A review by miklosha
The Hungarians: A Thousand Years of Victory in Defeat by Paul Lendvai

5.0

Swept up in the fever of discovering my ancestry, the fact that my fathers side of the family is Hungarian, and that my name is in itself Hungarian, I was eager to pick up a book on the history of the country. Lendvai's history of Hungary is a relatively compact, readable story of Hungary's origin and journey from nomadic beginnings to feudalism to Nazism, Communism, and finally to independence, all viz a vie occupations and both inter- and intra-conflicts. Hungary as a linguistic and cultural island in the sea of Europe is a sad but fascinating story and I was happy to learn new information not just about Hungary but Europe as a whole (oddly enough my high school history classes never touched both World Wars so I had to learn about them from my own leisure readings). Despite being born in the US, not knowing Hungarian, and only having visited the country twice, I still felt a sense of connection with Hungary and both sympathized and felt for the internal struggles that plagued the country since King Stephen.
For readers who are both ethnically, linguistically, or Hungarian "by choice" (as Lendvai discusses), or even for those who aren't Hungarian and are just history buffs, I would highly recommend this book.