Following on from his Spiegel Bestseller Revanche, Michael Thumann has written a very personal travelogue in which he reports on the new divisions in Europe as witnessed with his own eyes. In urgent reports and eyewitness accounts, he describes his journey from Moscow across the heavily guarded external borders of Russia, firstly eastwards in the direction of Central Asia and then westwards via the Baltic states and Poland into Germany: from Moscow to Berlin, right through the middle of the new Iron Curtain.

Thumann is subjected to interminable interrogations at border crossing points, visits Russian refugees in the neighbouring states, strikes up conversations with countless people with opposing views. On his way from East to West he gives stark validation to growing fears about Russia’s revanchism and belligerence. He also looks back on his own family history and his shattered dreams following the end of the Soviet Union and traces the problematic relationship between Germany and Russia throughout history. Thumann’s book is an impressive study of contemporary history, of the search for a security we have all lost.

• Russia’s threats and Europe’s defensive reflexes – in gripping reports, Michael Thumann describes his journey across the ever more dangerous (and difficult to cross) border between Russia and Europe

• Michael Thumann is one of the last German correspondents still reporting from Russia.

• The book is based on the author’s own conversations, experiences, and travels in regions of Europe which are now cutting themselves off from the rest of the continent indefinitely