Well researched and documented.... Scholars interested in Hungarian historiography and post-Cold War politics will find this work most useful. Highly recommended. * CHOICE, April 2009 * Drawing upon the world of Janos M. Ranier, Nagy's biographer, and other Hungarian scholars, Benziger guides readers through the tumultuous days of revolition, a period that witnessed Nagy's second prime ministry and his ever greater awareness that the NewCourse was no longer enough....original.... * American Historical Review, October 2009 * Drawing upon the work of Janos M. Rainer, Nagy's biographer, and other Hungarian scholars, Benziger guides readers through the tumultuous days of revolution (October 23- November 4, 1956), a period that witnessed Nagy's second prime ministry and his evergreater awareness that the New Course was no longer enough.... * American Historical Review, October 2009 * Benziger's book is an important and welcome contribution to the study of the contested public memory of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution and War of Independence in Hungary. It explains how the Kįdįr regime manufactured an 'alternative history' of the Revolution and its leader, Imre Nagy, and how this set of lies continues to function as a 'historical alternative' in contemporary Hungarian politics and society. Especially welcome is Benziger's survey of how the Revolution is taught in Hungarian secondary schools, and how the artificially sustained debate led to the Budapest street riots on the 50th anniversary of the Revolution. -- Tibor Glant, author of Remember Hungary 1956: Essays on the Hungarian Revolution and War of Independence in American Memory 'He who controls the past controls the future,' George Orwell wrote in Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984), 'and he who controls the present controls the past.' Karl P. Benziger, the author of this thoughtful look at the often politicized memories and assessments of Imre Negy, prime minister of Hungary during the 1956 Revolution, does not allow any of them to prejudice his own view. -- Lee Congdon, James Madison University * American Historical Review, October 2009 * The book is a welcome addition to the growing body of literature about the processes by which former communist countries have grappled with their pasts. Imre Nagy, Marytr of the Nation is well worth reading and encourages reflection on the evolution of Hungarian historiography. * Canadian Journal of History * The book is a welcome addition to the growing body of literature about the processes by which former Communist countries have grappled with their pasts to produce a more realistic and coherent history for new generations to digest
Imre Nagy: Martyr of the Nation is well worth reading and encourages reflection on the evolution of Hungarian historiography. * Austrian History Yearbook *
