Synopses & Reviews
In the early hours of New Years Eve 1994, Russian troops invaded Chechnya, plunging the country into a prolonged and bloody conflict. A foreign correspondent in Moscow at the time, Åsne Seierstad traveled regularly to Chechnya to report on the war, describing its effects on those trying to live their daily lives amidst violence. Over the course of a decade, she traveled in secret and under the constant threat of danger.
In a broken and devastated society, Seierstad lived amongst the wounded and the lost. And she lived with the orphans of Grozny, those who will shape the countrys future, asking the question: what happens to children who grow up surrounded by war and accustomed to violence?
Synopsis
The conflict in Chechnya was the first war journalist Asne Seierstad covered. Now 10 years later, she returns to Chechnya and discovers that though the world's attention has moved on, the tragedy has continued, killing 10 to 15 per cent of the population and leaving a brutalised society - with a particular toll on its children - in its wake.
Synopsis
In the early hours of New Year's 1994, Russian troops invaded the Republic of Chechnya, plunging the country into a prolonged and bloody conflict that continues to this day. A foreign correspondent in Moscow at the time, ...ne Seierstad traveled regularly to Chechnya to report on the war, describing its affects on those trying to live their daily lives amidst violence.
In the following decade, Seierstad became an internationally renowned reporter and author, traveling to the Balkans, Afghanistan, Iraq, and other war-torn regions. But she never lost sight of this conflict that had initially inspired her career. Over the course of a decade, she watched as Russia ruthlessly suppressed an Islamic rebellion in two bloody wars and as Chechnya evolved into one of the flashpoints in a world now focused on the threat of international terrorism.
In 2006, Seierstad finally returned to Chechnya, traveling in secret and under the constant threat of danger. In a broken and devastated society she lived with orphans, the wounded, the lost. And she lived with the children of Grozny, those who will shape the country's future. She asks the question: What happens to a child who grows up surrounded by war and accustomed to violence?
A compelling, intimate, and often heartbreaking portrait of Chechnya today, The Angel of Grozny is a vivid account of a land's violent history and its ongoing battle for freedom.
About the Author
Åsne Seierstad is an award-winning journalist who has reported from such war-torn regions as Chechnya,China, Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq. The author of A Hundred and One Days as well as The Bookseller of Kabul, she lives in Norway.