In the early hours of New Year’s Eve, 1994, Russian troops invaded the Republic of Chechnya, plunging the country into a prolonged and bloody conflict that continues to this day. Asne Seierstad was a foreign correspondent in Moscow at the time, and travelled regularly to Chechnya to report on the war, describing its effects on those trying to live their daily lives amidst the violence.

In 2006 and 2007 she returned, travelling in secret, under constant danger. The tragedy in Chechnya had continued, but the world had moved on, its attention on other conflicts. In a broken, devastated society, she meets the orphans, the wounded, the lost. And she meets the children of Grozny, those who will shape their country’s future. What happens to a child who grows up surrounded by war, who grows accustomed to violence? Whose childhood is ruined?

A compelling, intimate and often heartbreaking portrait of Chechnya today, The Angel of Grozny also offers a vivid account of its violent history, and its ongoing battle for freedom.