Books by Paul Lendvai

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.

Zeitgeschichte aus den Augen eines GroßenPaul Lendvai kannte sie alle. Die Größen der internationalen Politik, die Ikonen der österreichischen Geschichte. Im Schatzkästchen seiner Erinnerungen liegen eine Reihe einzigartiger Begegnungen, die nur Paul Lendvai vor dem Hintergrund seiner eigenen bewegten und bewegenden Biografie so erleben konnte und die nur er so zu erzählen vermag. Die Schlaglichter, die er auf bekannte und berühmte Persönlichkeiten wirft, sind pointiert und humorvoll. Die Analysen internationaler politischen Entwicklungen sind so klar und messerscharf, wie Lendvais Publikum sie seit eh und je kennt und schätzt. In „Vielgeprüftes Österreich" zieht Paul Lendvai direkte gedankliche Linien von der Zeitgeschichte ins Hier und Heute. Warum die gegenwärtigen österreichischen Verhältnisse so sind, wie sie sind, macht Lendvais neues Buch unmissverständlich klar.

A convincing indictment of the most powerful political figure in the eastern EU ... This is gloves-off political writing at its best.' -- The Financial Times on Hungary (2012)

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.