Award-winning Polish reporter Jagielski brings into focus the tragedy of Chechnya and the war being waged there by small groups of desperate warriors against the powerful Russian army. Jagielski's narrative revolves around two Chechnyan leaders - Shamil Basayev and Aslan Maskhadov. Caught up in a war to which they owe everything and without which they could not live, the two fighters face enemy forces in various conflicts. A bitter history of the region told with forceful clarity.