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Title: Chechnya: Tombstone of Russian Power by Anatol Lieven, Heidi Bradner ISBN: 0-300-07881-1 Publisher: Yale Univ Pr Pub. Date: May, 1999 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $20.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.2 (10 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: A very thorough analysis of the Russian defeat in Chechnya
Comment: Lieven gives a vivid account from the front line in Chechnya during the recent war. He spoke to the main protagonists on both sides and also to the common soldiers or fighters. He offers many lively examples of Russian incompetence and corruption and writes admiringly but not uncritically about the courage and tenacity of the Chechens who fought this once mighty military force. Lieven also analyses thoroughly the broader military and political reasons for the Russian defeat and traces its causes to the general state of political decay in present day Russia. He offers the historical background of the very troubled Russian-Chechen relationship. He draws many interesting parallels with other political systems where corrupt and incompetent leaders have remained in power over longer periods of time e.g. in certain Latin American countries. Lieven writes critically about western analysts such as the historian Richard Pipes who still tend to regard Russia as an inherently expansionist power. Military expansion, in his view, is simply not on the agenda for a very long time, if only due to the very sorry state of the Russian military and of politics generally. A very insightful book, very rewarding.
Rating: 4
Summary: Good, But Difficult and Incomplete
Comment: All the reviews of this book are right on target: it includes excellent material (the best on the subject), great photographs, is very well written...but lacks maps, is badly organized and certainly not for beginners (i.e. anyone without a basic knowledge of Russian History, Military History and Political Theory). The book's weaknesses can be patched up by consulting John Pillani's recent article in *Slavic Military Studies*, June 2000: "Corpses Burning in the Streets": Russia's Doctrinal Flaws in the 1995 Fight for Grozny", which includes good maps as well as more "sympathy for the devil" than pro-Chechen Lieven is willing to grant. Also look up Lieven in the NYT index for updates on the Chechnya situation.
Rating: 2
Summary: A Chechen Stocking Stuffer
Comment: This book is an example of how embarrassing it can be for an author to go out on a limb with his prognostications. Lieven declared in this book that after the Russians were driven from Chechnya (the first Chechen War) they wouldn't be back for many years. Well, they're back - and with a vengeance.
Lieven does point out some interesting things along the way, of course. It's amazing to read that central Grozny - destroyed by the Russian Army and Air Force - was primarily inhabited by Russians, especially older, retired Russians, not Chechens. Subsequent events in Moscow's Dubrovka Theatre - where the security services killed all the Chechen kidnappers and most of their Russian hostages - show just how little the Russian government values the lives of its citizens. In any event, each tidbit of useful information is offset by either an error or an unsubstantiated opinion. For example, Lieven wonders why Russian TU-22 or Tu-26 bombers were not used to destroy rebel sanctuaries. Well, for one thing, TU-22 (Blinder) bombers have been out of the Russian active inventory for many years. As for the TU-26, it doesn't even exist. Lieven should know that the bomber he wanted to refer to is the TU-22M (Backfire.) Apparently what Mr. Lieven lacks in knowledge he's more than willing to make up for in speculation.
Perhaps the most egregious shortcoming of the book, though, is the total lack of maps and diagrams. The author makes dozens of references to locations throughout Chechnya, but provides not map one. For all the reader knows, Chechnya could be somewhere in Central Asia, and where the locations are inside Chechnya is anybody's guess. Nevertheless, it's obvious from reading the reviews on these pages that some readers got a lot out of the book. For that reason alone I think that this book would make a good stocking stuffer for a history/politics buff at Christmas. A nice token, but not something to be taken too seriously.
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Title: Chechnya: Calamity in the Caucasus by Carlotta Gall, Thomas De Waal ISBN: 0814731325 Publisher: New York University Press Pub. Date: January, 2000 List Price(USD): $21.00 |
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Title: The Chechen Wars: Will Russia Go the Way of the Soviet Union? by Matthew Evangelista ISBN: 0815724993 Publisher: The Brookings Institution Pub. Date: 01 January, 2003 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: Russia Confronts Chechnya : Roots of a Separatist Conflict by John B. Dunlop ISBN: 0521636191 Publisher: Cambridge University Press Pub. Date: 28 September, 1998 List Price(USD): $21.00 |
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Title: A Dirty War: A Russian Reporter in Chechnya by Anna Politkovskaia, John Crowfoot, Anna Politovskaya, Anna Politkovskaya ISBN: 1860468977 Publisher: Harvill Pr Pub. Date: October, 2001 List Price(USD): $22.95 |
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Title: Chienne de Guerre: A Woman Reporter Behind the Lines of the War in Chechnya by Anne Nivat, Susan Darnton ISBN: 1586480448 Publisher: PublicAffairs Pub. Date: 03 April, 2001 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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