictator“A well-researched, clearly written book providing a fresh and provocative reinterpretation of the Soviet system of forced labor camps and colonies.”—Alan Barenberg, author of Gulag Town, Company Town: Forced Labor and Its Legacy in Vorkuta