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Summary
Summary
A gripping account of the Chechen struggle for independence
The war in Chechnya left us with some of the most harrowing images in recent times: a modern European city bombed to ruins while its citizens cowered in bunkers; mass graves; mothers combing the hills for their missing sons.
The product of investigative and on-the-scene reporting by two established journalists, Carlotta Gall and Thomas de Waal's captivating book recounts the story of the Chechens' violent struggle for independence, and the Kremlin politics that precipitated it. Exploring Chechnya's complex and bloody history, the work is also a portrait of Russia's failed attempt to make the transition to a democratic society.
Reviews (3)
Kirkus Review
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, despite their 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. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
The authors reported on the 1994^-96 war in Russia's southern Muslim Chechnya region, which tolled at least 60,000 deaths. This work offers one of the first available book-length perspectives on the background and course of the vicious affair. It explains the long-standing Chechen grievance against Russian domination, which dates from imperial expansions in the 1830s, exacerbated by Stalin's decision to expel the entire Chechen people, as alleged Nazi collaborators, from their homeland. (Khrushchev later let them back.) All was quiet until the USSR cracked along ethnic lines; nationalistic Russians feared the fissures might spread to their federation, which a rigid Chechen leader proposed to start by declaring his people's independence; and the war came. The text, based on interviews, chronicles the outbreak of the war, the fighting, hostage raids by Chechens, and the drawn-out road to an armistice. A unique source on this subject. --Gilbert Taylor
Library Journal Review
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, this work belongs in regional and general collections.Rena Fowler, Humboldt State Univ., Arcata, Cal. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.