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BOOKS |
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Publishers are detailed in the form of British publisher/American
publisher, where both exist. Where books are published in one country
only, UK or US follows the publisher's name. Out of print books are
designated o/p; University Press is abbreviated UP. Books tagged with
the * symbol are particularly recommended. For a gentle introduction to
current affairs and literature, look for the Budapest-published The
Hungarian Quarterly .
Travellers tales
Patrick Leigh Fermor A Time of Gifts and Between the Woods and the Water
(both Penguin). In 1934 the young Leigh Fermor started walking from
Holland to Turkey, reaching Hungary in the closing chapter of A Time of
Gifts . In Between the Woods and the Water the gypsies and rusticated
aristocrats of the Great Plain and Transylvania are superbly evoked.
Lyrical and erudite.
Ruth Gruber Jewish Heritage Travel: A Guide to Central and Eastern
Europe (Jason Aronson). The most comprehensive guide to Jewish sights in
Hungary.
Brian Hall Stealing from a Deep Place (Heinemann). In 1982 Hall cycled
through Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria and came up with this engaging
portrayal of rural life in southeastern Europe. The account of the
several months he spent in Budapest is particularly absorbing.
Gyula Illyés People of the Puszta (Corvina, UK o/p). An unsentimental,
sometimes horrifying immersion in the life of the landless peasantry of
prewar Hungary, mainly in Transdanubia. Illyés, one of Hungary's
greatest twentieth-century writers, was born into such a background, and
the book breathes authenticity. Highly recommended.
Claudio Magris Danube (Collins Harvill). Magris undertakes an epic
voyage along the course of Europe's most romantic river, blending travel
narrative, history and anecdote to wonderful effect. Rightly proclaimed
as one of the great travel books of recent years.
Imre Móra Budapest Then and Now (New World Publishing, Budapest). A
personal and very informative set of vignettes of the capital, past and
present.
Walter Starkie Raggle-Taggle (John Murray/Transatlantic Arts o/p). The
wanderings of a Dublin professor with a fiddle, who bummed around
Budapest and the Plain in search of gypsy music in the 1920s. First
published in 1933 and last issued in 1964; a secondhand bookshop
perennial.
History, politics and society
As well as the more specific titles below, there are quite a number of
books on the changes of 1989 across Eastern Europe, well worth dipping
into if you're travelling around the region. Two of the best are Misha
Glenny's The Rebirth of History (Penguin) and Timothy Garton-Ash's
History of the Present (Penguin), both of which have very readable
chapters on Hungary post 1989.
Judit Frigyesi Béla Bartók and Turn-of-the-century Budapest (University
of California Press). Placing Bartók in his cultural milieu, this is an
excellent account of the Hungarian intellectual world at the beginning
of the century.
András Gero Modern Hungarian Society in the Making: The Unfinished
Experience (Central European UP, Hungary). A good collection of essays
setting Hungary in the context of the Eastern European environment.
Jörg K Hoensch A History of Modern Hungary 1867-1994 (Longman/Addison-Wesley).
A good history of the country on its way from tragedy to tragedy, but
with a happy(ish) outcome.
László Kontler Millenium in Central Europe: A History of Hungary (Atlantisz).
Another very thorough and reliable history of the country, although it's
slightly archaic wording lets it down somewhat.
Bill Lomax Hungary 1956 (Allison & Busby/St Martin's Press o/p). Still
probably the best - and shortest - book on the Uprising, by an
acknowledged expert on modern Hungary. Lomax also edited Eyewitness in
Hungary (Spokesman, UK), an anthology of accounts by foreign Communists
(most of whom were sympathetic to the Uprising) that vividly depicts the
elation, confusion and tragedy of the events of October 1956.
John Lukács Budapest 1900 (Weidenfeld/ Grove Press). Excellent and very
readable account of the politics and society of Budapest at the turn of
the century, during a golden age that was shortly to come to an end.
George Mikes A Study in Infamy (Andre Deusch o/p). Better known in the
West for his humorous writings, Mikes here exposes the activities of the
secret police during the Rákosi era. Based on captured documents which
explain their methods of surveillance and use of terror as a political
weapon.
Miklós Molnár A Concise History of Hungary (Cambridge UP). Comprehensive
thousand-year history of Hungarian land, people, culture and economy,
right up until the 1998 elections.
John Paget Hungary and Transylvania (Ayer, US). Paget's massive book,
published in 1971, attempted to explain nineteenth-century Hungary to
the English middle class, and, within its aristocratic limitations,
succeeded.
Michael Stewart The Time of the Gypsies (Westview Press). Based on
anthropological research in a gypsy community in Hungary, this superb
book presents Gypsy culture as a culture, and not as a parasitic body on
society, as it is widely perceived in Hungary and elsewhere.
Peter Sugar (ed) A History of Hungary (L B Tauris). A useful, not too
academic, survey of Hungarian history from pre-Conquest times to the
close of the Kádár era, with a brief epilogue on the transition to
democracy.
Rudolf L. Tökés Hungary's Negotiated Revolution: Economic Reform, Social
Change, and Political Succession, 1957-1990 (Cambridge UP). Very sound
and comprehensive account of the Communist regime's survival, decline
and fall.
Art, folk traditions and architecture
The Hungarian publisher Corvina publishes a number of books covering
Hungary's folk traditions and artistic treasures, mostly translated into
English or German. Some editions are available on import, and some of
its British titles are available through US publishers of fiction and
poetry, but they are cheaper to buy in Budapest. Most of Budapest's
better bookshops have a good range of books and can take orders (see
Budapest "Listings").
Irén Ács Hungary at Home (Jövendo, Hungary). Excellent collection of
photos covering all walks of life in postwar Hungary. A collection of
the photographer's work is exhibited in Hollóko in northern Hungary.
Val Biro Hungarian Folk Tales (Oxford UP). Children's tales of dragons
and the like in a crisp, colloquial translation.
Tekla Dömötör Hungarian Folk Beliefs (Corvina/Indiana UP o/p). A superb
collection of social history, folk beliefs and customs.
Györgyi Éri et al A Golden Age: Art and Society in Hungary 1896-1914
(Corvina). Hungary's Art Nouveau age captured in a beautifully
illustrated coffee-table volume.
János Gerle et al Budapest: An Architectural Guide (6 BT, Budapest). The
best of the new guides to the city's twentieth-century architecture,
covering almost 300 buildings with brief descriptions in Hungarian and
English.
Tamás Hofer et al Hungarian Peasant Art (Constable/International
Publications Service o/p). An excellently produced examination of
Hungarian folk art, with lots of good photos.
Dora Wieberson et al The Architecture of Historic Hungary (MIT Press, US).
Comprehensive and invaluable survey of Hungarian architecture through
the ages, placing it in its historical context.
Literature
Access to Hungarian literature has greatly improved in recent years, and
authors like Péter Nádas and Péter Esterházy, whose dense and very
Hungarian style had long been inaccessible to English readers, are now
appearing in translation. There are numerous collections of short
stories published in Budapest, though the quality of translations varies
from the sublime to the ridiculous. Works by nineteenth-century authors
such as Mór Jókai are most likely found in secondhand bookshops
Food and drink
Lesley Chamberlain The Food and Cooking of Eastern Europe (Penguin o/p).
A great compendium of recipes, nostrums and gastronomical history,
guaranteed to have you experimenting in the kitchen.
Susan Derecskey The Hungarian Cookbook (HarperCollins, US). A good,
easy-to-follow selection of traditional and modern recipes.
Stephen Kirkland The Wines and Vines of Hungary (New World Publishing).
The definitive book on Hungarian wine, covering its history, the varied
regions and the myriad of wines produced.
George Lang The Cuisine of Hungary (Penguin/Random House). A
well-written and beautifully illustrated work, telling you everything
you need to know about Hungarian cooking, its history and how to do it
yourself.
Miscellaneous
Birds-eye view of Hungary (MTI). Stunning aerial views of the country,
including pictures of the countryside in flood.
Gerald Gorman Birds of Hungary (C Helm, UK). The best book available on
the ornithological world of the country by a resident expert.
Rogan Taylor & Klára Jamrich (eds) Puskás on Puskás (Robson Books Ltd).
Not only does this marvellous book depict the life of Hungary's, and one
of the world's, greatest footballers, but it also provides an intriguing
insight into post-war Communist Hungary. |
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