Description
By (author) Margolin, Jack
Short /annotation:
An exposé of Russia’s most notorious mercenary army, and the future of warfare.
:
Now available in paperback, this book tells the story of Russia’s most notorious private military company, the Wagner Group, revealing details of its operations never documented before, and the warning the group holds for the evolution of conflict. Jack Margolin traces the Wagner Group from its roots as a battlefield rumour to a private military enterprise tens of thousands strong. He follows individual commanders and foot soldiers as they fight in Ukraine, Syria and Africa. He shows Wagner mercenaries committing atrocities, plundering oil, diamonds and gold, and changing the course of conflicts in the name of the Kremlin. In documenting the Wagner Group’s story up to the dramatic demise of its chief director, Evgeniy Prigozhin, Margolin demonstrates what the Wagner Group represents for not only the future of Putin’s political system but the privatization of war.
Review quote:
“Margolin shines a bright light onto the shadowy Wagner mercenary group, at once deeply-researched and as readable as a thriller.” –
Mark Galeotti, author of Putin”s Wars
“In this gripping and meticulous guide to Russia’s most notorious mercenary group, Margolin charts Wagner’s heady rise and Prigozhin’s calamitous fall with an eye to an international context and the West’s own complicity.” –
Jade McGlynn, author of Russia”s War
“This fascinating history of the Wagner Group (and of the connected but competing group Redut) is filled with details not reported elsewhere, based on the author’s own interviews and extensive research of Russian-language blogs, social media posts, and leaked documents. It will appeal to anyone interested in the criminality, violent military exploits, and political infighting of Vladimir Putin’s Russia.” –
Kimberly Marten, Barnard College, Columbia University
“An important book about the world’s most dangerous mercenary outfit. Margolin unearths new details that will surprise readers.” –
Sean McFate, National Defense University and author of The New Rules of War
“With an almost encyclopaedic knowledge of all things Wagner, Margolin takes readers deep into the shadowy underworld of the notorious mercenary group. A must read for anyone interested in understanding the history of the “Orchestra” and its most important “musicians.”” –
Clarissa Ward, CNN Chief International Correspondent and author of On All Fronts: The Education of a Journalist
“Margolin builds to a fascinating portrait of a modern Russian politicalsphere governed by symbolism and performance (Prigozhin’s dramatickilling in a private jet explosion was meant as a response to his“theatrical statements”) and a global order in which violence easilypermeates civil society by posing as mere business. It’s a vital windowonto the weird world of secretive, privatized modern warfare.” –
Publishers Weekly
“Jack Margolin, an independent researcher and expert on modernmercenaries, provides a deeply reported history of the Wagner privatemilitary company.” –
Miles Johnson,
Financial Times
“Jack Margolin takes the reader through an extensive array of leaks, first-hand accounts and original documented evidence to reveal the inner workings of Russia’s infamous mercenary army . . . Margolin demonstrates that Wagner is not an aberration, but a manifestation of the new geopolitical order of global capital, global crime and the entrepreneurs that thrive in it.” –
History of War Magazine
“In The Wagner Group: Inside Russia’s Mercenary Army, Jack Margolin, an investigative journalist, tells the full story, offering portraiture and political context and taking us from Leningrad to Moscow, from the killing fields
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