Customer Reviews

Hungary at War: Civilians and Soldiers in World War II

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Dr. Eby balances the human tradegy with detailed historical facts to produce a very readable account of the fate of Hungary during and immediately proceeding WWII. Alot of the book is written in narrative form - detailed accounts of soldiers and civilians personal experiences. Some of the material is tough to read, not due to the writing, rather the brutal nature of subject.

Historians who are familiar with the period, may find a lot of repetition of the historical facts. This is due to the use of narratives - each story stands alone, the reader does not have to refer back to previous chapters.

Dr. Eby is also to be commended for his balance and objectivity. He covers a cast of characters with a very even hand.

Professor Eby invested an impressive amount of time and effort in gathering a mountain of information about the experiences of hundreds of Hungarians, civilians and soldiers alike. The book's coverage of the various aspects of wartime life is enviable. The result is an authentic and convincing panorama of the Magyar public's ordeals during that horrible period. As a survivor of those events, let me say that the reader has an impression of "being there," which is not a small accomplishment for any author.

No, the book does not claim to be a general military history, nor does it pretend to provide an accurate account of some of the specific historical events woven into the fabric of the individual anecdotes. For that sort of information you must look elsewhere. But if you are interested in learning about the lives of ordinary people -tragic, ironic, and even humorous- then I highly recommend this truly fine work to you, despite two Soviet soldiers glaring at us from the front cover.

The book is overpriced, the author is misinformed about many facts,and repeating himself throughout...unfortunately it is a very poorly written, mostly fictionus work. I do not recommend it to anyone, who is really interested in this period.
I gave it one star!!