When journalist Thomas Franke traveled to Russia for the first time, there was really no need to be afraid: the Soviet Empire had collapsed, and the Russian bear no longer bared its teeth. Today, many people fear again - and also within - Putin's Russia. For more than 20 years, Franke has traveled across Russia, living in Moscow from 2012 to 2016: a time filled with countless encounters and conversations between the capital and Crimea, between Volgograd and Siberia. With a sharp eye and precise tone, Franke recounts daily life, history, and politics, experiencing as a compassionate chronicler a development he never thought possible: the reactivation of Soviet reflexes and the return of fear to Russian society. This fear, according to Franke, has infected the entire country: the state power under Putin uses it to strengthen its authority and morality.