Seven Days of Freedom: The Hungarian Uprising 1956

by Noel Barber

Book by Barber, Noel

Genres: History

266 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1974

About the author

Noel Barber was a British novelist and journalist. Many of his novels, set in exotic countries, are about his experiences as leading foreign correspondent for the Daily Mail. He was the son of John Barber and his Danish wife, Musse, and had two brothers: Kenneth, a banker, and Anthony Barber, Baron Barber.
Most notably he reported from Morocco, where he was stabbed five times. In October 1956, Barber survived a gunshot wound to the head by a Soviet sentry in Hungary during the Hungarian revolution. A car crash ended his career as journalist. He then began writing novels: he became a best-selling novelist in his seventies with his first novel, Tanamera.

Reviews

[Adam Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book talks about the Hungarian Uprising and the involvement of Soviet Russia in Hungary during the Cold War, especially during the Battle of Budapest. It goes into depth about promises that Russia made and did not deliver and how the Hungarian people fought strongly for freedom and for fair rights. It talks about the thousands that died fighting for freedom and a few specific heroes that helped to secure that freedom for the people of Hungary.

I highly recommend this book for numerous reasons. For example, the author immerses you into the horrors and atrocities of the Hungarian Uprising by showing you multiple viewpoints through the uprising. The author goes into depth about many different topics involving the Hungarian Uprising and unique aspects that many other books don’t talk about. Many primary sources are used throughout the book which helps form what happened during the Battle of Budapest and the Hungarian Uprising in general. I enjoy the authors use of language very much because it helps you understand exactly how the uprising commenced and how it ended.

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seven Days of freedom follows the tumultuous time in 1956 where Hungarian students, factory workers and police banned together to try and drive out the Russians, put moderates in charge and break up the dreaded Avo (secret police).This book details the ways the rebels took over parts of the country, hunted down the AVO and the efforts of the Soviets to restore order. Finally ending with a massive surge of Soviet Troops and a retaking of the city ending the hope that was felt by the country. It was a time when world events moved faster than participants were ready and each side made missteps that inflamed the situation leading to the deaths of many. This book is particularly relevant today as we see what a KGB world view does to those who oppose them. The author does a great job of keeping the story moving and finding new ways to show what happened.

[Hannah Ouston · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic overview of an uprising I knew very little about, filled with personal memories and individual accounts. For the author who was present, it is a fairly well balanced presentation of what happened and must have been hard to write.

[Dave Hunt · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brutal reminder how repseive the old Soviet Block nations were under Soviet domination.

[Ruth · Rating 2 out of 5]

c1956: Sub titled as a personal testament of the Battle of Budapest. Reading this book gave me my first inderstanding that sometimes people/countries do not honour their word with devestating results. Noel Barber (1909-1988) was a British novelist and journalist.