Iron Curtain

About the photography

In the Folio edition’s newly commissioned introduction, Anne Applebaum writes: ‘When Iron Curtain was first published, in 2012, I assumed that it was a book about the past... Instead, it turned out to be a book that is directly relevant to contemporary events.’ She argues that the invasion of Ukraine follows the exact playbook first written by the Soviets in 1945 – and that the book has gained extra relevance as fewer people remain with first-hand experience of life behind the Iron Curtain. Their personal accounts drive forward Applebaum’s sweeping narrative of the communist takeover, complemented by powerful photographs in black-and-white and full colour: factories and kindergartens, propaganda posters and Stalinist architecture, military parades and teenage rebels. The Folio Society scoured national archives and private collections, such as the vast Fortepan repository of pictures from everyday Hungarian life. The era’s greatest news photographers are represented, including Robert Capa, Ian Berry and Thomas Hoepker of the legendary Magnum Photos co-operative.

About the photography

In the Folio edition’s newly commissioned introduction, Anne Applebaum writes: ‘When Iron Curtain was first published, in 2012, I assumed that it was a book about the past... Instead, it turned out to be a book that is directly relevant to contemporary events.’ She argues that the invasion of Ukraine follows the exact playbook first written by the Soviets in 1945 – and that the book has gained extra relevance as fewer people remain with first-hand experience of life behind the Iron Curtain. Their personal accounts drive forward Applebaum’s sweeping narrative of the communist takeover, complemented by powerful photographs in black-and-white and full colour: factories and kindergartens, propaganda posters and Stalinist architecture, military parades and teenage rebels. The Folio Society scoured national archives and private collections, such as the vast Fortepan repository of pictures from everyday Hungarian life. The era’s greatest news photographers are represented, including Robert Capa, Ian Berry and Thomas Hoepker of the legendary Magnum Photos co-operative.

About the photography

In the Folio edition’s newly commissioned introduction, Anne Applebaum writes: ‘When Iron Curtain was first published, in 2012, I assumed that it was a book about the past... Instead, it turned out to be a book that is directly relevant to contemporary events.’ She argues that the invasion of Ukraine follows the exact playbook first written by the Soviets in 1945 – and that the book has gained extra relevance as fewer people remain with first-hand experience of life behind the Iron Curtain. Their personal accounts drive forward Applebaum’s sweeping narrative of the communist takeover, complemented by powerful photographs in black-and-white and full colour: factories and kindergartens, propaganda posters and Stalinist architecture, military parades and teenage rebels. The Folio Society scoured national archives and private collections, such as the vast Fortepan repository of pictures from everyday Hungarian life. The era’s greatest news photographers are represented, including Robert Capa, Ian Berry and Thomas Hoepker of the legendary Magnum Photos co-operative.

About the photography

In the Folio edition’s newly commissioned introduction, Anne Applebaum writes: ‘When Iron Curtain was first published, in 2012, I assumed that it was a book about the past... Instead, it turned out to be a book that is directly relevant to contemporary events.’ She argues that the invasion of Ukraine follows the exact playbook first written by the Soviets in 1945 – and that the book has gained extra relevance as fewer people remain with first-hand experience of life behind the Iron Curtain. Their personal accounts drive forward Applebaum’s sweeping narrative of the communist takeover, complemented by powerful photographs in black-and-white and full colour: factories and kindergartens, propaganda posters and Stalinist architecture, military parades and teenage rebels. The Folio Society scoured national archives and private collections, such as the vast Fortepan repository of pictures from everyday Hungarian life. The era’s greatest news photographers are represented, including Robert Capa, Ian Berry and Thomas Hoepker of the legendary Magnum Photos co-operative.

About the photography

In the Folio edition’s newly commissioned introduction, Anne Applebaum writes: ‘When Iron Curtain was first published, in 2012, I assumed that it was a book about the past... Instead, it turned out to be a book that is directly relevant to contemporary events.’ She argues that the invasion of Ukraine follows the exact playbook first written by the Soviets in 1945 – and that the book has gained extra relevance as fewer people remain with first-hand experience of life behind the Iron Curtain. Their personal accounts drive forward Applebaum’s sweeping narrative of the communist takeover, complemented by powerful photographs in black-and-white and full colour: factories and kindergartens, propaganda posters and Stalinist architecture, military parades and teenage rebels. The Folio Society scoured national archives and private collections, such as the vast Fortepan repository of pictures from everyday Hungarian life. The era’s greatest news photographers are represented, including Robert Capa, Ian Berry and Thomas Hoepker of the legendary Magnum Photos co-operative.