The book is a comparative study of the constructivist avant-garde artists in Central Europe, the Hungarian MA group in exile in Vienna, the Blok group in Warsaw, and the Czech Devětsil association of artists in Prague. The author examines the similarities and significant differences among them. Contrary to often-repeated theses, the study reveals that the artists unremittingly sought new formulations for an initial set of formal and theoretical issues. It also demonstrates that they persistently believed that their works of art prefigured a future socialist society. The long-awaited socialist states that came into being after World War II betrayed the artists.