Search results for ""Author Paul Lendvai""

A no-holds-barred biography of Viktor Orbán, the most successful--and arguably most dangerous--politician in Hungarian history. Through a masterly and cynical manipulation of ethnic nationalism, and deep-rooted corruption, Prime Minister Orbán has exploited successive electoral victories to build a closely knit and super-rich oligarchy. More than any other EU leader, he wields undisputed power over his people. Orbán's ambitions are far-reaching. Hailed by governments and far-right politicians as the champion of a new anti-Brussels nationalism, his ruthless crackdown on refugees, his open break with normative values and his undisguised admiration for Presidents Putin and Trump pose a formidable challenge to the survival of liberal democracy in a divided Europe. Mining exclusive documents and interviews, celebrated journalist Paul Lendvai sketches the extraordinary rise of Orbán, an erstwhile anti-communist rebel turned populist autocrat. His compelling portrait reveals a man with unfettered power.

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This is a comprehensive history of a legendarily proud and passionate but lonely people. Much of Europe once knew them as 'child-devouring cannibals' and 'bloodthirsty Huns', but it was not long before the Hungarians became steadfast defenders of Christendom and fought heroic freedom struggles against the Tartars, the Turks and, among others, the Russians. Paul Lendvai tells how, despite a string of catastrophes and their linguistic and cultural isolation, the Hungarians have survived as a nation-state for more than 1,000 years. He traces Hungarian politics, culture, economics and emotions, from the Magyars' dramatic entry into the Carpathian Basin in 896 to the brink of the post-Cold War era. Lendvai brings to life the short-lived revolutionary triumphs of 1848-9 and 1918-19; the traumatic Treaty of Trianon (1920) which deprived Hungary of Transylvania and other historic Magyar lands; and the successive Nazi and Communist tyrannies. These are among the episodes that have formed the consciousness of the Hungarian people. Through anecdotes of heroes and traitors, victors and victims, geniuses and impostors, Lendvai conveys the multifaceted interplay of progressivism and economic modernisation, versus intolerance and narrow-minded nationalism, on the grand stage of Hungarian history. This work is a blend of narrative, irony and humour; of occasional anger without taboos or prejudices. It also offers an authoritative key to understanding how and why this corner of Europe has produced such a galaxy of great scientists, artists and entrepreneurs.

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Paul Lendvai, born a Hungarian Jew, was arrested by the Nazis as a teenager, became a young communist activist in post-war Budapest, was arrested by the communists, again survived as one of the country's youngest political prisoners, and on his release was blacklisted as a journalist by the communist regime. After fleeing to Vienna following the 1956 Revolution, Lendvai was to become a leading journalist and commentator on eastern Europe. In this prize-winning memoir, he paints a picture of ethnic hatred, political turbulence and murderous anti-Semitism, as well as the swings between treachery and compromise which have characterized the history of 20th-century central Europe. There are descriptions of encounters with killers, torturers, onlookers and victims, traitors and heroes. In preparing the book, Lendvai had access to many previously unseen secret police files of Czechoslovakia, East Germany and Hungary.

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Austria has long been considered a European success story: a land-locked country on the losing side of World War Two, which emerged from ten years of post-war occupation as one of the EU’s richest member-states, a symbol of social consensus and political independence at the heart of Europe. But in the 2020s, the forward march of the far-right populist FPÖ threatens the return of old demons: extreme xenophobic racism, and economic and political instability. The governing partnership between Austria’s youngest-ever Chancellor and the extreme-right party lasted less than two years, but has left a wreckage of corruption scandals, including an ongoing investigation of fraud at the top. A cosy relationship with Russia, particularly President Putin, has cast a shadow over Austria’s neutrality and reputation as a reliable EU partner. Belated confrontation of the Nazi past and the lingering legacy of the imperial nobility further muddy the waters, while the long decline of social democracy—the bedrock of post-war nation-building—has been equalled by the weak performance of the ruling conservative–green coalition, damaging trust in democracy. Mixing personal memories with high political drama, Paul Lendvai reveals the knotted web of forces which have driven Austria to its current perilous state. Paul Lendvai, a Hungarian-born Austrian journalist

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A no-holds-barred biography of Viktor Orbán, the most successful--and arguably most dangerous--politician in Hungarian history. Through a masterly and cynical manipulation of ethnic nationalism, and deep-rooted corruption, Prime Minister Orbán has exploited successive electoral victories to build a closely knit and super-rich oligarchy. More than any other EU leader, he wields undisputed power over his people. Orbán's ambitions are far-reaching. Hailed by governments and far-right politicians as the champion of a new anti-Brussels nationalism, his ruthless crackdown on refugees, his open break with normative values and his undisguised admiration for Presidents Putin and Trump pose a formidable challenge to the survival of liberal democracy in a divided Europe. Mining exclusive documents and interviews, celebrated journalist Paul Lendvai sketches the extraordinary rise of Orbán, an erstwhile anti-communist rebel turned populist autocrat. His compelling portrait reveals a man with unfettered power.

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On October 23, 1956, a popular uprising against Soviet rule swept through Hungary like a force of nature, only to be mercilessly crushed by Soviet tanks twelve days later. Only now, fifty years after those harrowing events, can the full story be told. This book is a powerful eyewitness account and a gripping history of the uprising in Hungary that heralded the future liberation of Eastern Europe. Paul Lendvai was a young journalist covering politics in Hungary when the uprising broke out. He knew the government officials and revolutionaries involved. He was on the front lines of the student protests and the bloody street fights and he saw the revolutionary government smashed by the Red Army. In this riveting, deeply personal, and often irreverent book, Lendvai weaves his own experiences with in-depth reportage to unravel the complex chain of events leading up to and including the uprising, its brutal suppression, and its far-reaching political repercussions in Hungary and neighboring Eastern Bloc countries. He draws upon exclusive interviews with Russian and former KGB officials, survivors of the Soviet backlash, and relatives of those executed. He reveals new evidence from closed tribunals and documents kept secret in Soviet and Hungarian archives. Lendvai's breathtaking narrative shows how the uprising, while tragic, delivered a stunning blow to Communism that helped to ultimately bring about its demise. One Day That Shook the Communist World is the best account of these unprecedented events.

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An updated new edition of a classic history of the Hungarians from their earliest origins to todayIn this absorbing and comprehensive history, Paul Lendvai tells the fascinating story of how the Hungarians, despite a string of catastrophes and their linguistic and cultural isolation, have survived as a nation for more than one thousand years. Now with a new preface and a new chapter that brings the narrative up to the present, the book describes the evolution of Hungarian politics, culture, economics, and identity since the Magyars first arrived in the Carpathian Basin in 896. Through colorful anecdotes of heroes and traitors, victors and victims, revolutionaries and tyrants, Lendvai chronicles the way progressivism and economic modernization have competed with intolerance and narrow-minded nationalism. An unforgettable blend of skilled storytelling and scholarship, The Hungarians is an authoritative account of this enigmatic and important nation.

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