In the book of D. L. Golinkov, on the basis of unique archival material, the struggle of state security agencies with the enemies of the Soviet state from 1917 to the end of the 1920s is shown. The author convincingly proves that the victory of the state security organs in this difficult battle became possible only due to the mass support of the people, who managed to discern the creative essence of the new government behind all the excesses of the punitive policy of the Soviets, her desire to take into account the interests of the majority of the population and build a great power. Much attention is paid to the national composition of punishers and punished, a topic that is actively discussed in various modern sources.