One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
The shortest major entry point and the work that introduced Solzhenitsyn to a broad readership.
Author guide
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Books in Order
Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn (1918–2008) was a Russian writer, historian, and political thinker. A Soviet political prisoner from 1945 to 1953, he drew on camp and exile experiences in works including One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, The First Circle, Cancer Ward, and The Gulag Archipelago. His historical novel-cycle The Red Wheel examined the Russian Revolution. Exiled in 1974, he continued writing memoirs, fiction, poetry, drama, and political essays in the West before returning to Russia in 1994. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1970.
novelsnovellashistorical fictionnonfictionhistorymemoirshort storiespoetryplaysscreenplaysessayspolitical writing
Not sure where to begin?
Start with one of these
The First Circle
A central novel presenting his treatment of conscience, friendship, and life in a Soviet special prison.
The Gulag Archipelago, 1918–1956: An Experiment in Literary Investigation
The foundational nonfiction work for understanding his examination of the Soviet camp system.
Read in order
Books by series
novel-cycle · incomplete
The Red Wheel
A multivolume historical novel-cycle portraying the events and political forces surrounding the Russian Revolution of 1917.
play-cycle · complete
1945
A dramatic trilogy concerning Soviet military society, imprisonment, and labor-camp life at the end of the Second World War.
Outside the series
Bibliography by category
Novels (9)
- Love the RevolutionAmazon ↗
novel · 1999
- One Day in the Life of Ivan DenisovichAmazon ↗
novella · 1962
- The First CircleAmazon ↗
novel · 1968
-
Cancer WardAmazon ↗novella · 1968
- The Gulag Archipelago, 1918–1956: An Experiment in Literary InvestigationAmazon ↗
nonfiction · 1973
- The Mortal Danger: How Misconceptions About Russia Imperil AmericaAmazon ↗
political nonfiction · 1980
- Rebuilding Russia: Reflections and Tentative ProposalsAmazon ↗
political nonfiction · 1990
- A Minute a DayAmazon ↗
nonfiction · 1995
- Russia in CollapseAmazon ↗
political nonfiction · 1998
Nonfiction (6)
- Solzhenitsyn: A Pictorial AutobiographyAmazon ↗
pictorial autobiography · 1974
-
The Oak and the Calf: Sketches of Literary Life in the Soviet UnionAmazon ↗memoir · 1975
- Russian Dictionary of Language ExpansionAmazon ↗
reference work · 1990
- Invisible AlliesAmazon ↗
memoir · 1995
- Between Two MillstonesAmazon ↗
memoir · 1998
- Two Hundred Years Together, 1795–1995Amazon ↗
history · 2001
Short fiction (2)
Essays and speeches (5)
- Nobel Lecture on LiteratureAmazon ↗
lecture · 1972
- Letter to the Soviet LeadersAmazon ↗
political essay · 1974
-
Warning to the WestAmazon ↗collection of speeches · 1976
-
A World Split ApartAmazon ↗address · 1978
- The Russian Question at the End of the Twentieth CenturyAmazon ↗
political essay · 1995
Poetry (2)
Plays (3)
Other (1)
- At the Turning Points: Small ProseAmazon ↗
short-prose collection · 1998