Currently deployed. Will review when I get back!

I started this book knowing very little about Chechnya. The author does an excellent job of explaining its history, and how the people came to be in conflict with Russia. It is written in a way that makes it easy to follow, even for those like me who are not experts. ( )

Williams has provided a well written history of the various conflicts that have shaped the current situation in Chechnya. First hand accounts that were taken from actual documents have added to the depth of the current situation. A recommended for those interested in the history of this area of the world. ( )

The Chechens, a small ethnic group in the Caucasus Mountains, have been fighting the Russians for much of the last 200 years. They are moderate Sufi Muslims, although in recent decades, a few Chechens have converted to radical and extreme Wahhabi Islam. The Chechens suffered greatly from Russian military campaigns against their civilians in Czarist times and again during World War II when Stalin expelled them from their homeland to the plains of Soviet Central Asia. Only after 1956 were they allowed to return. They have fought two wars with the Putin's Russia in recent decades: 1994-96 and 1999-2009. It was the Russian people's fear of Chechen terrorist bombings that allowed Putin to rise to power in Russia. The author provides considerable evidence that the bombings were actually done by political manipulators within Russia and not by the Chechens. The author makes a convincing case that claims by the Western press and some governments that the Chechens fought with Al Quaeda in Afghanistan are false. But it is true that Chechen volunteers are active in the war against Assad in Syria. The author likewise provides evidence that Tamerlan Tsarnaev was radicalized not on a return trip to the Caucasus but in the United States by viewing extremist Islamic web sites while living in Massachusetts. A most informative, extensively researched and valuable book. ( )

It's not often that a university press book is this engaging. Most of them are weighed down with academic jargon and are more focused on research details than telling a compelling store. I found this book fascinating and deeply disturbing. Some of the things that the Russians do to the Chechens (and the Russian people nearly made my stomach turn).
Like most mountain people the Chechens are a tough people that enjoy a good fight either among themselves or outsiders. When the Russian begin their slow invasion of Chechnya they meet fierce resistance. It's only through the destruction of villages, the forest, and a war of attrition that the Russians were able to subdue the region. Even then it frequently breaks out in Rebellion.
Before reading I knew almost nothing about the region. I was surprised to learn that the Boston marathon bombing virtually nothing to do with Chechnya. The brothers were only half Chechen and spent only a few months of their youth in the region. Additionally until very recently the Chechens practiced a tolerant strain of Islam, Sufi Islam. The wars against Russian always had more to do with nationalism than they did with religion. It's only recently with the introduction of Arab fighters and missionaries that some portions of the populations have converted to the severe Wahhabi interpretation of Islam.
I strongly recommend this book to readers of history. There is a great deal to learn from this book and the author's scholarship is presented in a readable format. ( )