Iron Curtain

Applebaum argues that the Soviet Union's domination of Eastern Europe after World War II wasn't achieved by military occupation alone but through a systematic, sector-by-sector campaign to seize control of radio, youth organizations, churches, schools, and other institutions that shape a society's shared reality, so that even without constant violence, dissenting thought had almost nowhere left to organize or be expressed. Communist authorities studied which independent institutions gave people the ability to think and act outside state control, and then patiently dismantled or co-opted them one at a time, rather than through a single dramatic seizure of power.

This matters because it complicates a simple story of Cold War imposition-by-force, showing instead a more insidious and durable method of totalitarian control: capturing the everyday spaces where identity, memory, and independent thought are formed. Applebaum's account, drawn substantially from newly opened archives in Poland, Hungary, and East Germany, also serves as a warning about how fragile civil society can be once its independent institutions are deliberately targeted.

Who should read it

This suits readers interested in twentieth-century European history, the mechanics of authoritarian consolidation, and Cold War history told from the perspective of ordinary citizens rather than only heads of state. It rewards patience with detailed archival material and is less suited to readers wanting a fast overview, since Applebaum builds her case through accumulated specific detail across several countries.

About the author

Anne Applebaum is an American-Polish journalist and historian specializing in Soviet and Eastern European history, and a Pulitzer Prize winner for her earlier book on the Soviet Gulag system.