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Kuznetsov is something of a professional Gulag inmate, having been first detained for a seven-year sentence in his early...

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PRISON DIARIES

by Edward Kuznetsov ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 1975

Kuznetsov is something of a professional Gulag inmate, having been first detained for a seven-year sentence in his early twenties, then arrested again in 1970, only eighteen months after his re-ease, for conspiring to hijack a plane with ten other Zionists and emigrate to the West. The charge was treason and Kuznetsov was condemned to death. His sentence was later commuted to fifteen years in a ""special regime"" camp and this diary (smuggled out by friends including an aunt married to dissident physicist Sakharov) of the events from Kuznetsov's preparation for his trial and his account of the proceedings themselves through his transportation back to his prison alma mater, records his fear, his spunky indignation, and, often enough, his boredom. His philosophizing about the old and new Russia sometimes suffers from banality; his survey of his depraved and dehumanized fellow prisoners is an old, if horrible, story. It is Kuznetsov himself -- his impossible foolhardiness and striking individualism -- who sustains these diaries. That he protests at all, however pathetically, is a more significant demand for notice than any expose of conditions in the courts and the camps. Martyrdom is a curious expression of activism that Kuznetsov flirts with incessantly. He testified that his motives were not political but that he was guided by ""considerations of a spiritual and moral character."" Unfailing considerations for Kuznetsov -- the inevitable troublemaker with a wagging tongue and a constitutional inability to conform.

Pub Date: March 1, 1975

Page Count: -

Publisher: Stein & Day

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1975

Categories: NONFICTION

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A Prison Diary, Hell, Volume I

A Prison Diary 1 – Hell

‘The sun is shining through the bars of my window on what must be a glorious summer day. I’ve been incarcerated in a cell five paces by three for twelve and a half hours, and will not be let out again until midday; eighteen and a half hours of solitary confinement.’

The first novel in the Prison Diary series.

DAY 5 MONDAY 23 JULY 2001 5.53AM

‘The sun is shining through the bars of my window on what must be a glorious summer day.

I’ve been incarcerated in a cell five paces by three for twelve and a half hours, and will not be let out again until midday; eighteen and a half hours of solitary confinement.

There is a child of seventeen in the cell below me who has been charged with shoplifting – his first offence, not even convicted – and he is being locked up for eighteen and a half hours, unable to speak to anyone. This is Great Britain in the twenty-first century, not Turkey, not Nigeria, not Kosovo, but Britain.’

On Thursday 19 July 2001, after a perjury trial lasting seven weeks, Jeffrey Archer was sentenced to four years in jail. He was to spend the first twenty-two days and fourteen hours in HMP Belmarsh, a double A-Category high-security prison in South London, which houses some of Britain ‘s most violent criminals.

This is the author’s daily record of the time he spent there.

First published in 2002 – Macmillan.

Jeffrey Archer talks about his Prison Diaries .

"It's excellent, I've now read volume two and am about to start the last one in the series, and I'm not disappointed."

"Brilliantly written book. I found it absolutely fascinating. "

"This book was brilliantly written describing daily prison life, the emotion and shock at his sentence, the relationships he built up with fellow prisoners and the empathy shown to certain individuals."

"I love the writing of JA and have read several of his books. This story is clear, concise, frighteningly funny at times and horrifically sad at others. Brilliant storytelling."

"When I finished this book I immediately bought the next one, which follows on. I shall also buy the third one. "

"This is an illuminating insight into prison life and well worth reading."

"Thank you, Mr. Archer, for this insight. I wanted to continue with the sequel right away..."

"Jeffrey Archer has a happy knack of writing about an apparently boring subject in a very interesting way."

Other Books in Non-Fiction

A Prison Diary, Heaven, Volume III

A Prison Diary, Purgatory, Volume II

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A Prison Diary Volume I: Hell (The Prison Diaries Book 1) Kindle Edition

On Thursday 19 July 2001, after a perjury trial lasting seven weeks, Jeffrey Archer was sentenced to four years in jail. He was to spend the first twenty-two days and fourteen hours in HMP Belmarsh, a double A-Category high-security prison in South London, which houses some of Britain's most violent criminals. This is the author's daily record of the time he spent there.

• Book 1 of 3 A Prison Diary
• Print length 272 pages
• Language English
• Sticky notes On Kindle Scribe
• Publisher Macmillan
• Publication date September 1, 2003
• Reading age 18 years and up
• File size 1879 KB
• Page Flip Enabled
• Word Wise Enabled
• Enhanced typesetting Enabled
• See all details

Editorial Reviews

From publishers weekly, about the author, product details.

• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B005LUJVZ4
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Macmillan; Reprints edition (September 1, 2003)
• Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 1, 2003
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• File size ‏ : ‎ 1879 KB
• Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
• Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
• Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 272 pages
• #395 in Penology (Kindle Store)
• #2,773 in Biographies of Political Leaders
• #6,077 in Crime & Criminal Biographies

About the author

Jeffrey archer.

Jeffrey Archer is one of the world’s bestselling authors, with sales of over 275 million copies in 97 countries, and is the only author ever to have been a number one bestseller in fiction (twenty times), short stories (four times) and non-fiction (The Prison Diaries). He was born in London, and brought up in the West Country. He gained a Blue in Athletics at Oxford, was President of the University Athletics Club, and went on to run the 100 yards in 9.6 seconds for Great Britain in 1966. Jeffrey has served five years in the House of Commons as a Member of Parliament, and thirty years as a Member of the House of Lords.

He has written 27 novels, 7 sets of short stories, 3 prison diaries, 3 plays (all of which have been performed in London's West End) and a gospel. His first novel, Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less was sold to 17 countries within a year. It was also made into a successful serial for BBC Radio 4, and was later televised in 1990 by the BBC. He won the Prix Relay du Roman d’Évasion, a prize that rewards a novel in which readers can ‘escape from everyday life’, for his novel Paths of Glory, and the Prix Polar International Prize for the best international thriller of the year, for his novel A Prisoner of Birth. The Clifton Chronicles, a series of seven novels published between 2011-2017, topped the bestseller lists around the world.

Famous for his discipline as a writer who works on up to fourteen drafts of each book, Jeffrey also brings a vast amount of insider knowledge to his books. Whether it’s his own career in politics, his passionate interest in art, or the wealth of fascinating background detail – inspired by the extraordinary network of friends he has built over a lifetime at the heart of Britain’s establishment – his novels provide a fascinating glimpse into a range of closed worlds.

Jeffrey is also an amateur auctioneer, conducting up to 20 charity auctions a year. He has been married to Dame Mary Archer, Chair of the Science Museum Group, for 55 year, and they have two sons, two granddaughters and three grandsons. He splits his time between London, Cambridge and Mallorca - where he writes the first draft of each new novel.

The fifth book In his new William Warwick novels - the first of which, Nothing Ventured, was published in 2019 - is NEXT IN LINE which will be out in September 2022.

Photo credit: Toby Madden

www.jeffreyarcher.com

Follow Jeffrey on Instagram - Jeffrey_Archer_Author, Facebook and Twitter @Jeffrey_Archer

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