This would have been a solid 5/5 if it were accurate, but the author has an axe to grind (hates Russia), and wrote this book using the template of other war memoirs, filled out with stories from many individual people (which may or may not be accurate) rolled into one highly implausible tale. There is absolutely a high level of violent hazing of conscript and contract soldiers in the Russian military, and the Chechen wars were a low point, but no one takes near-lethal beatings daily for months, combined with lack of food, without suffering enough to no longer be combat effective. There were other cases where he was unable to do something one day but then revealed to be able to trivially do it on other days with no real change of status.

There is probably enough true material here (misattributed) to still be a good overview of the Chechen conflict from a soldier's perspective, but it's to be taken with a massive dose of skepticism. ( )

Important perspective showing what war looks like behind the dry historic narrative. Extremely gory and wholly believable. ( )

This is an incredible view inside the Russian military in the 1990's. The senior ranks used physical violence in training establishments. Babchenko had few teeth left by the time he was assigned to a unit because any soldier who out ranked him used him and his fellow recruits as punching bags usually just to satisfy their anger at being poor and in hopeless situations. The violence is difficult to read about and to believe.

The lack of care the officers and the politicians had for the front line soldier was appalling. While fighting the enemy, they had to scrounge for water and food as neither was supplied by the Russian Government on a regular basis. The corruption was rampant with everyone selling weapons, ammunition and even military vehicles to the enemy or friends.

The Chechen War was an extremely dirty war with both sides resorting to extreme violence when they captured enemy combatants. Russian soldiers could expect torture and death and even if they changed sides they could not even trust Chechen leaders to not turn them over to the Russians in exchange for weapons or a prisoner exchange. ( )

On par with Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front. Babchenko attempts to write the impossible: what violence does to the psyche. A must. ( )

Absolutely spell binding. An extremely eye opening view into the modern Russian military forces as seen by Babchenko. Very hard to read at times, but he writes with such passion and conviction that you feel it would be a disservice to stop. Very, very good book, the author also has a great talent for writing. ( )