All Lara's Wars

“All Lara’s Wars is an epic but intimate journey through the wreckage caused by the end of the Soviet Union in the Caucasus, taking us all the way from a small village in Georgia to war in Chechnya to the inferno of the Syrian conflict. At its center is a memorable portrait of Lara, a Caucasian Mother Courage, who loses her beloved menfolk in a chain of wars. Along the way we see how idealism was lost and nationalist struggles morphed into violent radical Islam. Wojciech Jagielski has researched and written a very original and powerful book.” —Thomas de Waal, Senior Fellow, Carnegie Europe, author of The Caucasus: An Introduction

“All Lara’s Wars is narrative nonfiction at its best. Gripping, moving, informative and ultimately heart-breaking, it stayed on my mind even after I laid it aside for the day, and it’s still on my mind now and will be for a long time. I’ve read several of Jagielski’s previous books, admiring them all. But this one seems to me the finest, just as he seems the finest of the many first-rate Polish literary journalists. This volume has been beautifully translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones.” —Steve Yarbrough, author of The Unmade World

“Wojciech Jagielski has a well-deserved reputation as a serious and sensitive writer who cares deeply about people, history and the truth. He does not shy away from the messy and often painful reality, but translates it into limpid, elegant prose. All Lara’s Wars is a powerful, moving, disturbing and important work of both literature and reporting.” —Jason Burke, author of The 9⁄11 Wars

Wojciech Jagielski is a former reporter for Gazeta Wyborcza, Poland’s first and largest independent daily newspaper. He has witnessed significant political events of the late twentieth century and is the recipient of several prestigious Polish journalism awards, including a Bene Merito honorary decoration from the Polish government and the Dariusz Fikus Award.

Jagielski is widely regarded as the literary successor to Ryszard Kapuścinski and is the author of several in-depth reportage books. His works include:

• Towers of Stone: The Battle of Wills in Chechnya (recipient of Italy’s Letterature dal Fronte Award)
• The Night Wanderers: Uganda’s Children and the Lord’s Resistance Army
• Burning the Grass: At the Heart of Change in South Africa, 1990-2011

All of his books have been published by Seven Stories Press. Ryszard Kapuścinski described Jagielski as having “already achieved recognition for his reporting on the most inflamed points around the globe.” Jagielski is arguably Poland’s most recognized contemporary nonfiction writer and resides outside of Warsaw.

Antonia Lloyd-Jones is a translator of contemporary Polish literature, including novels, reportage, crime fiction, poetry, and children’s books. Her translation of Olga Tokarczuk’s Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead was shortlisted for the 2019 Man Booker International Prize. She is also a mentor for the Emerging Translators’ Mentorship Programme and a former co-chair of the UK Translators Association.

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