A Small Corner of Hell

The recent murder of Anna Politkovskaya is grim evidence of the danger faced by journalists passionately committed to writing the truth about wars and politics. A longtime critic of the Russian government, particularly with regard to its policies in Chechnya, Politkovskaya was a special correspondent for the liberal Moscow newspaperNovaya gazeta. Beginning in 1999, Politkovskaya authored numerous articles about the war in Chechnya, and she was the only journalist to have constant access to the region. Politkovskaya's second book on the Chechen War, A Small Corner of Hell, offers an insider's view of this ongoing conflict. In this book, Politkovskaya focuses her attention on those caught in the crossfire. She recounts the everyday horrors of living in the midst of war, examines how the Chechen war has damaged Russian society, and takes a hard look at the ways people on both sides profited from it. Now available in paperback, A Small Corner of Hellensures that Politkovskaya's words will not be erased. "[A Small Corner of Hell] skips harrowingly from year to year and place to place. The arch-villains are the Russian death squads, venal and brutal, and the complacent, lying politicians and generals who profit from the illegal trade in booty, oil, and captives. Her heroes are not the Chechen resistancea gangsterish and ill-fed lotbut the long-suffering civilian population, whose natural grit and solidarity has gradually dissolved under the relentless brutality of daily life." Economist "A personal, unblinking stare at the casualties of war." Jonathan Kaplan,Los Angeles Times

Anna Politkovskaya (1958-2006) received the Golden Pen Award from the Russian Union of Journalists in 2000, the Courage in Journalism Award from the International Women’s Media Foundation, and the Prize for Journalism and Democracy from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

Introduction Whose Truth? by Georgi Derluguian Prologue London, May 2002: The Beginning Ordinary Chechen Life in Wartime It's Nice to Be Deaf The Chiri-Yurt Settlement Makhkety: A Concentration Camp with a Commercial Streak A Zone within a Zone The Hundredth Grozny Blockade Viktoria and Aleksandr: Grozny Newlyweds A Village That No Longer Exists A Lawless Enclave A Nameless Girl from Nowhere The Burning Cross of Tsotsan-Yurt Starye Atagi: The Twentieth Purge V-Day The Chechen Choice: From the Carpet to the Conveyer Belt What Are the Rules of the Game? Modern Russian Life against the Backdrop of the War Ruslan Aushev: "Nobody Guarantees Life in Chechnya Today" A Pogrom Five Hundred Rubles for Your Wife: The Chechnya Special Operation Ruins the Country Chechnya's Unique Islam Executions of Reporters Russia's Secret Heroes Killed by His Own It's Hard to Get Cartridges in Mozhaisk Who Wants This War? An Oligarchy of Generals Miracle Fields Boys and Girls Westernizers and Orientals Chechyna as the Price for the UN Secretary-General's Post Special Operation Zyazikov We Survived Again!: A Chronicle of Colonel Mironov's Luck Epilogue London 2002: An Ending without Closure Afterword