THE FIRST CIRCLE - ALEKSANDR.I. SOLZHENITSYN - GOOD USED GF

• Title: The First Circle

• Author: Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn

• Publisher: Harper & Row

• Publication Year: 1968 (First U.S. Edition)

• Translation: Thomas P. Whitney

This novel is a semi-autobiographical account of the author's time in a sharashka—a research laboratory within the Soviet Gulag system where scientists were forced to work for the state. The title refers to the "First Circle" of Dante’s Hell, where the virtuous pagans reside in a state of relatively "comfortable" limbo compared to the deeper pits of suffering.

*"Trademark of Book-of-the-Month Club, Inc. Reg. U. S. Pat. Off. and in Canada"

This confirms that this copy is a Book-of-the-Month Club edition rather than the true first trade edition.

The dust jacket shows some shelf wear and a small tear at the top-left corner. The spine appears stable, but the red pigment on the jacket is prone to sun-fading, which is present here.

Despite the modest financial value of this specific copy, The First Circle remains a cornerstone of Cold War literature. Solzhenitsyn wrote it in secret between 1955 and 1958; it was smuggled out of the USSR (samizdat) and published in the West in 1968, contributing significantly to his Nobel Prize in Literature in 1970.

This particular edition is a great "reader's copy" and a perfect example of how mid-century political thrillers were packaged for the American public.