{"product_id":"first-circle","title":"First Circle","description":"\u003cp\u003eAt the height of Stalin''s postwar terror, Innokenty, a young diplomat and scion of a corrupt ruling class, discovers an earlier and more spiritual tradition than that adopted by the October Revolution, the beginning of a process which is Solzhenitsyn''s basic theme: the individual''s experience of acquiring an immortal soul. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eUnwisely but generously, Innokenty helps a friend in danger of arrest, only to be arrested himself and sent to a special prison. This, the archetype of the Gulag, is described with masterful psychological insight. There are no heroes and hardly any villains; oppressors are no less victims then the oppressed. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn the great tradition of the Russian novel, \u003ci\u003eThe First Circle\u003c\/i\u003e is both a brooding account of human nature and a scrupulously exact description of a historical period.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57490250465653,"sku":"9781860460906","price":18.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781860460906.jpg?v=1786442136","url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/products\/first-circle","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}