Chechnya: Calamity in the Caucasus - Softcover

Gall, Carlotta; De Waal, Thomas

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0814731325 ISBN 13: 9780814731321

Publisher: NYU Press, 1999

Synopsis

"[A] gripping narrative of war, politics, and diplomacy."—New York Times Book Review 

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.

About this title

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."--New York Times Book Review

"An excellent ground-level account"--Wall Street Journal

"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 members."--Kirkus Reviews

From the Back Cover:

Chechnya recounts the story of the violent struggle for independence and the Kremlin politics that precipitated it. Historically, the Chechens' tight clan and religious structures made them especially resistant to assimilation by Russia. In 1944 they were one of the largest ethnic groups to be deported en masse by Stalin. Their history should have warned any Moscow strategist that, if forced to, many would fight a savage war to the end to defend themselves. And in the end the Chechen fighters achieved the almost impossible when they defeated the Russian army and forced it to withdraw. The product of investigative and on-the-scenes reporting by two established journalists in Chechnya over a three-year period between 1994 and 1997, Carlotta Gall and Thomas de Waal's account of the Chechens is also a portrait of Russia's failed attempt to make the transition to a democratic society.

About this edition

• Publisher: NYU Press
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0814731325
• ISBN 13: 9780814731321
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 440