The Wagner Group
Inside Russia's Mercenary Army
This book exposes the history and the future of The Wagner Group, Russia's notorious and secretive mercenary army, revealing details of their operations never documented before. Using extensive leaks, first-hand accounts, and the byzantine paper trail left in its wake, Jack Margolin traces the Wagner Group from its roots as a battlefield rumour to a private military enterprise tens of thousands-strong that eventually comes to threaten Putin himself. He follows individual commanders and foot soldiers within the group as they fight in Ukraine, Syria, and Africa, sometimes alongside fellow military contractors from the United Kingdom and the US. He shows Wagner mercenaries committing atrocities, plundering oil, diamonds, and gold, and changing the course of conflicts from Europe to Africa in the name of the Kremlin's strategic aims.
In documenting the Wagner's Group's story up to the dramatic demise of its chief director, Evgeniy Prigozhin, Margolin demonstrates what the Wagner Group represents for not only the future of Putin's political system, but also the privatisation of war.
'At once deeply-researched and as readable as a thriller.”—Mark Galeotti
'An important book about the world's most dangerous mercenary outfit. Margolin unearths new details that will surprise readers.' — Sean McFate
'Margolin takes readers deep into the shadowy underworld...A must read.' — Clarissa Ward, CNN
'Riveting... It’s a vital window onto the weird world of secretive, privatized modern warfare.' — Publishers Weekly, starred review
Jack Margolin is an independent researcher who has studied private military contractors and Russian criminal networks since 2014. His investigations have been cited by the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Economist, the Financial Times, and Politico. He lives in Washington, DC.
