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Beslan: The Tragedy of School No. 1
On the morning of September 1, 2004, the children of Beslan were excited about the start of a new school year. But as traditional festivities got underway, heavily armed terrorists stormed the school playground, changing ordinary lives in the southern Russian town forever. At least 330 parents and children were killed, some in the massive explosions that tore through the gymnasium, some caught in the crossfire of a three-hour gun battle between the Russian forces and the terrorists. This riveting account not only covers the three days of unimaginable terror and suffering that followed, but includes the people of Beslan speaking in their own words about their ordeal and about their lives in this deeply fractured region. The human story of the siege is here—including the terrible toll that thirst, hunger, and sleeplessness took on the hostages, and the bravery of those who dealt with the terrorists, such as the elderly headmistress of the school and the doctor who tried to relieve the children's suffering. This account also examines the authorities’ response to the siege, finding it wanting, and ultimately places the events of September 2004 in their wider context of centuries of conflict and enmity in the Caucasus.
224 pages, Paperback
First published September 28, 2007
About the author
Timothy Phillips
4 books72 followersI'm originally from a farm in Northern Ireland and now live in Central London. I started learning Russian when I was 12 and have been fascinated by the country and its impact on the world ever since.
When I'm not hunting 1920s spies, I enjoy architectural history, reading novels and travel.
I'm currently (late 2018) working on a new book idea and will reveal more about it in the near future. Feel free to send me any questions or observations about my books. I'm always happy to have feedback or answer queries.
When I'm not hunting 1920s spies, I enjoy architectural history, reading novels and travel.
I'm currently (late 2018) working on a new book idea and will reveal more about it in the near future. Feel free to send me any questions or observations about my books. I'm always happy to have feedback or answer queries.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
April 14, 2021
On September 1/2004 terrorists, most of whom were from Chechnya and Ingushetiya, stormed the opening day ceremonies of Beslan School No. 1 in North Ossetia and kept over one thousand students, teachers, parents, grand-parents and relatives, hostage for two nights. For much of the time during these hot September days the hostages were denied any access to water or nutrition.
Page 242 (my book)
By the end of the siege, some 330 hostages were dead, at least 188 of them were children. A further 610 hostages were injured or needed treatment; no fewer than 356 of them were children. The school lay in ruins and everywhere across the town deep wounds had been created that will never be healed.
The author describes in detail from interviews he took with hostages, and those in Beslan who witnessed the three-day long siege standing outside the perimeters of the school, all awaiting news of their loved ones, of friends, relatives, and neighbors. The situation became very chaotic, many Beslan residents had firearms and started shooting at the school.
This is a harrowing book to read. The author provides us with insights of the long and troubled history of North Ossetia, Ingushetiya, and Chechnya. It is a region fraught with vendettas, machismo, gender inequality, religious intolerance and persecution – particularly during the Stalinist era when the entire Muslim population of Chechnya was exiled to Kazakhstan.
We also see how the Russian regime bungled the entire siege. They told everyone at the beginning that there were only a few hundred hostages; the residents of Beslan knew better. There were several people in contact with the terrorists as part of a disunified attempt at negotiations. To this day nobody knows the number of terrorists involved in the siege. On the third day tanks started firing at the school killing and maiming many hostages. As some said did the government really care about the lives of the hostages – most of whom were children?
Page 242 (my book)
By the end of the siege, some 330 hostages were dead, at least 188 of them were children. A further 610 hostages were injured or needed treatment; no fewer than 356 of them were children. The school lay in ruins and everywhere across the town deep wounds had been created that will never be healed.
The author describes in detail from interviews he took with hostages, and those in Beslan who witnessed the three-day long siege standing outside the perimeters of the school, all awaiting news of their loved ones, of friends, relatives, and neighbors. The situation became very chaotic, many Beslan residents had firearms and started shooting at the school.
This is a harrowing book to read. The author provides us with insights of the long and troubled history of North Ossetia, Ingushetiya, and Chechnya. It is a region fraught with vendettas, machismo, gender inequality, religious intolerance and persecution – particularly during the Stalinist era when the entire Muslim population of Chechnya was exiled to Kazakhstan.
We also see how the Russian regime bungled the entire siege. They told everyone at the beginning that there were only a few hundred hostages; the residents of Beslan knew better. There were several people in contact with the terrorists as part of a disunified attempt at negotiations. To this day nobody knows the number of terrorists involved in the siege. On the third day tanks started firing at the school killing and maiming many hostages. As some said did the government really care about the lives of the hostages – most of whom were children?
February 14, 2012
Already faded into the sorry catalogue of horror whose pages flick by every day, every hour - as I type right now it's Homs in Syria where citizens are dying in large numbers, and in a few months it will be somewhere else; but in September 2004 it was in Beslan, a place no one had ever heard of and which will probably only ever be remembered for this one thing, the world's worst school massacre.
But not the type where a lunatic with a sports bag of loaded weapons guns down students.
No, not that kind at all. You never did hear of the kind of thing that happened at Beslan, before or since.
So this unbelievable affair took place over three days and ended with over 380 people being killed. Most of them were children.
It was the first day of the new term, 1st September, and all the kids turned up with their parents, all dressed up and looking good for the New School Year ceremony. Then a bunch of armed men arrived and took over the whole school - 1100 people, 777 children.
Beslan is in North Ossetia, an autonomous republic in the North Caucasus region of the Russian Federation, and is next door to Chechnya. The whole region is fantastically complex ethnically, religiously and historically.
Wiki says :
The hostage taking was carried out by the group Riyadus-Salikhin, sent by the Chechen separatist warlord Shamil Basayev who issued demands of an end to the Second Chechen War and Russian withdrawal from Chechnya. On the third day of the standoff, Russian security stormed the building, using tanks to make an entrance in the near gallery, after several explosions happened inside the gym. Incendiary rockets and other heavy weapons were used later when hostage rescue was over. Ultimately, at least 334 hostages were killed, including 186 children; hundreds more were injured and many were reported missing. Russian special forces lost 21 men in the operation.
If ever there was an event which needed some explanation, the Beslan massacre was it. Who were these people and what was going on? This reporter Timothy Phillips has done what many reporters don't do - got himself over to one of the obscurest, least-known parts of the globe and asked everyone he could find and kept on asking and trying to understand.
He didn't get all the answers so this story is in no way cut and dried and you don't come away from it with much of a real understanding. But the attempt is all, and what I find out from this book is the vastness of the history we don't know - for instance, Stalin's deportations. From my own pampered Western point of view I can't conceive how you can deport entire ethnic populations from where they live to thousands of miles away. Why would you do that? And how? But it happened, around 60 years ago too, Not that long.
Anyway, a gruesome event in an obscure part of the world perpetrated by some people I never heard of on some other people I never heard of.
Highly recommended.
But not the type where a lunatic with a sports bag of loaded weapons guns down students.
No, not that kind at all. You never did hear of the kind of thing that happened at Beslan, before or since.
So this unbelievable affair took place over three days and ended with over 380 people being killed. Most of them were children.
It was the first day of the new term, 1st September, and all the kids turned up with their parents, all dressed up and looking good for the New School Year ceremony. Then a bunch of armed men arrived and took over the whole school - 1100 people, 777 children.
Beslan is in North Ossetia, an autonomous republic in the North Caucasus region of the Russian Federation, and is next door to Chechnya. The whole region is fantastically complex ethnically, religiously and historically.
Wiki says :
The hostage taking was carried out by the group Riyadus-Salikhin, sent by the Chechen separatist warlord Shamil Basayev who issued demands of an end to the Second Chechen War and Russian withdrawal from Chechnya. On the third day of the standoff, Russian security stormed the building, using tanks to make an entrance in the near gallery, after several explosions happened inside the gym. Incendiary rockets and other heavy weapons were used later when hostage rescue was over. Ultimately, at least 334 hostages were killed, including 186 children; hundreds more were injured and many were reported missing. Russian special forces lost 21 men in the operation.
If ever there was an event which needed some explanation, the Beslan massacre was it. Who were these people and what was going on? This reporter Timothy Phillips has done what many reporters don't do - got himself over to one of the obscurest, least-known parts of the globe and asked everyone he could find and kept on asking and trying to understand.
He didn't get all the answers so this story is in no way cut and dried and you don't come away from it with much of a real understanding. But the attempt is all, and what I find out from this book is the vastness of the history we don't know - for instance, Stalin's deportations. From my own pampered Western point of view I can't conceive how you can deport entire ethnic populations from where they live to thousands of miles away. Why would you do that? And how? But it happened, around 60 years ago too, Not that long.
Anyway, a gruesome event in an obscure part of the world perpetrated by some people I never heard of on some other people I never heard of.
Highly recommended.
June 21, 2007
This was written by a friend of mine.
Tim explains the context of the grisly 2004 Beslan school massacre. Short version: there has been bloody intercultural strife between Ossestians, Chechens, and Ingush in the Caucasus for a long-ass time. Sometimes the Russians get involved, sometimes on the side of the Ossetians, sometimes on the side of the Chechens and Ingush, and the Russians get everybody pissed off, over and over again. Example: In WWII, Stalin deported tens of thousands of Chechens and Ingush to Central Asia. They only got to return after Stalin died. The Ossetians are Christians and are generally allied with the Russians. The Chechens and Ingush are not Christians and generally hate the Russians and Ossetians. Russia has been trying to prevent Chechnya from getting independence, and that involves killing lots of Chechens. Chechens have responded by blowing up Russian airliners, taking hostages in a theater, and taking 1,300 hostages on the first day of school at School No. 1 in Beslan, a city in Ossetia (remember Ossetia is generally allied with Russia, and the Chechens/Ingush have long-standing grudges against the Ossetians, since in the deportation, the Ossetians got to annexe a bunch of Ingushian territory). Hence the school attack is a way for the Chechens/Ingush to get some of their own back against both the Russians and Ossetians. The Russian rescue of 1,300 schoolkids and parents involves, improbably, blasting the school with tank rounds and creating general carnage. All but one of the terrorists are killed, and something like 300+ hostages are killed.
Tim also does a great job explaining the nightmarishly misogynistic culture of the Caucasus, and he does so in pleasant, conversational prose.
And, importantly, Tim sticks with the engaging human story, and doesn't get sucked into techno-pornographic descriptions of the weapons that were involved in the massacre.
Tim explains the context of the grisly 2004 Beslan school massacre. Short version: there has been bloody intercultural strife between Ossestians, Chechens, and Ingush in the Caucasus for a long-ass time. Sometimes the Russians get involved, sometimes on the side of the Ossetians, sometimes on the side of the Chechens and Ingush, and the Russians get everybody pissed off, over and over again. Example: In WWII, Stalin deported tens of thousands of Chechens and Ingush to Central Asia. They only got to return after Stalin died. The Ossetians are Christians and are generally allied with the Russians. The Chechens and Ingush are not Christians and generally hate the Russians and Ossetians. Russia has been trying to prevent Chechnya from getting independence, and that involves killing lots of Chechens. Chechens have responded by blowing up Russian airliners, taking hostages in a theater, and taking 1,300 hostages on the first day of school at School No. 1 in Beslan, a city in Ossetia (remember Ossetia is generally allied with Russia, and the Chechens/Ingush have long-standing grudges against the Ossetians, since in the deportation, the Ossetians got to annexe a bunch of Ingushian territory). Hence the school attack is a way for the Chechens/Ingush to get some of their own back against both the Russians and Ossetians. The Russian rescue of 1,300 schoolkids and parents involves, improbably, blasting the school with tank rounds and creating general carnage. All but one of the terrorists are killed, and something like 300+ hostages are killed.
Tim also does a great job explaining the nightmarishly misogynistic culture of the Caucasus, and he does so in pleasant, conversational prose.
And, importantly, Tim sticks with the engaging human story, and doesn't get sucked into techno-pornographic descriptions of the weapons that were involved in the massacre.
April 5, 2021
Having only heard about the siege in Beslan a few years ago, I was interested in learning more about it. This topic is completely overlooked in the Western world, so I was going into it with just a basic understanding of the events that transpired. I found the book to be very well written, and the author did an outstanding job at explaining not only the sequence of events between the 1 - 3 of September 2004, but also provided valuable context to the history of tension in the region. This historical context provided me with much needed insight that was necessary to understand what led up to the siege being carried out. However, I felt that at times the historical chapters got too long winded, and I found myself reading through them very quickly in order to get to the next chapter of the book that talked about the siege again. Overall, this book provided a great understanding and explanation of the attack for someone who has heard very little about it.
December 1, 2020
"For three days at the beginning of 2004 (at the time of this reading that's sixteen years ago, time enough to grow up and become an adult for those the author is concerned about in this tale of a devastating massacre) more than 1, 300 men, women, and children had been crammed into a space not much bigger than a tennis court."
I'm a bit out of shape at this time, but to imagine thirteen hundred people on one tennis court reminds me of cans of sardines which I no longer buy. These people were held hostage. They were held hostage by terrorists.. The drama plays out in three parts: first, the horror of detention, most without food or water; second, the brutality of physical and mental trauma inflicted on the detained by their captors; and third, the massacre.
And, yes, and then fourth, the reportage by Timothy Phillips.
I'm a bit out of shape at this time, but to imagine thirteen hundred people on one tennis court reminds me of cans of sardines which I no longer buy. These people were held hostage. They were held hostage by terrorists.. The drama plays out in three parts: first, the horror of detention, most without food or water; second, the brutality of physical and mental trauma inflicted on the detained by their captors; and third, the massacre.
And, yes, and then fourth, the reportage by Timothy Phillips.
April 23, 2023
A clear, powerful account of the Beslan terrorist attack & Russian response.
May 20, 2013
A very grim depiction of not only the siege of Beslan School No. 1, but also the bleak existence for many in those warring regions of Russia. The author does a great job of breaking apart the chronology of events involving the siege with his own first-person experiences as he interviewed survivors and townspeople.
It's easy to assume that with the fall of Communism in that region, that life in Russia is now a capitalist and democratic paradise. In actuality, for some life goes on as before whereas the demise of the USSR has brought on greater discord between territories and religious groups. Old standing feuds, claims to lands ceded in decades prior, and cultural predjudices culminate with this tragic crisis that would leave over 300 dead.
The last day of the siege is recounted in a rather abbreviated and rushed manner, but that's partially due to the fact that no official record exists of the crisis. The author is left to piece together events based on witness accounts, many of which contradict one another and are riddled with contradictions and conspiracy theories.
Faults aside, a great read that partners up well with the Showtime documentary, "Three Days in September" (narrated by Julia Roberts).
It's easy to assume that with the fall of Communism in that region, that life in Russia is now a capitalist and democratic paradise. In actuality, for some life goes on as before whereas the demise of the USSR has brought on greater discord between territories and religious groups. Old standing feuds, claims to lands ceded in decades prior, and cultural predjudices culminate with this tragic crisis that would leave over 300 dead.
The last day of the siege is recounted in a rather abbreviated and rushed manner, but that's partially due to the fact that no official record exists of the crisis. The author is left to piece together events based on witness accounts, many of which contradict one another and are riddled with contradictions and conspiracy theories.
Faults aside, a great read that partners up well with the Showtime documentary, "Three Days in September" (narrated by Julia Roberts).
February 6, 2016
I found this book in a bookstore in St. Petersburg and motivated by the blurb from Thomas de Waal, an expert on the Caucasus, whose book I had read, I felt encouraged to buy. The author is an Irishman who travels to Beslan years after the Beslan siege, interviewing survivors in order to retell the story in detailsl. Fortunately, there isn´t a bloody book as well , since it interleaves chapters on the siege, with descriptions of the Caucasus, their myths, as well as descriptions of the Ossetians, Ingush, Chechens and their differences, that led to persecution and deportations in the Soviet period. Reports so all the circumstances that supposedly can justify the violent terrorist act.The final chapters are heavier to read. At the end , there is a list with the names of all the hostages , mentioning those who survived. Essential book to understand the modern Russia as a whole.
March 26, 2022
Very good book.
The author weaves together the actual events that took place in one chapter with the history/additional information that is relevant in another chapter. Toward the end of the book it focuses simply on the final day of the siege and the mixed accounts from the survivors, whilst noting the conspiracy theories that are mind boggling.
If you want to know about Beslan and get a summary of it’s local deadly politics in re to its neighbouring regions, then this is the book for you.
It’s well written but that does not make it an easy read; I guarantee there will be tears in your eyes by the final chapter.
Highly recommend.
The author weaves together the actual events that took place in one chapter with the history/additional information that is relevant in another chapter. Toward the end of the book it focuses simply on the final day of the siege and the mixed accounts from the survivors, whilst noting the conspiracy theories that are mind boggling.
If you want to know about Beslan and get a summary of it’s local deadly politics in re to its neighbouring regions, then this is the book for you.
It’s well written but that does not make it an easy read; I guarantee there will be tears in your eyes by the final chapter.
Highly recommend.
February 26, 2016
Excellent journalistic report of the Beslan hostage crisis from the perspective those who survived as well as from the perspective of history. The author goes into detail about the region, discussing the centuries-long problems both within North Ossetia, Ingushetia, and Chechnya as well as in the wider scheme of Russian politics. It tells you not only what happened during those days in September 2004, but WHY it happened.
September 22, 2016
It paints the gory picture of the events which unfolded in the school in Beslan. A horrific incident can be visualized through the writings. A lot painful to read due to the picture it draws of the gruesome murder of so many innocent school kids. This book is sure to rattle your thinking process for hours, if not for days. Awesome descriptive writing.
May 16, 2010
A harrowing but necessary account of the School No.1 siege in Beslan, North Ossetia. Phillips has taken eyewitness accounts, and combined them with a history of the region to try to make some sense out of this brutal atrocity. This book pulls no punches.
October 16, 2010
A heart-breaking account of the Beslan school siege in 2004, with a much wider view of the history of Russia's most troubled region and sensitively-told personal accounts.
August 9, 2016
In Sep/04 Islamic militants stormed an elementary school in south-western Russia and this is an account of the 3 day standoff between them and the Russian military. It ended tragically.
September 4, 2023
I read a lot of …. Difficult content but this book took me a while to read. At times I had to set it down after a chapter and take a day or two to process it.
Read
October 28, 2009Ok book. But the delves a bit to much into the history of the region to explain the reasons for the terrorists actions. I started skipping those section and the rest of the book does not expose anything new.
January 22, 2011
I didn't like it as much as Giduck's "Terror at Beslan". This book does provide a lot more background on the history of the region and the entire conflict, but it is very scant on tactical details.
October 5, 2012
Not a bad read, although it does tend to read like a script to a made-for-tv film in places.
September 13, 2013
Sad story but its the truth
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews