Breezy American writing style, but short on much of the horrors of the starvation diseases that where suffered by many just become names, was this an editorial decision?. From a Feldsher (a position of comparative luxury) in the camp system. If true then this is a frank account, and the foolish things that belief does to people who should know better (protecting relatives until then?).
The jump from 1950 to 199x is disconcerting Read Gulag first, a supplementary work.