Ivan Denisovich Shukhov is a prisoner ("zek") in the Soviet Gulag system, imprisoned on charges being a spy after being captured by the Germans and escaping, and sentenced to 10 years. At the time of the story, during winter, sometime during The Korean War, Shukhov is serving out his sentence in a special camp in Siberia. His number is Щ-854 and he is part of squad 104. This book details one day in his life, as he struggles to live through another day. You can read it in its entirety here. This book contains the following tropes: