The book, Stalin’s Aviation Gulag: A Memoir Of Andrei Tupolev And The Purge Era is part of the Smithsonian History Of Aviation Series, which chronicles the development of aerospace technology and its evolution.  This series covers both civil and military themes along with a thorough study of the cultural impact of the airplane.  “Stalin’s Aviation Gulag: A Memoir Of Andrei Tupolev And The Purge Era” reviews in detail the career of legendary Soviet aircraft designer Andrei Tupolev including the many years, he along with many other of his profession, spent in a Soviet Gulag.  During a massive wave of arrests and great killings, Tupolev and many of his colleagues were arrested in 1937 and ended up at a “sharaga” or special prison for aviation designers and engineers.  While escaping the notorious labor camps, Tupolev and the others were nevertheless supervised by Communist Party Officials and police functionaries who had little knowledge of aviation.  During these years of essentially forced house arrest, Tupolev et al were well fed and clothed but were always working under unreasonable deadlines and at the whim of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin.  More specifically, Tupolev and his team of 150 specialists worked under the threat of harsh reprisal for the least setback.  Totally dependant on Stalin’s whims, permitted only sporadic, heavily guarded inspections of the very aircraft they created, they nevertheless developed two of the most successful Soviet aircraft of World War II: 1) The fast twin-engine Pe-2 and 2) The Tu-2 medium bomber.  “Stalin’s Aviation Gulag: A Memoir Of Andrei Tupolev And The Purge Era” also goes on to document the many successes of Andrei Tupolev after his release from prison in 1941, which included the reverse engineering and design of the Soviet replica of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress, as well as, many of the giant passenger jets of the “Cold War” era.  The major sections of  “Stalin’s Aviation Gulag: A Memoir Of Andrei Tupolev And The Purge Era” are as follows: 1) Foreword By Adam Hochschild; 2) A Note From The Author; 3) Acknowledgements; 4) Introduction By Von Hardesty; 5) Part 1 – Formation Of The Man; 6) Part 2 – In Prison; 7) Part 3 – New Challenges; 8) Afterword By Miksimilian Saukke; 9) Notes and 10) Index.  In addition to an informative narrative, “Stalin’s Aviation Gulag: A Memoir Of Andrei Tupolev And The Purge Era” includes approximately 37 vintage black and white photographs.  “Stalin’s Aviation Gulag: A Memoir Of Andrei Tupolev And The Purge Era” is sure to appeal to anyone interested in great aircraft designers and aviation history enthusiasts alike.  This book is 394 pages and is in excellent condition.  The author is L. L. Kerber with Von Hardesty (editing).  Edition published in 1996.