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

Lechner, an independent journalist who is fluent in Russian and at ease in combat zones, has succeeded more than any other Western reporter in gaining access to Wagner's killers and societal castoffs… [he] weaves a brisk account of the group's rise and fall with stories of his travels in Wagner's main theaters of operation: Central Africa and eastern Ukraine.

Joshua Hammer, New York Review of Books

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.

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