Here are some reviews of the book "Blowing Up Russia: Terror From Within - Acts of Terror, Abductions & Contract Killings Organized by Russia's Federal Security Services"
Haven't read it, but I'm definately going to buy it.
Here's the review:
Alexander Litvinenko served in the Russian military for more than 20 years achieving the ranks of Lieutenant-Colonel. In 1988 he served in the counterintelligence agencies of the Soviet KGB and from 1991 in the Central Staff of the MB-FSK-FSB, specializing in counter-terrorist activities and organized crime.
He worked in the most secret areas of the KGB, the Department for the Analysis of Criminal Organizations, as a senior operational officer and deputy head of the Seventh Section.
In 1988, at a Moscow press conference, he publicly criticized the leadership of the FSB and disclosed a number if illegal orders which he had received. In 1999 he was arrested on trumped-up charges and imprisoned. After winning his case, he was arrested again and charged with added crimes against the state.
He escaped from Russia, and now lives with his family in Great Britain, where he was granted political asylum in May 2001.
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
Yuri Felshinsky studied history at the Moscow State Pedagogical Institute. In 1978 he immigrated to the US and studied history at Brandeis University and Rutgers, where he received his Ph.D. He was the first citizen of a foreign state to be awarded a doctoral degree in Russia.
His previous books include: "Towards a History of Isolation " (London 1988; Moscow 1991);"The Failure of World Revolution" (London 1991; Moscow 1992); "Big Bosses" (Moscow 1999).
Alexander Litvinenko served in the Russian military for more than 20 years achieving the ranks of Lieutenant-Colonel. In 1988 he served in the counterintelligence agencies of the Soviet KGB and from 1991 in the Central Staff of the MB-FSK-FSB, specializing in counter-terrorist activities and organized crime.
He worked in the most secret areas of the KGB, the Department for the Analysis of Criminal Organizations, as a senior operational officer and deputy head of the Seventh Section.
In 1988, at a Moscow press conference, he publicly criticized the leadership of the FSB and disclosed a number if illegal orders which he had received. In 1999 he was arrested on trumped-up charges and imprisoned. After winning his case, he was arrested again and charged with added crimes against the state.
He escaped from Russia, and now lives with his family in Great Britain, where he was granted political asylum in May 2001.
Book Description
It is a book about tragedy, which has overtaken us all, about wasted opportunities, lost lives, and a country that is dying. It is a book for those who are capable of recognizing the reality of the past and are not afraid to influence the future.
This book attempts to demonstrate that modern Russia's most fundamental problems do not result from the radical reforms of the liberal period of Yeltsin's terms as president, but from the open or clandestine resistance offered to these reforms by the Russian special services.
It was they who unleashed the first and second Chechen wars, in order to divert Russia away from the path of democracy and towards dictatorship, militarism, and chauvinism.
The war in Chechnya has made human life cheap in Russia. The brutal killings and the trade in slaves and hostages have thrown our country back to the days of slavery. Thousands of people who go through the war in Chechnya are forced to kill. They can never go back to civilian life.
The Resurrection of the KGB
BOOM! - In late 2003 nearly 4,500 copies of this book were seized and confiscated by the Russian Secret Service (FSB) as they tried to make their way from Latvia printing presses into Moscow. And no wonder. This book focuses on how elements of the old Soviet regime sought to steer Russia away from the liberal reforms since the fall of the old USSR. The multiple apartment bombings which ripped across the country in 1999, killing hundreds, were more than suspicious. The 'terrorists' were condemned and the tragedies quickly used as an excuse to drag Russia into a second wretched war with Chechnya which continues to this day. The book's spotlight on the attempted bombing in Ryazan leaves little doubt as to who the enemy really was.
The book's translation from Russian into English is superb, but the sheer volume of facts and information combined with the never-ending plethora of Russian names makes for a challenging read if you are up to it. The book however is an excellent primer into the "nomenklatura" mindset of corruption, coercion, and intimidation, and should be studied and kept as a grim reminder of what is possible when criminal elements in the state pursue their own political agendas - and how far they will go when the ends justifies the means in the political game of hardball.
Although the book is a study in extremism, there are still some associations to be made on a lesser level. Propaganda, intimidation, and internal investigations which never seem to come to fruition are just a few that come to mind. Despite the collapse of the USSR, Vladamir Putin, has placed many of his former KGB colleagues in positions of authority alongside him.
As Russians celebrate their "freedom" with the shutdown of the independent press, and genocide committed in Chechnya on a daily basis, I have little doubt that the people of Russia are told they are "winning" the war on terror. When the next 9/11 or Madrid like bombings occur, one where all the "evidence" appears overwhelming and points in only one direction, and yet the enemy, elusive as ever and always just out of arms reach, is never caught or convicted, perhaps you will think to read this book.
In Blowing Up Russia: Terror From Within, Litvinenko and Felshtinsky collaborate to reveal a scathing accusation of the Russian special services, holding them responsible for acts of terror, kidnappings, contract killings, and efforts to steer Russia back to being a dictatorship. Blowing Up Russia also strenuously denounces the war in Chechnya for its deleterious toll on human life and freedom. A sobering, persuasively charged account, Blowing Up Russia is an essential text for Soviet Studies academic reference collections, and should be mandatory reading for anyone having political, cultural, or economic dealings with present-day Russia.