A History of Hungary

by Peter F. Sugar (Editor), Tibor Frank (Editorial Assistant), Péter Hanák (Associate Editor)

"[A] weighty, erudite, but readily accessible general history of Hungary." —Library Journal "An outstanding collection that is sure to become a standard work." —Choice This unique collaboration of historians from Hungary, the United States, Canada, and Western Europe makes available to readers of English the best scholarship on the political, economic, social, and cultural development of Hungary from the prehistory of the Carpathian Basin and the origin of the Hungarian people through the transformation of communist Hungary into a multiparty republic in 1989. conceived as a comprehensive survey and reference work for students, teachers, and general readers, A History of Hungary is organized into chronological chapters, each written by the leading authority on that period.

Genres: History, Hungary, Nonfiction, European History

448 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1990

Reviews

[Brian Griffith · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good series of studies on the origins of the Hungarian people deep in Inner Asia, their commonly violent migrations westwards, and the states or empires they carved out or conquered in Eastern Europe. The depictions of Hungarians with ox-pulled wagons, cows driven by men on horseback, and pots of goulash cooked around campfires, seem to be the spitting image of Europe's invaders of the American West.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of essays by different authors, most of them Hungarian, written specifically for this book. As is to be expected, some of the essays are better than others and range from the perfunctory to the excellent. In general, the book is best in dealing with the period from the Ottoman Occupation through the Revolution of 1848.

The chapters dealing with the 20th century (excepting Charles Gati's superb chapter on the Soviet rule from 1947 through the Revolution of 1956) tend to be recitations of economic figures with a parade of names that are quickly introduced and shunted aside.

Still, this is an area of the world that is virtually unknown to the West except perhaps for a few memories of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the 1956 Revolution.

I think this is a book that should be ventured only by a person such as myself who is of Hungarian ancestry and wants to learn more. There is a lot of information here, but much of it would not be of great interest to the average American.

[Ken · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whew!

[Maggie · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit dry but I learned a little.

[Doria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative overview of Hungarian history from about 950 to 1990.