57 Hours: A Survivor's Account of the Moscow Hostage Drama [Hardcover]

Vesselin Nedkov (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0670044350 | ISBN-13: 978-0670044351 | Publication Date: September 1, 2004 | Edition: 1

To celebrate the last night of a business trip in Moscow, Canadian resident Vesselin Nedkov and a friend picked up two tickets to the hottest musical in town. Halfway through the show, his life was changed forever. 57 Hours is Nedkov's harrowing account of being trapped between two immovable and unpredictable forces: inside the theatre, suicidal Chechen rebels, loaded with explosives, demanded an end to the bloody civil war that was ravaging Chechnya; outside, Russian special forces prepared to storm the theatre, refusing to negotiate with the rebels. Through fifty-seven hours of fear and fatigue, Nedkov discovered courage and ingenuity he never knew he had. Here he takes us into the maelstrom of the civil war that still plagues Russia.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Global; 1 edition (September 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670044350
• ISBN-13: 978-0670044351
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #503,193 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Takes Less Time To Read, December 28, 2004

By 

John G. Hilliard (Toronto Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 57 Hours: A Survivor's Account of the Moscow Hostage Drama (Hardcover)

I must admit that I am a sucker for these type of first hand accounts of true life dramatic events. I find that the excitement I have for learning about the particular event tends to make up for any short comings the book might have. So knowing I have this positive bias I have tried to be a bit more level headed with this review. The book is written by one of the hostages and is only the story from his perspective. He makes a few attempts to bring in bits and pieces of what the Russian police and military officials were doing, but this effort is very limited. So limited that is almost made me frustrated that he was not able to include more of this detail. The author also gives the reader a brief history of the Russian / Chechen war and what life is like in Chechen cities.

The author produced a book that covers the overall event in a somewhat basic telling. Not to be too critical, but the fact that this was the authors first attempt at a book is apparent. It is not that it was bad, it just seemed like it was written like a long conversation you might have had with the author. I did enjoy his perspective of the event. He hit on a number of interesting side stories that you would have missed by just reading news footage. He did a good job in conveying his emotions and the overall event. I enjoyed the book, and beside my few criticisms here, I would recommend the book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Book, May 24, 2004

By 

David Connell "basileus2" (Hamilton, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 57 Hours: A Survivor's Account of the Moscow Hostage Drama (Hardcover)

I rather enjoyed this book much more than I thought I would. I remember following the news of the hostage crisis as it was happening, and was intrigued enough to want to learn more, and this book does it for me.

Nedkov writes a very gripping tale, and it is well written. Reading the book, you get the feel of the horrible conditions inside the House of Culture. You can almost smell the stink of fear. He also intersperses the blow by blow description of the hostage situation, with chapters about Chechnya and it's history to give a more rounded story. While he doesn't sympathize with the terrorists, he understands some of their motives.

I highly recommend this book.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Disappear Terrorism, Disappear, August 23, 2005

By 

Yvonne Bornstein, Author, Eleven Days Of Hell... (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 57 Hours: A Survivor's Account of the Moscow Hostage Drama (Hardcover)

Reading this book took me immediately back to Moscow 1992.

I was also kidnapped, beaten and tortured for 11 horrifying days.
I was also one of the lucky ones as was Vesselin Nekov.

I am awestruck by anyone who can survive an horrific experience such as that written by this courageous author of "57 Hours".

Although this book is well written, it saddens me to think there are human beings on this planet who were not dealt with an even hand of civility and caring.

-Yvonne Bornstein, Author, Eleven Days Of Hell