From the Publisher
"An exceptional feat of war correspondence. It is hard to imagine that it will be surpassed as the definitive account of the conflict. There seem to be few important moments of the war that the two reporters did not witness. . . . They have spun a gripping narrative of war, politics, and diplomacy."
-New York Times Book Review,
"An excellent ground-level account."
-Wall Street Journal,
Wall Street Journal
An excellent ground-level account.
Bill Keller
Gall and de Waal covered the war from beginning to end....Their book is an exceptional feat of war correspondence. It is hard to imagine that it will be surpassed as the definitive account of the conflict....a gripping narrative of war, politics, and diplomacy. -- New York Times Book Review
Library Journal
Written by two Moscow Times correspondents, this book describes the conflict, in context, between Russia and these Islamic lands of the Caucasus. With a fierce tradition of resistance to Russian imperialism and possessing critical oil reserves, the Chechens made a bid for independence in 1991 as the USSR was disintegrating. The authors argue that Russian President Boris Yeltsin failed to capitalize on the moderate position and willingness to settle of their leader, former Soviet general Dudayev, relying instead on Soviet attitudes favoring force and growing nationalist pressures within Russia. Thus, the 1994-97 war ensued in which the reluctant, ill-prepared Russian military captured and lost the capital, Grozny, failed to control the countryside, and had to counter terrorist attacks outside Chechnya. Following Dudayev's death, a settlement gave the Chechens overall freedom pending further decisions by 2001. An excellent journalistic account, the broadest to date. -- Rena Fowler, Humboldt State University, Arcata, California
Library Journal
Written by two Moscow Times correspondents, this book describes the conflict, in context, between Russia and these Islamic lands of the Caucasus. With a fierce tradition of resistance to Russian imperialism and possessing critical oil reserves, the Chechens made a bid for independence in 1991 as the USSR was disintegrating. The authors argue that Russian President Boris Yeltsin failed to capitalize on the moderate position and willingness to settle of their leader, former Soviet general Dudayev, relying instead on Soviet attitudes favoring force and growing nationalist pressures within Russia. Thus, the 1994-97 war ensued in which the reluctant, ill-prepared Russian military captured and lost the capital, Grozny, failed to control the countryside, and had to counter terrorist attacks outside Chechnya. Following Dudayev's death, a settlement gave the Chechens overall freedom pending further decisions by 2001. An excellent journalistic account, the broadest to date. -- Rena Fowler, Humboldt State University, Arcata, California
Booknews
Recounts the story of the Chechens' struggle for independence and the Kremlin politics that precipitated it. The authors, both reporters on the scene during the war, trace the history of the conflict but focus on the military and political events of the war itself. They conclude with a discussion of the birth of an independent Chechnya. Several maps and a cast of characters are appended. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.
Wall Street Journal
An excellent ground-level account.
New York Times Book Review
An exceptional feat of war correspondence. It is hard to imagine that it will be surpassed as the definitive account of the conflict. There seem to be few important moments of the war that the two reporters did not witness. . . . They have spun a gripping narrative of war, politics, and diplomacy.
Book Review New York Times
An exceptional feat of war correspondence. It is hard to imagine that it will be surpassed as the definitive account of the conflict. There seem to be few important moments of the war that the two reporters did not witness. . . . They have spun a gripping narrative of war, politics, and diplomacy.
Kirkus Reviews
A combination of investigative journalism and historical overview that emphasizes the Chechens' role as the long-oppressed victims of Russian imperialism. In 1994 Russian president Boris Yeltsin ordered an invasion after Chechnya's intractable president, Johkar Dudayev, declared independence for his warrior nation. The result was a disastrous three-year war that took the lives of tens of thousands of civilians and soldiers, destroyed the Chechen capital of Grozny, and created a crisis of leadership for Yeltsin. Gall and de Waal, who covered the war for the Moscow Times, offer an authoritative portrait of combat and a convincing explanation of the origins of the disaster. They deftly put the war into its historical context, describing the Chechens' forced incorporation into imperial Russia and the Soviet Union. Parallels are drawn between policies under monarchist and Soviet rule, and special attention is paid to Stalin's devastating deportation of the Chechens to Central Asia in the late 1940s, an event that contributed greatly to the Chechens' determination to gain independence. By covering such background, the authors provide a necessary glimpse into the lasting sense of injustice and anger that has spurred many Chechens into action against the Russian army. But while their sympathies clearly lie with the colorful Chechens, the authors remain objective in their assessment of Chechnya's questionable leaders and the corrupt nature of modern Chechen society. Thus, both Yeltsin and Dudayev are assigned some of the blame for hastening the disaster—the former for his bullying nature and misunderstanding of the Chechens, the latter for his Bolshevik tactics. Regrettably, despitetheir obvious engagement with the subject, Gall and de Waal fail to provide a brisk narrative. Their work is thorough but somewhat plodding. Nonetheless, this is a harrowing glimpse into the destabilization caused by the collapse of the Soviet Union and the troubled road to independence and democracy faced by its non-Russian nationalities.
