Books about the war in Chechnya are among the most piercing, truthful, and modern tales of valor, courage, and honor. In our time, the exploits of soldiers and officers of the Great Patriotic War are a thing of the past. While the events in Chechnya are close and familiar to everyone. Even the youth themselves still remember how alarming reports were broadcast in the evening news every evening. That is why these works are so popular today.
Black book
Books about the war in Chechnya are often not literary works, such as just a minority, but the testimonies of people who were personally present at the events described. This is the book of
Andrei Savelyev. The documentary narrative of the events in southern Russia is called the Black Book of the Chechen War.
It was prepared in 2000, as a report intended for deputies of the European Parliament. Its main goal was to convince European politicians, who often based their opinions on this war on biased sources.
The author is trying to prove by dry facts that the war against separatists restores peace in the republic, and in no case does not violate human rights. This documentary book contains specific descriptions of crimes committed by Chechen gangs, violations of the rights of the Russian population, as well as a detailed and impartial analysis of the actions of the Russian authorities at different stages of the confrontation.
However, the book was never published in Europe; it was released only in Russia, where it remains relevant today.
In the trap
Another noteworthy author is
Igor Prokopenko. In his documentary novel "The Chechen Trap", he cites facts previously unknown to the general public. With their help, it is possible to look at the events of those years from a new angle.
Prokopenko is looking for answers to questions that still torment many Russians. Why did this terrible tragedy happen? Why did the state and government make so many unforgivable mistakes? Why is this an unprecedented war on the scale of stupidity, cynicism and betrayal?
The main characters of the story are ordinary soldiers and officers. According to the author, who himself has visited a hot spot more than once, the main culprits of this tragedy are representatives of the Kremlin, who have repeatedly betrayed their own army and people. And sometimes they acted simply cowardly and illiterate.
The author tries to give answers to all of the above questions on the pages of his manuscript.
General Stories
Books about the war in Chechnya were written not only by military journalists, but also by direct participants in the events.
So great popularity was gained by the memoirs of General Gennady Troshev “My war. Chechen diary of the trench general”, published in 2001. In it, one of the leaders of the Russian army describes in detail the events of both the First and Second Chechen campaigns.
According to the author, a large amount of lies and untruths published about this war prompted him to sit at the writing desk. The general talks about events about which he is known for certain, and also expresses his opinion and attitude to many popular politicians and military leaders on both sides.
True story
One of the most sincere works is The
Stallion Polina's Diary
, published in 2011. The stories about the Chechen war are presented here on behalf of the writer, who was born in Grozny in 1985.
The diaries describe the events of 1999-2002, when the author was 14-17 years old. The book has been translated into many languages in Europe and beyond. She came out without abbreviations, everything was published as it was in the original, that is, in the diaries themselves.
Of great interest was the story of the war on behalf of the teenager, a sincere story about interethnic relations between Russians and Chechens, the fate of civilians during the Second Chechen campaign. At first, many considered it to be fiction, but witnesses appeared, including Svetlana Gannushkina, chairman of the Civic Assistance Committee, who confirmed that they had personally seen these diaries.
Diary Reviews
Books about the Chechen war always cause a large number of reviews and opinions. Especially expressed a lot about the "Diaries of Stallion Pauline." The critic Elena Makeenko expressed the opinion that this is a real document of the era. These are stories about the Chechen war, which must be read.
Literary critic Igor Kirienkov compares this book with the memories of Anne Frank. He is convinced that it is on such documents in the future that they will determine how Russian writers lived and what they thought at the turn of the century. It is simply impossible to dismiss such a work; it is obligatory to read it.
In most reviews, readers agree that if you want to know the true truth, you need to carefully listen to the child, look with his eyes at the events of peace and war, feel what he feels and is afraid of.
View from the outside
Books about the war in Chechnya written by foreign journalists are also of great interest. One of the most popular is the journalism of American reporter Paul Khlebnikov, "Conversation with the Barbarian."
It is based on an interview recorded by Khlebnikov with one of the leaders of the Chechen separatists Khozh-Akhmed Nukhaev. The publication was released in 2003. A year later, Khlebnikov was killed. He was shot dead at the exit from the Russian branch of Forbes magazine, whose editor worked.
While still alive, Khlebnikov was taken to the 20th Moscow hospital, on the way in an ambulance he managed to inform that he was not familiar with the shooters and did not know the reasons for the attack. The journalist died on the way to intensive care in a stuck elevator.
According to the official version of the Prosecutor General’s Office, the hero of the book “Conversation with the Barbarian” was involved in the murder. Infrequently, books about the Chechen war led to the death of their authors.
In the story, Nukhaev talks about himself, the fighting against the Russian army, about how the Chechen mafia has established itself in the capital of Russia. And also about their main occupations - arms, drugs, women, killing and racketeering.
The hero sharply criticizes Americans and Europeans, their views and religions. Glorifying only its own version of Islam, which is significantly different from the classical one. Khlebnikov calls it extremist.