{"product_id":"failed-illusions-9780804759649","title":"Failed Illusions","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eWinner of the 2007 Marshall Shulman Prize\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe 1956 Hungarian revolution, and its suppression by the U.S.S.R., was a key event in the cold war, demonstrating deep dissatisfaction with both the communist system and old-fashioned Soviet imperialism. But now, fifty years later, the simplicity of this David and Goliath story should be revisited, according to Charles Gati''s new history of the revolt.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDenying neither Hungarian heroism nor Soviet brutality, \u003ci\u003eFailed Illusions\u003c\/i\u003e nevertheless modifies our picture of what happened. Imre Nagy, a reform communist who headed the revolutionary government and turned into a genuine patriot, could not rise to the occasion by steering a realistic course between his people''s demands and Soviet geopolitical and ideological interests. The United States was all talk, no action, while Radio Free Europe simultaneously backed the insurgents'' unrealizable demands and opposed Nagy. In the end, the Soviet Union followed its imperial impulse in\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Gati's book towers high above the rest as by far the best book published on 1956... his work aims to examine what happened and to point to what could have happened given the other complex factors that were in play in 1956. The fruit of Gati's effort is an engaging, fascinating, and well-written narrative coupled wit masterful historical and political analysis.\"—\u003ci\u003eSlavic Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Gati draws on reams of new research and documentary evidence from Hungary, while ferreting out scores of fascinating documents from the U.S. archives. Specialists on this subject will benefit immensely from this work, but the book is written in such an engaging manner that it will also appeal to a more general audience.\"—Mark Kramer, Director of Cold War Studies, Harvard University\u003cbr\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eFailed Illusions\u003c\/i\u003e casts incisively a new perspective on three key dimensions of the historic drama that was the Hungarian Revolution: the unsavory background and the heroic epiphany of Imre Nagy, the revolution's tragic leader; the confused, disruptive, and ultimately devious Soviet efforts to manipulate the Hungarian communists; and the impotent futility of US posturing which masqueraded as 'the policy of liberation.' Riveting as a story, significant as a history.\"—Zbigniew Brzezinski, former U.S. National Security Advisor, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Soviet Bloc: Unity and Conflict\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"The main message on U.S. foreign policy in Gati's book resonates with me. We're forever spouting bullshit in foreign policy for domestic political reasons at great costs to people abroad, who take the bullshit seriously.\"—Leslie Gelb, President Emeritus, Council on Foreign Relations and former foreign-affairs columnist, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Born and raised in Hungary, Gati...was a young journalist in Budapest at the time. Using hundreds of documents in the archives in Budapest, Moscow, and Washington, he has written a thorough and scholarly analysis of the revolution.\"—\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Reading \u003ci\u003eFailed Illusions\u003c\/i\u003e is like reading a John le Carre novel with documentation. Charles Gati provides a suspenseful inside look into the types of issues and characters le Carre has portrayed in his novels yet Gati's story is all too real and tragic.\" —Stephen F. Szabo, Johns Hopkins University\u003cbr\u003e\"...\u003ci\u003eFailed Illusions\u003c\/i\u003e is a brilliant exercise in the counterfactual, a catalog of the \"what ifs\" that should be considered when thinking about the creation and perpetuation of the Soviet bloc.\"—\u003ci\u003eThe Moscow Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eFailed Illusions\u003c\/i\u003e sheds new light on American policy, especially the controversial role of Radio Free Europe as it encouraged the rebels....[and] Mr. Gati's excellent footnotes, several quite personal and poignant, give added depth to the story.\"—\u003ci\u003eThe Economist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Charles Gati's \u003ci\u003eFailed Illusions\u003c\/i\u003e is a searching, scholarly account of the political calculations of the Kremlin, the White House, and the Hungarian Communist leadership.\"—\u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"The product of more than 15 years of extraordinary research and interviewing, much of it in Hungarian, his book highlights just how much we have to learn about key Cold War events and, more important, how we should go about learning it.\"—\u003ci\u003eForeign Affairs\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Charles Gati's Failed Illusions is an outstanding work.\"—\u003ci\u003eLondon Review of Books\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"The '56-anniversary book that's gotten the most press is Charles Gati's \u003ci\u003eFailed Illusions\u003ci\u003e, which, in meticulous scholarly detail, fortifies the new, more depressing argument for why America didn't ride to the rescue with either military might or aggressive diplomacy.\"—\u003ci\u003eBOOKFORUM\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Gati has undertaken an important, brilliant reappraisal of the 1956 Hungarian uprising and its subsequent violent suppression. Scholars of the Cold War, Hungarian history, and anyone interested in the popular revolution will be spellbound by this book.\"—\u003ci\u003eCHOICE\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Charles Gatis \u003ci\u003eFailed Illusions\u003c\/i\u003e gives a comprehensive account of the Revolution in succinct and elegant prose along with his own analysis and some speculation.\"—\u003ci\u003eNew York Review of Books\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"The main message on U.S. foreign policy in Gati's book resonates with me. We're forever spouting bullshit in foreign policy for domestic political reasons at great costs to people abroad, who take the bullshit seriously.\"—Leslie Gelb, President Emeritus, Council on Foreign Relations and former foreign-affairs columnist, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eContents  One\t\tIntroduction to the Argument   Two\t\tThe Inadvertent Revolutionary   Three\t\tWashington and Budapest before the Explosion   Four\t\tMoscow and Budapest before the Explosion   Five\t\tThe Revolt That Failed   Six\t\tThe Revolt That Did Not Have to Fail   Seven\t\tEpilogue: Memories Repressed and Recovered   Selected Bibliography  Index\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Stanford University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49405576053079,"sku":"9780804759649","price":999.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780804759649.jpg?v=1730492889","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/failed-illusions-9780804759649","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}