During the years he spent in prison camps Vogelfanger witnessed Stalin's mass death factory at first hand. He saw many inmates die within a few weeks of arriving from forced labour, starvation, and cold. Vogelfanger's account is full of pain and suffering, both his own and that of his fellow prisoners, but his story is suffused with love and admiration for the Russian people who risked their lives to help him from no other motive than genuine goodness. Red Tempest is a moving testament to the strength of the human spirit and humanity in the face of death and despair.