A Small Corner of Hell ─ Dispatches from Chechnya

The recent murder of Anna Politkovskaya is grim evidence of the danger faced by journalists passionately committed to writing the truth about wars & politics. A longtime critic of the Russian government, particularly with regard to its policies in Chechnya, she was a special correspondent for the liberal Moscow newspaper Novaya gazeta. Beginning in '99, she authored numerous articles about the war in Chechnya, & she was the only journalist to have constant access to the region. Her 2nd book on the Chechen War, A Small Corner of Hell, offers an insider's view of this ongoing conflict. In this book, she focuses attention on those caught in the crossfire. She recounts the everyday horrors of living in the midst of war, examines how the Chechen war has damaged Russian society & takes a hard look at the ways people on both sides profited from it. A Small Corner of Hell ensures that her words will not be erased.
"[A Small Corner of Hell] skips harrowingly from year to year & place to place. The arch-villains are the Russian death squads, venal & brutal, & the complacent, lying politicians & generals who profit from the illegal trade in booty, oil & captives. Her heroes are not the Chechen resistance--a gangsterish & ill-fed lot--but the long-suffering civilian population, whose natural grit & solidarity has gradually dissolved under the relentless brutality of daily life."--Economist
"A personal, unblinking stare at the casualties of war."--Jonathan Kaplan, Los Angeles Times