Introduction -- Part One: A Prehistory of Violence -- 1. Atrocity Exhibition -- 2. Sous Chef -- 3. Origins -- Part Two: Freelancers -- 4. Ukraine, 2014-15: The First Campaigns -- 5. Syria: Blood and Treasure -- 6. Sudan and the CAR: The Next Frontier -- 7. Libya: Blueprint for Contemporary War -- 8. The Sahel: Crisis and Opportunity -- 9. Pillage -- Part Three: Blowback -- 10. Cry Havoc -- 11. The Meat Grinder -- 12. Mutiny -- 13. The End and the Beginning -- References -- Acknowledgements -- Index

"An exposé of the Wagner Group, Russia's notorious and secretive mercenary army. This book exposes the history and future of the Wagner Group, Russia's notorious and secretive mercenary army, revealing details of their operations never documented before. Jack Margolin traces the Wagner Group from its roots as a battlefield rumour to a private military enterprise tens of thousands strong. He follows individual commanders and foot soldiers as they fight in Ukraine, Syria and Africa. He shows Wagner mercenaries committing atrocities, plundering oil, diamonds and gold, and changing the course of conflicts in the name of the Kremlin. 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 privatization of war."--