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Book Summary and Reviews of The Angel of Grozny by Asne Seierstad

The Angel of Grozny by Asne Seierstad

The Angel of Grozny

Orphans of a Forgotten War

by Asne Seierstad

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  • Published:
  • Sep 2008, 384 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

n 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, Åsne 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.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Starred Review. Seierstad's vivid, unsparing reportage makes this distant tragedy very personal." - Publishers Weekly.

"The ending is far from happy, and it reminds readers that there is more than one war happening in our world today. " - Library Journal.

"A sympathetic, brave work from a deeply engaged war correspondent." - Kirkus Reviews.

"Starred Review." - Booklist.

This information about The Angel of Grozny was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

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Author Information

Asne Seierstad Author Biography

Photo: hachettebookgroup.com

Åsne Seierstad is an award-winning journalist who has reported from such war-torn regions as Chechnya, China, Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Her works include With Their Backs to The World: Portraits of Serbia (2000), The Bookseller of Kabul (2002), One Hundred And One Days: A Baghdad Journal (2005), Angel of Grozny: Inside Chechnya (2007), and One of Us (2015).

The Bookseller of Kabul was shortlisted for the first Richard & Judy Best Read of the Year Award 2004. Asne lives in Norway.

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