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Chechnya Diary: A War Correspondent's Story of Surviving the War in Chechnya
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Product Description
Thomas Goltz is a member of the exclusive journalistic cadre of compulsive, danger-addicted voyeurs who court death to get the story. But in addition to providing a tour through the convoluted Soviet and then post-Soviet nationalities policy that led to the bloodbath in Chechnya, Chechnya Diary is part of a larger exploration of the role (and impact) of the media in conflict areas. And at its heart, Chechnya Diary is the story of Hussein, the leader of the local resistance in the small town that bears the brunt of the massacre as it is drawn into war.
This is a deeply personal book, a first person narrative that reads like an adventure but addresses larger theoretical issues ranging from the history of ethnic/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.
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #515058 in Books
- Published on: 2003-10-01
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Binding: Hardcover
- 352 pages
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Mortar fire booming in the distance, smoke pluming behind the hills and the just-out-of-camera-range repeat of machine-gun fire frustrate and enthrall freelance war correspondent Goltz as he chronicles his attempt to capture on videotape Russia's nearly decade-long war with the republic of Chechnya. Less an evenhanded exploration of the byzantine quilt of atrocity and retribution characterizing the post-Soviet conflict, this is more a personal tale of Goltz's relationship with one town (Samashki) and, in particular, one man: a fixer named Hussein who risks his life and, later, exile, in an effort to help the reporter (on contract assignment for ABC News at first) get the story. With a keen observational eye and an ear for characterizing detail, Goltz describes his encounters with the people of the small Chechen village, which suffered a brutal pounding at the hands of the Russian military in 1995. But the book's most compelling aspects are Goltz's ruminations on the impact he, as a Western journalist, has on the events that he set out to objectively report on. Citing as an epigraph a bit of Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle-"the observer affects the observed"-the author proceeds to detail how his work with Hussein, and subsequent departure from Samashki right before a big Russian attack, helped cast him, in the eyes of the villagers, in the role of KGB agent and Hussein as a Russian collaborator. Details of his resulting trip to Hussein's home-in-exile in Kazakhstan round out the tale. Goltz's powerful conclusion: war leaves no innocents, let alone innocence. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
There have been plenty of memoirs written by journalists working in war zones, but rarely has the "tacit death urge" at the heart of war correspondence been as fully explored as it is here. It is foolish, Goltz writes, to describe a war correspondent as courageous, because a journalist deliberately places himself in the line of fire to get the story. This memoir focuses on the war in Chechnya, in particular the massacre at Samashki, the town that, in early 1996, was essentially wiped out by Russian troops. Goltz describes the violence and destruction vividly, but it is his concentration on individual people--including Hussein, the 46-year-old leader of the local resistance, and Isa, the author's streetwise guide--that makes the book memorable. Goltz focuses not on politics but on the people of Chechnya and on the brutality that has become a way of life there. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Review
Praise for Chechnya Diary:
"This rusty little razor blade of a book is a deeply disturbing and uniquely personal contribution to the study of the tragic subject of Chechnya at war, ethnic and national conflict in the post-Soviet Caucasus as well as the workings of the modern American media. Goltz has done it again."--Professor Frederick Starr, Chairman of the Central Asia and Caucasus Institute, Johns Hopkins University.
Customer Reviews
For the Layman
This is the true story about the struggle the people of Chechnya are going through - a region I know little about. It is written through the eyes of a war correspondent - an occupation I know little about. Goltz brings some understanding to the layman with a direct, no-nonsense writing style that will capture your attention and send your senses reeling through sorrow, joy, dispair, hope and more. A must read for anyone who wants to gain some knowledge of the on-going struggle of Chechnya without wading through a dull textbook.
How we really feel
I'll state straight away that I count myself a an old and loyal friend of Thomas Goltz, and I'm a journalist too, so my five stars should perhaps seen in that context. But I believe they are well deserved, not least for the personal bravery the author displayed in getting the story. For me, this book's particular value is that for once it strips away the shield that we reporters feel necessary to arm ourselves with to protect ourselves from emotional involvement with the subjects of our reportage. This is the first time I read the account of someone who has faced up to naked realities of this situation. The result is a rare and compelling tale of the relationship between the interviewer and the interviewed, and set against a backdrop that shows how both sides behave and above all feel when trapped in forces outside their control.
An improvement 
This book is a sign Goltz has matured since writing "Requiem" and "AZ Diary", and has found his niche. This is to say, maybe he's realized he isn't much for political synthesis or history. He has obviously done a lot of good and original thinking about journalistic ethics in wartime and the "Hawthorne effect"--these are the reasons you want to read this book.
There are a lot of books, historical and journalistic, in several languages, on Chechnya and this is the least exciting and informative of the ten or so of those I've read.
"Allah's Mountains", "Chechnya--Tombstone of Russian Power" and "Chechnya--A Short, Victorious War" are more interesting and written by less self-obsessed authors.
