About the book: 2016 / The book of the famous Swiss journalist and public figure Guy Mettan is not a scientific work, not a political pamphlet and not the invention of a “new history." Provided with many notes and references based on sources, and supplemented by a solid bibliography, it is deliberately devoid of any academicism and scientificism. It's hard to say better about the book than the author. “Russia for the West, in different ways depending on the historical period - but always and in everything - was “too”: too reactionary and autocratic compared to the constitutional monarchies and republics of the 19th century; too communist compared to the social democracy of the 20th century; too “Putin-style” conservative compared to liberal trends; too orthodox compared to Catholicism and Protestantism; too collectivist compared to the Western cult of individualism; too big for one country...” All these “too” are the abyss of misunderstanding on both sides of which Russia and Western countries find themselves. Guy Mettan’s book is a valuable contribution to the demystification of international relations.