German Sadulaev was born in 1973 and grew up in the Chechen village of Shali. At sixteen, before the start of the first Chechen war, he left to study law in St Petersburg. He lives there now. He is the author of five books, of which I Am a Chechen! is the second. Sadulaev's work makes highly uncomfortable reading for those in power, and has unleashed heated debate in Russia; it has been shortlisted for the Russian Booker Prize, twice for the National Bestseller award, and has won the Eureka Prize.