Solzhenitsyn had a combination of moral values beyond corruption as well as resolve and determination no matter how much he suffered. He appeared to believe very deeply in the redemptive nature of suffering. His education in the broadest sense, his upbringing, his intellectual trajectory is a really big story. But even so some mystery remains about the person who stood out against that background.
Historian and author Stephen Kotkin of Princeton University and Stanford University's Hoover Institution talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the historical significance of the life and work of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Solzhenitsyn's birth.