I thoroughly enjoyed reading this first-hand account of a young boy growing up first under the Nazis and then the Communists. Mr. Teglas tells his story with incite and humor and I marvel at the spirit of his countrymen during these harrowing times. We, lucky to be born and brought up in the United States, simply have no idea what it would be like to live under oppression. "Budapest Exit" paints a vivid picture of a life our children hopefully will never know.

Budapest Exit. A Memoir of Fascism, Communism,and Freedom.

This book answers the question,"How would Huck Finn have survived through war, bombings, occupation, revolutions and an escape to freedom". Csaba Teglas is the Finn like story teller in thes autobiographical history/survival story. Teglas, born in 1930, counterpoints his growing up in Hungary with the life of his two sons in a suburb of New York City. His descriptions of family, friends, places, experiences and events are examined in the historical perspective of bombs, bullets and hunger. At 26 Teglas escaped to freedom. A freedom without money, language or a marketable job skill. Read the book and find out how he used the traits honed under fascism and communism to build a life in Canada and the United States.

Mr. Teglas Has written a timeless story of a youth triumphing over adversity. This is and uplifting book which gives a powerful lesson of what can be accomplished if one has grit and determination.

I give this book 5 Stars

This is an excellent guide to finding some of the real treasures in Vienna, Budapest, and Prague - the coffee houses. In this suscinct, yet detailed piece, you become very close to the rich and splendid aromas and bright and unique personalities and romance that each of these social "temples" have to offer. Not only has the author captured the essence of the coffee houses, but she also shares with us interesting historical details, perspectives and notes. Enjoy the comments and discriptions of these "museums" with special attention to one of my favorite subjects, architecture. Absolutely a joy to read and use as a compass through the wonderful streets of these absolutely fantabulous cities.
I rate it right up there with my Perlman cigar guides which have enriched my travel experiences well beyond anything I could have found by just "wandering". Don't leave home without it!

As we prepare to visit Vienna for the second time, this book is helping us to prepare our itinerary adding this time many visits to those sometimes off the beaten track coffee houses. What a gem of a book, packed with so much valuable current information such as addresses, hours, etc., as well as historic data. Its definitely being packed in our carryon luggage along with a couple tried and true tour books. Here's to the author ... thanks to the last drop! How about some other city editions?

In a fluid translation, Kopacsi's memoirs (as police chief of 1950's Budapest and party representative) become gripping testimony to idealism and its betrayal. How does one live with lies? For the revolutionaries, they sought, in K's view, not so much a Western-style republic as a democratically-elected, neutral nation where both reforming Communists and other social democrats and other parties could share power. I found this intriguing, as I'd assumed naively that any Soviet-bloc nation yearning for liberation automatically would reject Communism--at least in 1956. As K. shows, gradually rather than suddenly, the nation edged towards revolt. In the wake of Stalin's death and the encouraging noises made by Khrushchev, Kaposci decided to back Imre Nagy and his allies against the Soviets and their Hungarian puppets.

We all know the aftermath, but Kaposci broadens his work to take in the years before 1956, so we fully understand the intrigues that made every move under the Soviets dangerous. What emerges from his account are the evasions that anyone who survived had to pretend as reality each dreary day under such a system--where early hopes had been crushed by mendacity, careerism, and brutality.

I wish he had included more about his own resistance against the Nazis, and about the prison life in the years after his show-trial, but these are minor quibbles. What you will find here is a matter-of-fact account of what it takes to be a hero, for K. and his compatriots have the chance to act nobly when so many around them turn traitor. A lesson worth remembering and passing on, as this book provides us with true role models.

written by the chief of police of budapest during the revolt of 1956, Kopaci held the insiders view of the poltical and military situation and how the revolution unfolded. actually, this is not a review but a request for any video tapes or video documentaries on the revolt of 1956. i am writing a book that has the hungarian revoltion as its' genisis.

Introducing Austria might better have been titled "Introducing Austrians." The author's goal, as he explains in the Preface, is to supplement traditional histories and guidebooks with a work that illuminates the character, attitudes, and internal differences among the Austrian population. The focus is on events and issues since 1918; only 35 pages are devoted to the history of Austria from prehistory to the First World War. Obviously this is not the book to buy if your primary interest is the Habsburg dynasty.

The strength of the book is its depiction of the social and political characteristics of the different regions of Austria and how these characteristics have shaped recent history. The text is informal, often humorous, and illustrated with political cartoons. There is a brief appendix with travel information and a useful bibliographic essay.

Introducing Austria is recommended for the business traveler or diplomat who wants to learn about modern Austria. The historian or tourist will also find the book informative and entertaining, but will want to look elsewhere for details about Austria's Imperial past.

As an Austro/American I enjoyed this book very much. I found muyself smiling at the description of our character, while nodding my head in agreement over all the historic fact. I would higly recommend this book to everybody in an Austro-relationship and anybody who would like to learn more about the real Austrians.

A fantastic book with lots of otherwise unavailable information. A lot of the same ground(at least initially) was covered by B-S in THE LAST HABSBURG. What one needs to remember is that in the course of his research, Brook-Shepherd seems to have become very close to the Habsburg family and his objectivity suffers visibly. Much of this book (as well as B-S's THE LAST HABSBURG and also in THE AUSTRIANS)details the events behind Zita's husband Charles' attempts to recover his lost throne in Budapest in 1921, as well as her son Otto's attempts to recover the Austrian throne in the 1930's. Read these with a critical eye. In both cases a separate reading of Admiral Horthy and Kurt von Schuschnigg's memoirs might be needed to rebut his one-sided and somewhat unfair (to these gentlemen) coverage of these events. Similarly I felt that the topic of restoration of the monarchy, the primary one for that period of the book, and a natural major concern of Zita and her son, is so abruptly dropped after World War II that it seems the author is trying to hide something.

This is a magnificently researched book on the Empress Zita of Austria-Hungary. It follows her life from childhood through her marriage to Archduke Karl to their succession as Kaiser and Kaiserin in 1916. The story continues through their all too brief reign which ended with the defeat of Austria in World War 1 and their subsequent deposition and initial exile first in Austria itself and then later in Switzerland and Madeira. It deals with their two thwarted attempts to regain the throne of Hungary which was being 'protected' by Regent Admiral Horthy. The book deals with the tragic early death of Zita's husband, the long widowhood of Zita and the struggles she faced bringing up her large family all by herself. Zita was a complex woman who spent her life trying to uphold the Hapsburg family legacy. Under different historical circumstances she would have been dearly loved by the people of Austria first as an Empress and then a respected Empress Mother. History dealt a difficult hand to Zita and she only received the respect she truly dearly deserved once she had died and was granted an Imperial funeral in St.Stephen's Cathedral. Even the republican government of Austria reluctantly realised that Zita deserved this honour. This book shows the many different faces of this most interesting woman. The author has paid the Empress the most glowing tribute he could ever have imagined as he has depicted not some imaginary idolised royal figure but a real individual who made a difference to this century. I would strongly recommend this book to others. It is a great read. The illustrations are also most interesting with many never having been publicly reproduced before.

Opium Dreams is a rather obscure little collection of short stories by a virtually unknown writer who died under bizarre and violent circumstances at the end of World War I. The stories are excellent dream-like journeys through the macabre world of addiction. From opium to absinthe, each story is a window which sheds light on the darker sides of the human mind caught in the throes of addiction. It is less didactic and more enjoyable than De Quincey--definitely the product of a mind ravaged by the subject matter of the stories. A rarity which is well worth adding to any library.

"Opium" and the other stories in this slim volume use fiction to convey the wonder and horror of narcotic addiction in a way that few other books have managed to do. It stands with De Quincey's "Confessions" and Cocteau's "Opium: Diary of a Cure" as the finest examples of the true cost of addiction, but because it's fiction it draws the reader into the world of the addict even more accurately than the other two examples do. A masterpiece that should be better known than it is.

"The genius is not the product of his age, is not to be explained by it, and we do him no honour if we attempt to account for him by it." -- Otto Weininger, Sex and Character, Part II, Chap 5.

...but explain him by his age is exactly what Sengoopta tries to do for Weininger. The book helps to situate Weininger in the scientific millieu of his time, as the Harrowitz and Hyams collection (-Jews and Gender: Responses to Otto Weininger-) earlier tried to do against a literary backdrop, and though we are grateful for these efforts, both fail to come terms with the seriousness of Weininger's philosophy. They repeat many of the usual dismissive assessments, either by trying to explain him as an unpleasant social phenomenon or personal pathology. We are still waiting for a genuinely philosophical exposition of Weininger's importance to moral philosophy in general and gender-based moral theories, in particular. We strongly suspect, for example, that radical feminism will one day discover a curious allegiance with Weininger. (Janik's -Essays on Wittgenstein and Weininger- in places, however, hints in a more thoughtful direction.)

dr. sengoopta's well researched book is the strange story of otto weininger, a jew, who wrote a treatise that 'proved' women and jews did not possess a rational and moral self; that they did not deserve or need equality, not to mention liberty, that only male aryans should be in charge of society. imagine a jew that hitler called 'wise'(though it is doubtful he ever read him) a jew that was throughly discredited following world war two as a racist and misogynist. then why read him? dr. sengoopta not only gives the reasons weininger is important in the understanding of ideas current in his time, but how to read him. afterall, this strange little man influenced (though not persuaded) freud, kafka, ludwig wittgenstein, the racist politics of vienna's mayor, karl leuger as well as literary figures such as james joyce and ford maddox ford, probably his most important contribution. his dramatic suicide, in beethoven's home, no less, made him the era's 'tragic genius'.(a concept karl kraus, the jewish critic, concurred). afterall, this was the age of arthur schnitzler (THE ROAD TO THE OPEN) when jewish intellectuals were attempting to find a role in viennese culture. for weininger it was an attempt to become GERMAN (he loved wagner)-the extreme path to the open. by becoming a protestant he would not only reject multicultural austria but become more german than the most ardent pan german. his only book, SEX AND CHARACTER, was his phd dissertation-an attempt to analyze the differences between men and women by the use of biology,science, psychology and humanistic social reform. a fanatic follower of kant, weininger believed only aryan men possessed a hyperemperical soul while desiring to resolve the woman question by redefining hysteria and devaluing motherhood. in his attack on women and modernism weininger saw the jews as the symbol of mammon, modernism and the feminization of culture. weininger's ideal society was a sterile dystopia where women would lose their sexuality and deserve to be politically equal...of course the human race would die out, but in pure kantian thought this minor difficulty would not matter, for weininger believed that sexual desire-and feminine beauty is only a creation of man's love-forces man to degenerate. the only true love is plutonic in the tradition of dante's beatrice. one of the more enlightened aspects of weininger is his belief in universal bisexuality, "sexual intermediacy", that is to say, all humans are a mixture of the masculine and the feminine in differing degrees. however, the most gifted woman can only be 50% masculine, thus inferior to the most effeminate male. weininger even proposed a mathematical formula to achieve the perfect conjunction. yes,even he realized that despite his ideal society males WOULD seek out women and mate...one could only hope to achieve the most satisfactory results through science. most of weininger's thought is absurb if not discusting to modern readers. Little gems such as 'all women are amoral',"are logically insane', "men have better memories","women can not differenate between feeling and thought", that they have no soul,and on and 0n AD NAUSEAM. perhaps even more repulsive is his racist ideas. naturally he swallowed houston chamberlain, artur de gobineau, wagner and schopenhauers antisemetic drivel and adapted it to his treatise. was this self-hatred? not according to dr. sengoopta, sengoopta believes since weininger's father was antisemetic that it is doubtful weininger had any jewish idenity to start with. weak in some areas but well read in the science of his day, weininger's book is a melange of science, biology, philosophy, cultural politics and personal anxiety. ironically, despite his contempt for women in the reproduction of the species woman is supreme. even weininger recognized bachofen's dictim: "the father is always a juristic fiction, whereas motherhood is a physical fact". with all his intellectual twists and turns weininger could never explain away woman's power over life, men and creativity.

While George Polya is credited with coining the phrase "random walk", his journey through life was anything but random. Extremely influential in many areas of mathematics, his book, "How to Solve It" alone would have made a career. Like so many mathematical heavyweights of this century, his nationality was Hungarian. Given the number of mathematicians and their collective prolific output, Hungary must lead the world in per capita production of mathematical papers. Polya's first papers were published in 1912 and his last in 1987.
The range of the work is just as impressive. Many concepts now considered standard mathematical fare were products of his genius. When reading this biography, you are struck by the features of human nature that he projects. Who else would talk about the list of the three nicest mathematicians that they ever met? Would anyone else dare to also talk about the three most unpleasant mathematicians that they ever encountered? His honesty when admitting that he was intimidated by John von Neumann show a level of humility that few people of his stature would ever acknowledge.
In an era when being a lackluster to pathetic teacher is considered a prerequisite for a position as a research mathematician it is extremely refreshing to read about his qualities as a teacher and his concern for the profession. He was an existence proof of the reality that it is possible to be both. His contributions to the field of teaching are as strong as those in any other area of his expertise.
Biographies of mathematicians sometimes degenerate into lists of life accomplishments emphasizing the major formulas and proofs of their lives. In others, the person comes across as a solid professional, but there seems to be little else to their life. In writing about Polya, the author is describing a person that you would no doubt find to be pleasant company.
One of those amazing Hungarian mathematical exports that graced the United States with their presence, George Polya was truly a credit to the professions of being a mathematician and a human. This is one of the most enjoyable biographies of a mathematician that I have ever read.

Even if you aren't in math, I think you are likely to be caught up in the drama of George Polya and the various lives, the times, and the events that he touched. The writing is fast paced and engaging, much like that of Constance Reid's books: "Hilbert", or "Courant"... Through its appendices [by K.L. Chung, R. P. Boas, M. M. Schiffer...], this lovely book further gives you some insight into the math that underlies the stories. Other characters in the book: G. Szego, L. Fejer, J von Neumann, G. H. Hardy, H. Weyl, E. Landau, ...Through the book, the reader gets to experience the tumultous historical period that spans the long career of G. Polya: His life includes the main centers of science and math in Europe in the Golden period between the two World Wars. The second part is Polya's life of teaching and research in the US, at Stanford University. I was a guest at Polya's ninetieths birthday. It has been said that mathematicians have been more likely than others to have been uprooted in the upheavals of history, perhaps because they are concerned with theories and ideas that are more universal.

There is nothing earth-shattering about this novel except the unusual clarity of Kosztolányi's descriptive powers. More so than the novel Anna Édes, however, Skylark puts a burden of thought onto the reader. Kosztolányi only narrates, offering no judgements or opinions, and so his narration is very focused. The translation preserves this and is generally praiseworthy; Kosztolányi's characteristic terse, direct style and colorful phrasing come through unscathed.

This edition has a nice 10 page introduction by Péter Esterházy, which gives interesting information about the author as well as some background information about Hungarian literature. The cover and binding are, in my opinion, quite handsome also.

I generally agree with what the previous reviewer has stated, although I found this short novel (as well as Anna Edes) brilliant and almost totally flawless. A book which I didn't want to finish simply because I truly enjoyed the experience of reading it.

The authors provide maps and information for self-guided walks in four different areas of Budapdest. All walks are easily accomplished on foot and have start and stop points that conveniently lead into the other prescribed routes. The interesting tidbits included in this book allowed me to see and understand aspects of Budapest that I would have otherwise missed. The book does not include hotel or restaurant suggestions.

Ms. Barber and Roper-Evans know more about Budapest and its history, culture, sights and amenities than almost any native Hungarian. The guidebook is well-designed, edited and contains sufficient (not overwhelming) historical and cultural information for a traveler to appreciate Budapest as if he/she were a a privileged insider. This is a "must-buy" guide if you are traveling to Budapest.