Wolves of Islam

by Paul J. Murphy

At a little past 9:00 p.m., on October 23, 2002, nineteen young women and twenty-two men bounded from minivans and sprinted through the front doors of the sprawling Dubrovka Theater Center in Moscow. Once inside, the troop hurriedly changed into their costumes and, following a well-rehearsed script, took their designated places for the evening’s dramatic finale. These people were not, however, actresses and actors starring in the hit musical Nord Ost, which was entertaining a sellout crowd of 711 spectators in the concert hall. They were Chechen Islamic terrorists-suicide hostage-takers who had come to Moscow to die and take their audience prey with them, unless the Russians immediately withdrew from Chechnya.

The Dubrovka theater siege ushered in a new hostile escalation in the fanatical Islamist Chechens’ ten-year fight against the Russian state. The "wolves of Islam" have adopted terror with maximum civilian casualties as its strategic weapon of choice, are employing the Palestinian model of suicide terror against civilians, and may be plotting with al Qaeda to conduct international terrorist operations abroad. 

In  Wolves of Islam  Paul Murphy tells the story of the principal cast of characters. To drive Russia out of the North Caucasus, Chechen terrorists carry out horrific acts of unimaginable terror. Individually and collectively, they have led Chechnya down the road to chaos, political anarchy, economic ruin, and physical destruction, as they continue to prosecute their Islamic holy war.

Genres: War

282 pages, Paperback

First published December 13, 2004

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Paul J. Murphy, Ph.D., is a former U.S. government senior counterterrorism official who lived, worked, and traveled extensively in Russia, the North Caucasus, and Central Asia between 1994 and 2001. He has studied in the former Soviet Union, and worked in civil society development, higher education, and business in Russia. As a U.S. congressional special adviser on Russia in 2002, he dealt with issues related to counterterrorism cooperation between the United States and Russia.

Reviews

[Brett C · Rating 3 out of 5]

In my opinion this one of the best books on the Chechen conflict and the whole Chechnya problem. The book is highly detailed on the background on the region, religious aspects, cultural intricacies, and use of terror inside the Russian Federation. I read this book in a few days and it opened my eyes to the problems going on in this region. I thought this book was an excellent read and packed with information. Thanks!