Books like Chechnya by Anatol Lieven

"Two years ago, when she was thirty years old, Anne Nivat decided to see first-hand what war was all about. Russia had just launched its second brutal campaign against Chechnya. And though the Russians strictly forbade Western journalists from covering the war by themselves, the young French journalist decided she would go alone.". "More than just a war correspondent's report, Chienne de Guerre is a story of struggle and self-discovery - the adventures of one young woman who repeatedly tests her own physical and psychological limits in the extremely dangerous and stressful environment of war."--BOOK JACKET.

A Russian Diary is Anna Politkovskaya’s candid, unflinching record of life in Russia from the 2003 parliamentary elections through the 2005 Beslan school siege, exposing corruption, state‑censorship, and the human cost of Vladimir Putin’s rule.

"Chechnya Diary is a story about the "the story" of the war in Chechnya, the "rogue republic" that attempted to secede from the Russian Federation at the time of the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Specifically, it is the story of the Samashki Massacre, a symbol of the Russian brutality that was employed to crush Chechen resistance." "This is a first-person narrative that reads like an adventure but addresses larger theoretical issues ranging from the history of ethnic peoples and nationalities in the USSR and the Russian Federation to journalistic responsibility in crisis zones. Chechnya Diary is a crossover work that offers both the historical context and a ground-level view of a complex and brutal war."--BOOK JACKET.

With the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia launched itself on a fitful transition to Western-style democracy. But a decade later, Yeltsin's handpicked successor resolved to bring an end to the revolution. This book goes behind the scenes of contemporary Russia to reveal the culmination of Project Putin, the secret plot to reconsolidate power in the Kremlin. During their four years as Moscow bureau chiefs for The Washington Post, the authors witnessed the methodical campaign to transform Russia back into an authoritarian state. Their narrative moves from the unlikely rise of Putin through the key moments of his tenure that re-centralized power into his hands. But the authors also portray the Russian people they encountered--both those who have prospered and those barely surviving--and show how the political flux has shaped individual lives. -- From publisher description.