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Anna Politkovskai︠a︡
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A Small Corner of Hell: Dispatches from Chechnya Hardcover – October 3, 2003

by Anna Politkovskaya (Author), Alexander Burry (Translator), Tatiana Tulchinsky (Translator),
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 114 ratings
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Chechnya, a 6,000-square-mile corner of the northern Caucasus, has struggled under Russian domination for centuries. The region declared its independence in 1991, leading to a brutal war, Russian withdrawal, and subsequent "governance" by bandits and warlords. A series of apartment building attacks in Moscow in 1999, allegedly orchestrated by a rebel faction, reignited the war, which continues to rage today. Russia has gone to great lengths to keep journalists from reporting on the conflict; consequently, few people outside the region understand its scale and the atrocities—described by eyewitnesses as comparable to those discovered in Bosnia—committed there.

Anna Politkovskaya, a correspondent for the liberal Moscow newspaper Novaya gazeta, was the only journalist to have constant access to the region. Her international stature and reputation for honesty among the Chechens allowed her to continue to report to the world the brutal tactics of Russia's leaders used to quell the uprisings. A Small Corner of Hell: Dispatches from Chechnya is her second book on this bloody and prolonged war. More than a collection of articles and columns, A Small Corner of Hell offers a rare insider's view of life in Chechnya over the past years. Centered on stories of those caught-literally-in the crossfire of the conflict, her book recounts the horrors of living in the midst of the war, examines how the war has affected Russian society, and takes a hard look at how people on both sides are profiting from it, from the guards who accept bribes from Chechens out after curfew to the United Nations. Politkovskaya's unflinching honesty and her courage in speaking truth to power combine here to produce a powerful account of what is acknowledged as one of the most dangerous and least understood conflicts on the planet.

 

Anna Politkovskaya was assassinated in Moscow on October 7, 2006.

 

"The murder of the journalist Anna Politkovskaya leaves a terrible silence in Russia and an information void about a dark realm that we need to know more about. No one else reported as she did on the Russian north Caucasus and the abuse of human rights there. Her reports made for difficult reading—and Politkovskaya only got where she did by being one of life's difficult people."—Thomas de Waal, Guardian
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  1. Print length
    232 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    University of Chicago Press
  4. Publication date
    October 3, 2003
  5. Dimensions
    9.2 x 6.34 x 0.81 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0226674320
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0226674322
  8. See all details
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4.6 out of 5 stars
114 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Dingy
    5.0 out of 5 stars Very touching
    Reviewed in the United States on September 12, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    This is one of the best written books I’ve ever read. The account of events is so well written. I’ve learned many things I didn’t know about the Chechen war. I really recommend reading it.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Omar Forbergskog
    5.0 out of 5 stars The realities of war
    Reviewed in the United States on September 23, 2018
    Verified Purchase
    Mandatory reading for anyone interested in the chechen war:
    The book focuses on the civilian experience throughout the war; mothers who lost their sons in senseless purges, starving farmers and refugees in Ingushetia.

    The book also includes:
    The ridiculous cat and mouse games between the russian military and Basayev.
    The Moscow theater hostage crisis.
    Interviews with various politicians and the cover-up of war crimes (such as the case of Yuri Budanov and others).
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Michael Griswold
    4.0 out of 5 stars Hells Corner
    Reviewed in the United States on June 9, 2010
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    When life is war and war is life, what else do people know? Anna Politkovskaya takes the reader for a non faint of heart journey through the streets of Chechnya- a war torn republic in the North Cuscus. Maybe it was the writing style, but everything just seemed to blend together into a gray portrait of death and survival without dignity. There are no winners Chechen or Russian within the context of Politkovskaya's book. Not even officers of the Russian army as profiled in one of the last stories she tells. War spares no victims and often regenerates itself in the form of a youth who've known nothing but war, replenishing the cycle of war. It's unfortunate that Politkovskaya could not have broken up her stories a little more because though she does a good job of profiling the people of war, much of it is lost in this swirling vortex of near-ending graying death and war.
    4 people found this helpful
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  • Norma Vazquez
    5.0 out of 5 stars Why Chechnyans are pissed off!!
    Reviewed in the United States on May 21, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    I am familiar with the writings of this Author and, Iwas interested in the subject matter she wrote about. The writer is a famous Russian Journalist who has done a lot of reporting about the war and everyday human conditions of the Chechnyan people.
    It is suspected that she angered someone either in the Russian military or Government with her honest reporting about the experience and human indignities of these people during the war as she was assasinated years ago outside her home in Russia.
    Anyone who is interested in Russian politics and modern history,would enjoy this book.
    8 people found this helpful
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  • Lawrence R Fraley
    5.0 out of 5 stars Worth reading.
    Reviewed in the United States on July 18, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    This book is a MUST READ if you want to learn about the horrible regime in North Korea, which allows the privileged to
    live in luxury while millions starve and die in the outer lands. There is no justifiable reason for this regime to be allowed to
    exist but unfortunately other countries cannot stop it. It almost gives you the impression that their "leader" would not stop at
    sending nuclear-armed rockets toward America if he thought it would improve his image before the enslaved people, without
    regard for the ultimate consequences. A worthy read.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • A.S
    5.0 out of 5 stars fantastic book
    Reviewed in the United States on December 25, 2012
    Verified Purchase
    Anna Politkovskaya was one of the world best journalist she put her life on the line to tell the truth of a conflict that was just horrible she lost her life trying to express to the world what was happening in this small corner of hell.
    4 people found this helpful
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  • Marilyn S. Michel
    5.0 out of 5 stars What to know about Chechnya
    Reviewed in the United States on January 11, 2018
    Verified Purchase
    Very sad but true, problems in the Ukraine and Chechnya. Author was murdered, most likely by Russians.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Mike Dubya
    4.0 out of 5 stars A very interesting read on the Chechen conflict primarily from ...
    Reviewed in the United States on October 24, 2014
    Verified Purchase
    A very interesting read on the Chechen conflict primarily from the view of the Civilian population caught between the Islamic Jihadists (referred as bandits and bearded ones) and the Russian Army. Very detailed and researched on the causes of the conflict and personal anecdotes of Anna Politkovskaya's time during her visits to the war-torn region. If you are interested in having a well rounded view of the Chechen conflict, read this book and Arkady Babchenko's One Soldier's War as well.
    One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

  • D. Lomas
    5.0 out of 5 stars Putin's Pogroms
    Reviewed in Germany on November 13, 2010
    Verified Purchase
    Anna Politkowskaya describes with touching authenticity the 'real truth?' about the terrible conflict in the North Caucasus and the apparent encouragement of the continuation of violence by the Russian Federation's former president and current first minister. It illustrates in no uncertain way how Anna laid the trail which lead to her own murder.
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  • C. Doyle
    5.0 out of 5 stars Hidden truths
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 30, 2007
    Verified Purchase
    Having read widely about the Chechen conflict it was clear that Anna Politkovskaya was a dissenting voice that the Russians did not want to hear ... hey, they ended up killing her for her outspoken attacks on Putin and his cronies. To hear the real story of the Chechen conflict go no futher than this wonderfully lucid account of what modern warfare does to the ordinary people on both sides. There are heartbreaking accounts of the destruction of Grozny and the impact this had on the elderly and very young, accounts of the inept way in which the Russian authorities deal with the dead, wounded and missing on their own side ... there is literally one pathology department in the entire Russian army that deals with literally thousands of bodies being returned every year.
    Propaganda? I think not, but with so little being allowed out and the current state of affairs with Putin and the Russian Federation where else could we get information? Anna was a beacon of hope in this dark and inhuman conflict and should have been celebrated as such. This book reveals why so little was made of her murder. The more people that read this the better.
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  • G. Mitchell
    3.0 out of 5 stars AMAZON ON DEMAND PUBLISHING - POOR QUALITY PUBLISHING - BOOK IS GREAT BUT NOT THE PUBLISHER - AMAZON
    Reviewed in Canada on June 4, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    I gave this three stars because I don't want to criticize this excellent book written by a Putin murdered journalist who deserves to be read. She gave her life in the interests of journalism and the truth.

    It is the PUBLISHING of the book that I give 0-1 star. The book clearly states "Printed in the United States of America" but it is NOT. I live in Canada, and on the last page it states "Manufactured by Amazon.ca Acheson AB" AB is 'Alberta. The chief issue I have with the book is its poor quality binding, smaller font etc. It was printed as an 'on demand' book by Amazon.

    Nowhere did I read in the description that it is a 'print on demand' book. Writers, publishers and authors deserve better than this.

    Shame on Amazon for misleading its customers.
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  • Mixsa888
    5.0 out of 5 stars This woman risked her life to witness the crimes commited ...
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 1, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    This woman risked her life to witness the crimes commited by both sides in this war and was eventually murdered by her own government for reporting them.
    Not only does it document the traumas of individuals but explains how the war started.
    Russia has no thought for human life whatsoever not even the life’s of its own soldiers, you owe it to the author to read this book, she died to expose what went on in Chechnya.
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  • gloxius
    5.0 out of 5 stars Everyone should read this book!
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 26, 2020
    Verified Purchase
    Everyone should read this book... People like Anna are our only hope so understand the truth and have any chance of holding the authorities accountable!
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