Beslan: The Tragedy of School No. 1

Beslan: The Tragedy of School No. 1

by TimothyPhillips (Author)

Synopsis

9:04 a.m., 1 September, 2004: a boy is standing with his classmates in the playground of School No 1 in Beslan, in the Russian republic of North Ossetia. Looking around, he notices an oddly dressed man in combat fatigues and a mask. He feels he ought to tell his mother, but is reluctant to fall out of line...By the time the siege ended two days later, at least 330 parents and children would be killed in the massive explosions that tore through the gymnasium or caught in the crossfire of a three hour gun battle between the Russian forces and the terrorists. Tim Phillips book tells the human story of the siege - of the terrible toll that thirst, hunger and sleeplessness took on the hostages, of 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 suffering of the young children. Phillips also looks at the authorities' response to the siege and finds it severely wanting. He has spent time in Beslan researching the book, talking to those involved and those affected, listening to the conspiracy theories, and trying to set the events of September 2004 in their wider context of centuries of conflict and enmity in the Caucasus.

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 224
Edition: 1
Publisher: Granta Books
Published: 07 May 2007

ISBN 10: 1862079277
ISBN 13: 9781862079274

Media Reviews
A disturbing account of fundamentalism's lethal power. --Kirkus Reviews
It is the frankness of the participants that makes this such an important work for any reader who wishes to understand what is happening in the North Caucasus . . . one of the most complex and explosive regions of the world. --Guardian
Skillful and sensitive . . . In this impressive book, Phillips manages simultaneously to offer a detailed account of the historical context of the atrocity, as well as the personal details of the individuals caught up in the events . . . excellent. --Independent
Timothy Phillips [is] a brave and sensitive writer whose book alternates between a minute-by-minute account of the Chechen separatists' three-day siege and a decade-by-decade summary of its causes--incompetence, arrogance, social decay and corruption. -- Scotsman
Author Bio
Tim Phillips was born and grew up in Northern Ireland. In 2005 he completed a doctoral thesis on the role of the holiday resort in Russian culture, particularly in the Caucasus. He has studied at the universities of Oxford and Helsinki and has travelled widely in the former Soviet Union, including in the Caucasus. He has worked extensively as a translator and was the principal translator for the BBC on their Beslan documentaries. This is his first book.