Norwegian architect Björn Berge wrote a book unrelated to his main profession: this is a collection of fascinating stories about the birth and departure into oblivion of fifty countries, told through postage stamps issued by them, eyewitness accounts, culinary recipes and works of art. Such countries in the period 1840-1970. arose and disappeared on all inhabited continents, except Australia; some of them lasted only a few weeks, such as East Karelia in Europe, others - more than half a century (Orange Free State in South Africa), but the stories of all these countries are read with constant interest.