A Soldier's War in Chechnya |
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Arkady Babchenko
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Pages: 304 (Hardcover)
ISBN: 1846270391
Pub: Portobello Books Ltd
Pub date: 2007-11-08
Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 765
Reader Reviews:
Unique Account of a Torturous War (8/8 people found this helpful)
The war in Chechnya, now in its second phase, is a special circumstance. Unlike Iraq, Kosovo or virtually any other modern conflict, the battle for Chechen independence goes unreported, ignored or winked at by governments the world over. Is it a fight against terrorism, or a small nation fighting for its independence? Few can say for sure, mostly due to the stranglehold the Russian government holds on the region. This is what makes this book so important.
Arkady Babchenko fought in both Chechnya wars before being demobilized in 2000; he later became a journalist with the non-conformist Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta (where he worked next to the since-murdered Anna Politkovskaya). This book collects his recorded memories of this most brutal of guerrilla wars, from New Years celebrations with rifles and condensed milk to the death of fellow soldier Yokovlev, who was `slit open like a tin of meat' by Chechen rebels and strangled with his own intestines. The tales are often brief, only sometimes extending to novella length, which works well as it encourages short reading bursts. It is a swift read and utterly gripping.
Russian history is full of horror stories, from the burning of Moscow to Stalingrad to the Gulag. Chechnya is the next, and Babchenko tells a tale as compellingly merciless as anything Solzhenitsyn, Shalamov or Beevor have offered. This is a unique book, delving into areas journalists can't and governments won't - you must read it.
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Categories
Amazon.co.uk places this book into the following categories:
Books -> Subjects -> History -> Essays, Journals, Letters & True Accounts
Books -> Subjects -> History -> General
Books -> Special Features -> New Releases