'With his study, Mr Russell has made an extraordinary contribution to the assessment of the two Chechen wars from the perspective of peace and conflict research as well as for their placement in the global political conflict situation. Furthermore, he raises many extremely interesting questions without giving any answers to it, and thus providing interesting incitements for further research approaches.' - OST-Europa 2007
'His book is an honest one and essential reading for anyone who seeks genuine peace in Chechnya, the North Caucasus and Russia as a whole' - Survival, June 2008
'John Russell writes a fluent, well-documented plea for Chechnya rather than a history. His book is not for readers new to the conflict. But his scorching analysis of Putin's dual policies of force and installing puppets to "Chechenise" the violence demonstrates that neither works' - Marie Colvin, Frontline 2008
'Russell offers meticulous research to support this broad argument, evidently drawing on his knowledge of linguistics in an applied and fascinating way. This is the real strength of the book. Russell's knowledge and understanding of transliteration, highlighting both dedovshchina' and gosudarstvenost' as discourses which underpin Russia's post-Cold War policies towards Chechnya, is an excellent contribution to the debate about the two conflicts.' - Cerwyn Moore, University of Birmingham, UK - Europe-Asia Studies, July 2008
'Russell's Chechnya Russia's "War on Terror" deserves special acknowledgement. Written with deep understanding of the Russian Politics, Northern Caucasian peculiarities and using an unbiased approach, the book tries to give answers to why Chechnya but not other places in Russia became a spot of bloody conflict, hostility and political violence.' - Anar M. Valliyev, Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy - Terrorism and Political Violence, October 2008
'Chechnya - Russia's "War on Terror" deserves to be read by all who have a professional interest in the region of the Caucasus, North and South. It is also a recommended read for all who want to understand Putin's Russia. It should be in all academic libraries and would be good supplemental reading material for both graduate and undergraduate courses that deal with inter-ethnic relations, the problems of contemporary Russia or the fate of the Chechen people.' - Andrew Ludanyi, Ohio Northern University, Nationalities Papers 2008
'John Russell does not intend to compete with journalists who have reported the Russo-Chechen wars and terrorist spectaculars at first hand, or with historians who have described the bitter conflicts that has poisoned relations between the two nations for centuries. His valuable contribution lies in analysing the roots of the hostilities and in searching for possible paths to a solution. He brings to this task a sound knowledge of Russian language and society, a professional interest in conflict resolution and a personal involvement in the international dimensions of the struggle - he played a significant role in defending Akhmed Zakaev when the Putin regime attempted to have the Chechen spokesman extradited from Britain. Some might argue that his evident sympathy for the Chechens in their sufferings must greatly reduce the academic value of his work. Not so: although he is clearly committed to finding a fairer and more lasting solution than 'Chechenization' or any of the other proposals as yet to emerge from the Kremlin, his research and analysis are thorough enough for even some of Russia's unimaginative strategists to recognize the book's worth' - Iain Elliot, East-Weat Insight, UK - International Affairs 2008
