Michael Thumann has been reporting from Eastern Europe for the leading German intellectual weekly Die Zeit for more than 30 years. His book chronicles Russia's descent into an increasingly totalitarian dictatorship and the path leading to the escalation of Putin's imperialist war in 2022. The dictator and his entourage want to take revenge for the democratic opening after 1991 and supposed humiliation by the West. Putin's rule is becoming more radical. It is the most threatening regime in the world.