Description
Book SynopsisTrade Review[T]his invaluable reference work belongs on the library shelf of any Cold War scholar.
* Slavic Review *
László Borhi's Dealing with Dictators makes a valuable contribution from both a theoretical and empirical point of view to the history of communist regimes leading up to the end of the Cold War. . . . It is meticulously documented, drawing from Hungarian archives, US State Department archives, and US presidential libraries.
* H-Diplo *
"A tour de force of research and analysis, László Borhi's Dealing With Dictators has revived and reoriented our understanding of the import of United States foreign policies toward Hungary and East Central Europe during the Cold War."
-- Martin J. Sherwin,Professor of History at George Mason University * author (with Kai Bird) of the Pulitzer Prize biography, American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy *
There are rare books that define an era. Borhi's Dealing with Dictators is second to none in helping us comprehend the difficult ups and downs of the U.S. – Hungarian bilateral relationship within the larger context of Cold War Central Europe. When it comes to the origins of the Cold War, Borhi is relentlessly anti-revisionist – it was the Soviets who built an empire in Eastern Europe to ruthlessly exploit the satellite economies. Dealing with Dictators concludes with an exhaustive chapter on Hungary's crucial role in ending the Cold War. This is international history writing at its best.
-- Gunter Bischof, Marshall Plan Professor of History * University of New Orleans *
Table of ContentsIntroduction
1. Peace Overtures, the Allies, and the Holocaust, 1942-1945
2. Cuius Regio, Eius Religio: The United States and the Soviet Seizure of Power
3. Rollback
4. 1956: Self-Liberation
5. Reprisals and Bridge-Building
6. The Dilemmas of External Transformation
7. "The Status Quo is Not So Bad": Détente
8. Nixon, Carter, and the Kádár Regime
9. "Love Towards Kádár": Reagan and the Myth of Liberation
10. 1989: "Together We Liberated Eastern Europe"
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index
