Tony Kevin first went to the Soviet Union in 1969. He was 25 years old and working in the Australian Embassy in Moscow at the peak of the Cold War. Embassy staff were told to be aware that every discussion was probably being recorded, and that they should avoid any interactions with locals.

Forty-eight years later he returned to Russia and found a very different country from the one he left. In his new book, Return to Moscow, Kevin describes the changes in Russian society since the fall of the Soviet Union and the rise of Vladimir Putin. The political and societal differences are stark.

William Isdale spoke to Kevin about his new book, his memories of living in Russia and why he thinks so much distrust and fear of the nation still exists in the West.

Tony Kevin’s Return to Moscow is out now from UWA Publishing.

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Additional music

• Tchaikovsky - Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy

William Isdale does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.