A Prison without walls: Eastern Siberian Exile in the last years of Tsarism

Exiles were free of fences and close observation, but despite these freedoms, Siberian exile represented one of Russia's most feared punishments. 

This book seeks to humanise the individuals who made up the mass of exiles, and the men, women, and children who followed them voluntarily into exile. A Prison Without Walls? is structured in a broad narrative arc that moves from travel to exile, life and communities in exile, work and escape, and finally illness in exile. The reader is given a personal, human, empathetic insight into what exilic experience entailed, and allows us to comprehend why eastern Siberia was regarded as a terrible punishment, despite its apparent freedoms.

Full book details