Publisher Description

Fangs of the Lone Wolf: Chechen Tactics in the Russian-Chechen Wars 1994-2009

Author Biography

Dodge Billingsley, is the Director of Combat Films and Research, a fellow at the David M. Kennedy Center for International Studies at Brigham Young University, and a senior faculty member at the Naval Post Graduate School's Center for Civil Military Relations. / A long time observer of many conflicts, Mr. Billingsley has spent considerable time in the Caucasus where he first became familiar with Chechen insurgent/separatist forces during Georgia's war with Abkhaz separatists 1992-1993. He has produced two documentary films based on his experiences with Chechen combatants and recently conducted a number of interviews of former Chechen combatants for his current work, Fangs of the Lone Wolf: Chechen Tactics in the Russian-Chechen Wars 1994-2009. / Mr. Billingsley has also spent extensive time in both Afghanistan and Iraq. He was present at the Qala I Jangi Fortress uprising in November 2001 and won both the prestigious Rory Peck and Royal Television Society awards for Best Feature for his footage in the film House of War. Months later he landed with US troops in the Shah i Kot Valley in eastern Afghanistan for Operation Anaconda. His film Shah I Khot: Valley Redoubt, which accompanies Operation Anaconda: America's First Conventional Battle in Afghanistan, co-authored by Mr. Billingsley and Mr. Les Grau, is a result of his coverage of that operation. / In 2003 he embedded with 3/7 Marines for the invasion of Iraq and his subsequent film Virgin Soldiers was again nominated for the Rory Peck Best Feature category. He embedded with 3-2 Stryker Brigade in Mosul in 2004 for BBC and in December 2011 he accompanied 4-6 Infantry for the closure of Al Asad Air Base and the final withdrawal of US forces from Al Anbar Province, western Iraq. His most recent film (2013), Unfortunate Brothers: Korea's Reunification Dilemma, examines the prospects of Korean reunification through the testimony of experts and the experience of a North Korean defector living in Seoul. / Mr. Billingsley lectures extensively to both academic institution and military installations and is a long time contributor to Jane's Intelligence Review. He has a BA in History from Columbia University and a MA in War Studies King's College, London.

Review

The author's unique insights, enabled by his close working relationship with the Chechens, makes for a technical but interesting read. His narrative is blunt, honest and balanced and he does not shy away from critical conclusions of the Chechen efforts where warranted." --Canadian Army Journal * Canadian Army Journal 01/07/2014 *
Dodge Billingsley saw the Chechen War from the inside. His insights into the extraordinary battle between one of the world's largest armies and the insurgents who fought it to a standstill are second to none. * Thomas de Waal, Russia and Eurasia Program Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and author A Small Victorious War *
Fangs of the Lone Wolf sheds light on a poorly understood unconventional war and does so from a rare perspective, that of Chechens who fought against Russia from 1994 to 2009. Billingsley captures the voices of the Chechens from years of interviews conducted in Chechnya and in exile. * Mark von Hagen, Professor of History and Global Studies at Arizona State University *
Massively outnumbered and outgunned by the Russian military, the story of the Chechens' ability to hold and then humble them in the First Chechen War is an extraordinary one, hardly overshadowed by the Russians' capacity to learn from their mistakes in the Second. Through well-chosen case studies, this book explores the tactics of both sides and in the process becomes the best military study of this conflict yet. * Mark Galeotti, Professor of Global Affairs at the Center for Global Affairs at New York University *

Review Quote

"The author's unique insights, enabled by his close working relationship with the Chechens, makes for a technical but interesting read. His narrative is blunt, honest and balanced and he does not shy away from critical conclusions of the Chechen efforts where warranted."

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