Five top books on life behind the Iron Curtain

Philip Sington is the author of The Einstein Girl, Zoia’s Gold, and, his latest novel, The Valley of Unknowing.

One of five top books on life behind the Iron Curtain that he named for the Wall Street Journal:The Joke
by Milan Kundera (1967)

Milan Kundera's debut tells the story of Ludvik, a student in Prague who, jealous of his girlfriend's naive devotion to the Communist Party, sends her a