How to rate a book like this? It is highly illuminating, for those in the West who have not necessarily paid enough attention to what has been happening in Russia since Putin came to power. The author narrates life in Russia as lived from the perspective of someone who asks themselves how the state is carrying out a gradual and relentless fall into authoritarianism with power concentrated into the hands of a single individual, evidently very skilled in turning the weak institutions and rules that came out of the fall of the Soviet Union towards gains for himself. Politkovskaya draws eye-opening descriptions of how Russia is a police state, how the Army behaves and how each single instituton who should be tasked with protecting citizen's rights is in effect harming civil liberties, often times with blood. The book dates back from 2004, when Putin took on his second mandate, but is a very relevant read today, especially now (2022) with the invasion of Ukraine.