Remorseless reading: "Iron Curtain" by Anne Applebaum

Let's start by clearing up a couple of small things which might arise from the full title of this book: "Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe 1944-56". 

First, the expression "Eastern Europe" is used, as the author explains, in its "political sense", i.e. to encompass those countries of Central and Eastern Europe which fell under Soviet sway in the postwar period. It does not include countries we would now define as Eastern European, but which were in Applebaum's reference period part of the USSR (Ukraine, the Baltic States, Belarus and co.). Second, in reality, even with this clarification, the title is a bit misleading, as, for reasons which are again explained, the book concerns almost exclusively Poland, the Former GDR and Hungary, though doubtless many of their experiences were shared elsewhere.

Where have I been?

Oh dear! The last post on this blog was posted over six months ago. What happened? Did I stop reading books?