About the Book

Dreaded Island is the first English-language history of Novaya Zemlya, a Russian archipelago located far above the Arctic Circle. In addition to chronicling its early history, Dreaded Island describes Novaya Zemlya during the Soviet era – from the construction of meteorological stations to the most extensive nuclear testing conducted anywhere on earth. The book also describes the least-known aspect of Novaya Zemlya’s history – the existence of forced labor camps to which thousands of prisoners were sent and from which few returned. Over 75 photographs, maps, and drawings are included in the following chapters:

• The Land
• The Climate
• The Nentsyi
• Early Expeditions (1553–1914)
• The Early Soviet Period (1917–1939)
• Forced Labor Camps
• War Comes to Novaya Zemlya
• The Soviet Nuclear Era (1945–1990)
• The Post-Soviet Period

Postscript: Golytsin, Baden-Powell, and the Total Solar Eclipse of 1896 Please address all inquiries and purchase requests to: mikeadler@verizon.net or latkovski@hood.edu