For the first time in English, this volume makes available transcripts and commentary from the secret correspondence between former Chechen foreign minister Ilyas Akhmadov and Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov, who would be killed by the Russians during the second Chechen-Russian War in March 2005. This correspondence - carried out via audio cassette due to Maskhadovs fears of revealing his geographic position to the Russians - provides revelatory insights into both mens attempts to secure Western support for a peaceful transition to an independent Chechnya.