A new joint work by the co-authors of the popular regional studies study "Austria-Hungary: the Fate of the Empire" tells about the interwar history of Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Baltic to the Mediterranean, covering the era from 1914 to the end of the 1940s. It is no coincidence that the period known as the interbellum is called the "golden age" of European dictatorships, the emergence of which is associated with the collapse of traditional monarchical systems, the entry of the masses into politics and the crisis of immature democracies that arose after the end of the First World War, none of which lasted more than two decades. A dozen states located in the geopolitical corridor between Nazi Germany, fascist Italy and the Stalinist USSR were bound by a common fate: by the end of the 1930s, attempts at democratic construction had dried up, and the authoritarian regimes that had consolidated their power were embroiled in a new world war. The book "For a Nation and Order!" is dedicated to the contradictory social processes of that time, the classification and characterization of political systems in different countries, and the identification of patterns and features of their crisis development. Ya. Shimov and A. Sharyi confidently work in an inter-genre creative space, skillfully combining an in-depth analysis of political events and social phenomena with a fascinating narrative about statesmen, military men, intellectuals — people who defined the "facial expression" of the complex interwar era, and colorful notes on the daily life of Central Europe and the Balkans. A thorough knowledge of the region "between east and west" of the continent, a fine understanding of the logic and interrelationships of historical processes, strict impartiality and reliance on a variety of sources allowed the authors of the study to reconstruct the picture of dramatic changes, many of which echo the present day, because the theme of the genesis, decline and collapse of authoritarian regimes has not lost its relevance. The algorithms of politics are cyclical: the diversity of civilizational circumstances in the countries of a diverse region with a population of 125 million people did not prevent them all from making a democratic breakthrough by the end of the 20th century. The mechanisms of public administration may not be perfect everywhere, and moving forward is not easy, but the general vector of development indicates the irreversibility of change. This means that even difficult historical lessons can be learned.