Twelve days - revolution 1956 : how the Hungarians tried to topple their Soviet masters

Inbunden bok. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. Förlagsny! English text!. 2006. 340 sidor.

Nyskick. Skyddsomslag i nyskick. Förlagsny! English text!
The defining moment of the Cold War: 'The beginning of the end of the Soviet empire.' (Richard Nixon) The Hungarian Revolution in 1956 is a story of extraordinary bravery in a fight for freedom, and of ruthless cruelty in suppressing a popular dream. A small nation, its people armed with a few rifles and petrol bombs, had the will and courage to rise up against one of the world's superpowers. The determination of the Hungarians to resist the Russians astonished the West. People of all kinds, throughout the free world, became involved in the cause. For 12 days it looked, miraculously, as though the Soviets might be humbled. Then reality hit back. The Hungarians were brutally crushed. Their capital was devastated, thousands of people were killed and their country was occupied for a further three decades. The uprising was the defining moment of the Cold War: the USSR showed that it was determined to hold on to its European empire, but it would never do so without resistance. From the Prague Spring to Lech Walesa's Solidarity and the fall of the Berlin Wall, the tighter the grip of the communist bloc, the more irresistible the popular demand for freedom.
Twelve Days is a riveting day-by-day account of the defining moment of the Cold War--the inspiring but brutally crushed Hungarian Uprising.
Victor Sebestyen, a journalist whose own family fled Hungary, gives us a totally fresh account, incorporating newly released official documents, his family's diaries, and eyewitness testimony. We witness the thrilling first days when--armed only with a few rifles, petrol bombs, and desperate courage--the people of Budapest rose up against their Soviet masters and nearly succeeded. As the world watched in amazement, it looked as though the Hungarians might humble the Soviet empire. But the Soviets were willing to resort to brutal lengths--and, sadly, the West was prepared to let them. Dramatic, vivid, and authoritative, Twelve Days adds immeasurably to our understanding of this historic event and reminds us of the unquenchable human desire for freedom.
Victor Sebestyen född 1956, är en ungerskfödd brittisk journalist som har arbetat med östeuropabevakning under 1980- och 1990-talet. Numera är han ledarskribent och utrikesredaktör på Evening Standard i London. Sebestyen är författare till Ungernrevolten 1956: tolv dagar som skakade världen 2006.