{"product_id":"the-first-circle","title":"The First Circle","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn the First Circle depicts the lives of the occupants of a sharashka (a research and development bureau made of GULAG inmates) located in the Moscow suburbs. This novel is highly autobiographical. Many of the prisoners (zeks) are technicians or academics who have been arrested under Article 58 of the RSFSR Penal Code in Joseph Stalins purges following the Second World War. Unlike inhabitants of other gulag labor camps  the sharashka zeks were adequately fed and enjoyed good working conditions; however  if they found disfavor with the authorities  they could be instantly shipped to Siberia.  The title is an allusion to Dantes first circle  or limbo of Hell in The Divine Comedy  wherein the philosophers of Greece  and other virtuous pagans  live in a walled green garden. They are unable to enter Heaven  as they were born before Christ  but enjoy a small space of relative freedom in the heart of Hell.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44815612313653,"sku":"ByrdShop_0002612488","price":31.81,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780002612487.jpg?v=1770663027","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-first-circle","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}