An excellent new book on Russia's private militaries . . . Lechner's book is particularly good at focusing on the way Wagner became embroiled in foreign wars after the conflict in eastern Ukraine died down . . . Death Is Our Business provides powerful descriptions of the lives that were upended by the mercenary deployments.

Nicolas Niarchos, New York Times

Deeply researched . . . admirable . . . One hopes that Lechner and others continue to tell the stories of people and countries that the Western media shamefully neglects, even when the Russian bogeyman doesn't dominate the headlines.

The Washington Post

A rare, vivid portrait of the mercenary group . . . itself a feat . . . a fine account of Russia's new private mercenary forces, and deserves a place on the bookshelves not just of military buffs but of diplomats and aid workers in Africa.

Colin Freeman, The Telegraph

Gripping and superbly researched, featuring interviews with dozens of Wagner members. It's remarkable to consider that the couple of hundred years hiatus on mercenary armies is now over, that nation states won't be the only entities fielding military firms in the decades to come. This is one of those non-fiction books that gives this spy novelist ideas. It's full of great material.

David McCloskey, Daily Mail

In this in-depth, beautifully written chronicle and analysis of atrocities, massacres, war crimes, and theft on a scale scarcely to be believed, Lechner illuminates Prigozhin's Wagner PMC, drawing on his extensive interviews with members, and its trail of devastation across Ukraine, Syria, and Africa. He also delves deeply into the history of Russia, the rise of Vladimir Putin and Prigozhin, and the lesser and greater conflicts across much of the globe . . . An invaluable look at a very dark dimension in geopolitical affairs.

Booklist

Excellent… Death Is Our Business widens the frame to the global phenomenon of mercenary warfare, portraying the Wagner Group as the product of 'structural forces shaping our violent century' and reminding us that thousands of men all over the world are 'willing to go to war for a paycheck.'

Amy Knight, The Times Literary Supplement (UK)