Books

History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

Average customer rating:

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed.
Very Interesting
History as Science Fiction
Provocative, appealing and controversial
pharaohs lived in the 3rd century AD

History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Anatoly Fomenko
Manufacturer: Mithec
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Similar Items:

History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2 (Chronology)
Discovering the Mysteries of Ancient America: Lost History And Legends, Unearthed And Explored
Before the Pharaohs: Egypt's Mysterious Prehistory
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They Cast No Shadows: A Collection of Essays on the Illuminati, Revisionist History, and Suppressed Technologies

ASIN: 2913621058

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

Provocative, appealing and controversial.......2006-08-02

Fomenko has succeeded to convincingly demonstrate the misconception about what "history" factually is... It is fiction and -like we can read and judge for ourselves- no science. It indeed is "make belief" only. I "discovered" Fomenko while studying the "old" history of Al Andaluz, Spain. Having found too many contradictions in available data, having seen too many forgeries as to pretend the importance of christianity for its decline, I ventured out to find Fomenko, who convinced me that we know little if anything for sure of the epoch before the XI-century. However, the integration of the Arabic-Islamic cultural history into the heavily distorted Western fails... There are some attempts to fit "the budding new religion" (Islam) into Fomenko's scheme, but they are too weak to be taken seriously and too often focussing on Turkey as the region where things started to influence the West, which is untrue at all.
Islam certainly was no "new religion" in the X-century. That the highly cultivated Al Andaluz ruler Mohammed-I could have been "mirrored" down in time into some myth about the "illiterate" founder of Islam itself is highly speculative. Nevertheless, Fomenko convinces me about the processes that were involved in forging a christian history. Intriguing and controversial as his books are, I recommend them as to rethink our current position in time and space and simply verify what was claimed. It is a "good" book, but not for bedtime reading... Mundus vult decipi, the world wants to be cheated. Fomenko's readers will understand why.

pharaohs lived in the 3rd century AD.......2006-02-16

Traces of white wine were found in Tutankhamen's tomb however there were no record of white wine in Egypt until the 3rd century AD, 1600 years after the young pharaoh died according to the traditional chronology. http://www.newscientist.com/channel/being-human/mg18925395.400
It can be interpreted as a contribution towards New Chronology theory that pharaohs lived in the 3rd century AD.

The Great Escape: Nine Jews Who Fled Hitler and Changed the World

Average customer rating:

Budapest as the incubator of Greatness
Hungarians love their salami and their Magyars
OK, but...
Budapest's loss is the world's gain...
A worthy book

The Great Escape: Nine Jews Who Fled Hitler and Changed the World
Kati Marton
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0743261151

Book Description

In this ground-breaking book, acclaimed author Kati Marton brings to life an unknown chapter of World War II: the tale of nine men who grew up in Budapest's brief Golden Age, then, driven from Hungary by anti-Semitism, fled to the West, especially to the United States, and changed the world. These nine men, each celebrated for individual achievements, were actually part of a unique group who grew up in a time and place that will never come again. It is Marton's extraordinary achievement to trace what for a few dazzling years was common to all of them -- the magic air of Budapest -- and show how their separate lives and careers were, in fact, all shaped by Budapest's lively café life before the darkness closed in.

Marton follows the astonishing lives of four history-changing scientists, all just one step ahead of Hitler's terror state, who helped usher in the nuclear age and the computer (Edward Teller, John von Neumann, Leo Szilard, and Eugene Wigner); two major movie myth-makers (Michael Curtiz, who directed Casablanca, and Alexander Korda, who produced The Third Man); two immortal photographers (Robert Capa and Andre Kertesz); and one seminal writer (Arthur Koestler, Darkness at Noon).

Marton follows these brilliant products of Budapest's Golden Age as they flee fascism in the 1920s and 1930s en route to sanctuary -- and immortality. As the scientists labor in the secret city of Los Alamos in the race to build the atom bomb, Koestler, once a communist agent imprisoned by Franco, writes the most important anticommunist novel of the century. Capa, the first photographer to go ashore on D-Day, later romances Ingrid Bergman and is acknowledged as the world's greatest war photographer before his tragic death in Vietnam. Curtiz not only gives us Casablanca, consistently voted the greatest romantic movie ever made, but also discovers Doris Day and directs James Cagney in the quintessential patriotic film, Yankee Doodle Dandy.

Ultimately, The Great Escape is an American story and an important, previously untold chapter of the tumultuous last century. Yet it is also a poignant story -- in the words of the great historian Fritz Stern, "an evocation of genius in exile . . . an instructive, moving delight." An epilogue relates the journey into exile of three members of the next generation of Budapest exiles: financier-philanthropist George Soros, Intel founder Andy Grove, and 2002 Nobel laureate in literature Imre Kertesz.

Customer Reviews:

Budapest as the incubator of Greatness.......2007-05-31

The nine men biographied in this book all were born in pre-WWI Budapest when it was the capital of half the Austro-Hungarian Empire. They were "double" outsiders being both Jews and Hungarians, estranged from most of the rest of Central Europe and from their own homeland. After WWI and (thankfully) before the beginning of WW2, they all managed to escape. But they didn't escape from Hitler, most when they first left Budapest went to either Berlin or Vienna; they truly escaped from Admiral Horthy and his Arrow Cross, the first fascist government in Europe.

Of the nine, seven made their homes in america and two in england. In England would 'settle' Alexander Korda who was considered the 'only' British film mogul (producer of "The Third Man") who was later knighted. Also Arthur Koestler, ex-communist who would write the Stalin scathing novel "Darkness at Noon" which first brought to light the Gulag and the terror of Communism.

Four of the scientist who came to america ended up the major forces behind the 'Manhattan Project', the H-Bomb (and later design the 'Strategic Defense Initiative') and the first true computer "Eniac". Two others are responsible for many of the most famous photographs ever published (Robert Capa was known as 'the World's Greater War Photo- journalist') in Look, Life and Home & Gardens. The last man, Michael Curtiz, created the look and feel of three of the most famous american movies, "Mildred Pierce" "Yankee Doodle Dandy" and what many consider the greatest (romantic) movie ever made "Casablanca". It was Curtiz who fought with Jack Warner (and won) the battle to use Bogart and Bergman, instead of George Raft and Bette Davis.

At the end, Kati Marton (whose own family escaped from Hungary in 1956 following the abortive revolution), does a phenomenal job of bringing these nine mens lives to life. Her ending snippets about Andrew Grove (of Intel) and George Soros (who gives new meaning to the word Philanthropist) are worth the price of the book alone.

Hungarians love their salami and their Magyars.......2007-03-26

Every anti-semitic Hungarian needs to read this book.

OK, but..........2007-03-20

I found this book quite interesting although not very well written. I am also less than happy with some of choices made by the author - why these nine are featured when some of them (A. Korda, for example) are not in the same league of significance as others. Why were others ignored?
But that was all well until I read that E. Wigner never returned to Hungary late in his life and was never honored there officially. I met Wigner in Budapest in the late seventies on one of his several trips to Hungary and I know that he received numerous acknowledgments there. Among others, he was elected an Honorary Member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. So I wonder, what else is inaccurate in the book?

Budapest's loss is the world's gain..........2007-03-12

Ms Marton is a wonderful writer and her subject matter is close to her heart as she is a transplanted Hungarian, like the subjects of her fascinating tale: "The Great Escape". Marton has focused on nine Hungarians,scientists, film makers and photographers, who fled their homeland because of the country's intolerance to their religion. To a man they went on to make their mark in their respective fields the common thread besides their birthplace, was their everlasting affection for Budapest as one of the subjects stated "Everything I am is because of my experience growing up in Budapest". A very fine read, as a result of the book, I have been looking into travelling to this fabled city .

A worthy book.......2007-01-24

This book is pretty easy to recommend; it's well-written and interesting. Suffice to say, the nine men whose lives are detailed herein all contributed greatly to their various fields and had a substantial impact on humanity. Marton does a particularly good job of conveying some sense of the amazingly vibrant pre-WWII atmosphere of Budapest without stepping too far away from the lives of the subjects of the book. One thing worth noting is that these nine men were not particularly Jewish in the religious sense of the term. In fact, Marton provides the reader with enough information to discern that most of these men saw themselves primarily as Hungarian; the attachment of her subjects to the power and beauty of the Hungarian language is one of the more steadfast themes of the book. Of course, the intelligence, drive and ambition of these men only makes their demonization by anti-Semites even more absurd and incomprehensible, if such a thing is possible.

My only complaint about the book is that as a beginning Hungarian student, the publisher (or someone) elected not to employ accent marks on any of the Hungarian names and terms. Because Hungarian is very phonetic, these accents are not easy to discard without changing meanings, sound and sense of these words, confounding those of us trying to memorize where they properly go!

Towards the end of the book, Marton briefly (but tantalizingly) mentions other Hungarian expatriates, such as Andy Grove, the founder of Intel, and billionaire businessman / philanthropist George Soros. While the new world success of these men mirrors that of their predecessors, their attitudes seem somewhat different. A book delving into these men's lives and activities with the same approach Marton made in "The Great Escape" would be most welcome.

Average customer rating:

Excellent
very confusing "organization"
Travel with Eyewitness
DK EYEWITNESS HISTORY AND TRAVEL GUIDE OF BUDAPEST.
Budapest Travel Guide

Budapest (Eyewitness Travel Guides)
DK Publishing
Manufacturer: DK Travel
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Binding: Turtleback

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ASIN: 0756624355

Book Description

Includes: The Castle District, Gellert Hill and Taban, areas North of the Castle, Parliament, Central Pest, and around Varosliget.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent.......2007-05-16

Like all the Eyewitness Travel Guides this one is excellent.
Filled with maps,glorious pictures,practical information,historical background, and great tips as to what-to-do and what-to see; it is a complete guide to the fascinating and beautiul cities of Buda and Pest. I would never travel to new cities without taking along one of these well researched and well written/edited guides.

very confusing "organization".......2007-04-26

Perhaps it was our mistake of thinking "one" tour book would meet our needs, but this book didn't cut it for us. It was very difficult to get the 'full scoop' on any one attraction/event because each one was listed in several different places (cross-referenced) in the book and you had to read all the entries and try to piece together the information (like how much it might cost, when it might be open, how to get there), and often the information was conflicting. Despite being 'revised' in 2007, we found several errors in days and times the attractions were open, and getting to a location by tram or bus was a disaster b/c the book failed to tell you 'where' to get off to find the attraction. Also, no pricing info was included so you had no idea how much to plan for. Good luck finding some of the places just outside Budapest, as no info was given for these places of interest either. Budapest isn't exactly a city which thrives on or caters to tourists (English and German didn't get us very far), so a little more help from the tourbook would've been useful. The pictures were nice so that could recognize something once you finally found it, but we will not be lured in by glossy pictures for our next trip. We live in Europe and have been able to travel using other tour books; this will be our last DK experience.

Travel with Eyewitness .......2006-07-15

The Eyewitness Travel Guides are easy to use and essential for anyone who enjoys getting to know a place on foot. Cities are divided into Districts and then Street by Street. Maps and all essential information is included.

DK EYEWITNESS HISTORY AND TRAVEL GUIDE OF BUDAPEST........2006-05-28

QUICK INFORMATION:

The DK Eyewitness travel guide is firstly what it says it is - A Guide. It is there to help you with advice to resource you with useful information for your forth-coming travels. These travelling guides I found offer visitors a detailed guide for today.

This guide I would suggest are for the following - if you are combining a holiday with a spot of sightseeing, require a history element, maybe taking off and having your own little adventure, wish to par take in travelling in your own style by rented car, train or by bus this is the guide for you. Although this guidebook would work for backpackers travelling in just Budapest for it's history and information this does not work for people travelling off the beaten track. Backpackers may require a bit more in-depth information for example hostels are not listed.

Second quick checkpoint when purchasing an edition of this book, please check that you have the most recent and up to date version. A necessary factor of any travel guide is to require the latest information most editions of these books are usually updated yearly. Unfortunately the DK Edition for Budapest was last updated 2004 the next edition update will not be till 2007. After my own investigation I found that most all book editions on Budapest were only updated every three years. I also studied this book against two other books on Budapest, The Rough Guide and The Lonely Planet but still found this guide to be the more interesting and informative guide for Budapest alone. I feel I should also mention The Top 10 Budapest guide by DK Eyewitness travel guide was released in the UK February 2006 but this 2004 guide still gave you what you need to know already. Therefore I am deducting one star simply because there are a few errors in this book due to a few name changes that have taken place in recent years and it could also do with a fresh map update. Overall these changes were very slight and to most tourists it would not be that noticeable therefore this will leave most people unaffected. Although I have stated these points I still very much feel this book is more than sufficient for all travelling to Budapest.

RECAP BRIEF HISTORY:

Following World War I, the Monarchy fell and Hungary lost two thirds of it territory; During WWII they made an attempt to regain it back by showing their support for Germany. However Budapest was taken by Russian troops in 1945. Under the Subsequent Communist rule, the popular uprising of 1956 was ruthlessly suppressed by Soviet tanks but it was enough to initiate a crisis that shook the regime. Free elections took place in 1990 resulting in a victory for the Hungarian Democratic Forum, Communist rule was over.

BOOK OVERVIEW:

This book is extremely well planned and laid out, even showing you how to use this book guide. The City of Budapest is divided into two Buda and Pest. This intersection is provided cleanly by the Danube River. Buda would be the old Section of the town. Areas of Buda and Pest are all identified and nicely colour coded, It covers in each section History, Art Galleries, Architecture, Spas, Churches and Synagogues, Restaurants, Cafes, Monuments, Palaces, Music, Culture, Markets and great days out. It starts with an introduction to Budapest through the year, followed by an understanding of Buda and Pest area by area. It comes with a survival guide of practical information for each area shown, supplied with a map and street finder.

Each section of this book has then been broken down; sections and chapters with surrounding areas for the following, Castle District, Gellert Hill and Taban, North of the Castle District, Around Parliament, Central Pest, Around Varosliget, Further Afield including excursions. An area of Budapest has being mapped out and numbered for the items of tourist interest, where to go, location, places to see or an object being described with a picture. It also shows interior and exterior of buildings with photographs and illustrated design. It's not just reading its showing you. As in all these DK travel books it has a visitors checklist which I think is a great idea giving you information such as opening and closing times of shops.

Clear Information on Chemists/pharmacy/hospitals can be found in the Survival Guide section an importance in any country, also many tips on being safe. Information on all places range, more pages are written depending on history, sights and things to do. For the not so in-depth sections I always reverted back to my bigger source when travelling around word of mouth, Finding out information from Hotels, fellow holiday makers, the locals. Road maps, motorways are all shown and guided with direction. Once again driving in any city can be tricky and Budapest is no different to any other, the authorities are very hot on wheel clamping so always check where you park, traffic can be mostly grid locked during rush hours.

A Travel section will help you with best places to pick up car rental, train, buses also airport locations. Guidebooks in general do not list prices because they frequently change; some will only estimate how much, but many handy websites can be found from key words so you yourself can go direct to information.

The Travellers needs section, hotels, restaurants, where to locate food and wine; the expensive and inexpensive. Shopping comes with a directory also where the markets are and what time of year you can pick up a bargain. It tells you how to book and obtain tickets for day/nightly entertainment. As always in any city be vigilant keep those wallets/purses in a safe place.

Lastly the phase page please give it a go, Anywhere I travel I always give the language a whirl it's always appreciated unfortunately for myself it was not smooth sailing mainly due to my mispronunciations but maybe you might fair better.

MY TIPS:

Read this book in advance before travelling; use this book with the internet. A web site that I found most useful before travelling was the Official website of the tourism office of Budapest, type these words into the web and it will come up. This site gives general information on sights you wish to see and dates of special programmes events on entertainment for Theatre, Opera, Ballet, Plays, Musical Festivals indoors and out depending on which month, go to the Calendar of Events, Open Air Summer Festival a range of all events will be listed just click into the event you wish to see and information will be given. Not to be missed the Hungarian National Art Gallery Collection that date from medieval times to the 20th Century shown in the Royal Palace.

For Hotels or other lodgings this book supplies you with information but just go one step further, look up the trip advisor website, it gives you a personal review from people who have stayed at certain hotels listed from this book, management of these establishments sometimes respond on the site if a complaint is made. It gives real insight. For backpackers, hostels are not given a mention in this book but the Marco Polo is the most well known for its location (Type Marco Polo Budapest a website is shown).

Budapest possesses a rich and fascinating history as well as a vibrant cultural heritage. Recognizing the unique value of its traditions it has managed to maintain its magic and charm and is rightly known as the queen of the Danube. It's also been called the city of Spas as there are a dozen thermal baths complexes severed by over a hundred natural thermal springs.

This book I found to be a wonderful source of information, the history element is my keen interest. These books come highly recommend from myself. Good Luck, stay sharp in any city, have a fantastic time.

A.Bowhill

Budapest Travel Guide.......2006-03-10

I have been using Eyewitness Travel Guides for 8 years now, and find them to be one of the best organized and most helpful travel guides available. Information is organized into logical categories, making any essential information one wants easy to find. Numerous color photographs are especially welcome. I find the walking routes that combine visual and verbal cues extremely helpful, easy to follow, and very much appreciated. Good preparation for a visit enhances one's enjoyment; this guide helps one prepare thoroughly.

Vienna Prague Budapest (Country & Regional Guides - Cadogan)

Average customer rating:

Vienna Prague Budapest
A Useful Guide

Vienna Prague Budapest (Country & Regional Guides - Cadogan)
Mary-Ann Gallagher , Sadakat Kadri , and Matthew Gardner
Manufacturer: Cadogan Guides
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1860111874

Book Description

Forget the usual city breaks to Paris, Rome, and Barcelona and explore these European gems with the help of Cadogan's unique three-city guide.

Customer Reviews:

Vienna Prague Budapest.......2006-11-10

An excellent comprehensive description of major sights in these cities that is still brief enough that one can easily remember the highlights. The book is also light enough that one does not mind carrying it.

A Useful Guide.......2006-11-04

I just returned from the Prague, Vienna, and Budapest experience and do not know what I would have done if it wasn't for this handy guide. This guide contains city maps, metro station maps, descriptions of attractions and transportation. Additionally, the restaurant review list was very complete, including recommendations for vegetarian eating. If you are planning on making the trip, I highly recommend this guide.

Average customer rating:

Can't track a trip on one page.
Lost with a map?
Budapest Map
Budapest map
Good but...

Streetwise Budapest (Streetwise)
Streetwise Maps
Manufacturer: Streetwise Maps
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Map

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ASIN: 1886705224

Book Description

STREETWISE(r) BUDAPEST
Revised yearly, STREETWISE(r) is the best-selling map of BUDAPEST, with coverage from Muszaki Egyetem (Technical University) to Vasarely Muzeum. Localities covered are Mattias Templom, Lukacs Baths, and the Olympiai Csarnok. Points of interest such as museums, hotels, parks, and popular sites are highlighted and fully indexed. The Budapest Metro is clearly indicated on a map inset. Laminated for durability, accordion folded to fit in your pocket or purse, STREETWISE(r) gives you BUDAPEST in a clear, concise, and convenient format.

Customer Reviews:

Can't track a trip on one page........2007-06-27

The problem with this map is that in trying to be so small it limits its usefulness. You can't track a whole trip on one page, or easily find a street by name. I should have learned my lesson about these Streetwise maps by now.

Lost with a map?.......2007-06-14

I purchased this map for a friend that was visiting Budapest this summer. I was fairly disapointed to find that it was only the map along the river and missed out of the major atractions in Budapest. Where's the castle, Heros square, Parliment, or the historic bath house spas.
The delivery was fast and efficient. I had very high expectations having just visited Budapest with a Hugarian guide to show the hot spots.

Budapest Map.......2007-02-18

An excellent map - easy to read and to fold. Highly recommended.

Budapest map.......2007-02-07

The map is nice but does not cover the entire city. If you are serious about traveling in Hungary, you probably need to go to Europe to get a good enough map. This isn't it. I wrote them asking if they had a better map and they didn't even answer.

Good but..........2006-12-25

It's a good map but considering that most people will take public transport and see the well marked general tourist atractions, you don't really need it. It gets two stars as it's a good map but not really required for a trip to Budapest.

Average customer rating:

waste of time
tedious and awful
Tedious and self-indulgent
Defining neverland
Just the right touch when in Budapest

Prague: A Novel
Arthur Phillips
Manufacturer: Random House Trade Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Budapest: A Novel

ASIN: 0375759778
Release Date: 2003-06-10

Amazon.com

In Prague, Arthur Phillips's sparkling, Kundera-flavored debut, five young Americans converge in Budapest in the early 1990s. Most are there by chance, like businessman Charles Gabor, whose parents were Hungarian. But one of them, John Price, has the more novelistic motivation of lost love. He is following his older brother, Scott, intent on achieving an intimacy that Scott, a language teacher and health enthusiast, is just as intently trying to escape. The romantic hero of this unsentimental novel, John Price lives like an expatriate of the 1920s. He longs for experience (and more or less stumbles into a writing job for an English language paper), but even more so for the great, obliterating love that takes the form of the perky assistant Emily Oliver. Mark Payton, a scholar of nostalgia whose insights are touched with mysticism, seems often to speak for the author, even in his barely repressed desire for John Price. For who would not love the good and unaffected, in the confusion, opportunism, and irony that characterize fin-de-siècle Europe? Phillips's five seekers are like mirrors that reflect Budapest at different angles, and that imperfectly--but wonderfully--point toward the unattainable city: the glittering, distant Prague. --Regina Marler

Book Description

A novel of startling scope and ambition, Prague depicts an intentionally lost Lost Generation as it follows five American expats who come to Budapest in the early 1990s to seek their fortune. They harbor the vague suspicion that their counterparts in Prague have it better, but still they hope to find adventure, inspiration, a gold rush, or history in the making.

Download Description

A first novel of startling scope and ambition, Prague depicts an intentionally lost Lost Generation as it follows five American expats who come to Budapest in the early 1990s to seek their fortune -- financial, romantic, and spiritual -- in an exotic city newly opened to the West. They harbor the vague suspicion that their counterparts in Prague, where the atmospheric decay of post-Cold War Europe is even more cinematically perfect, have it better. Still, they hope to find adventure, inspiration, a gold rush, or history in the making. What they actually find is a deceptively beautiful place that they often fail to understand.

What does it mean to fret about your fledgling career when the man across the table was tortured by two different regimes? How does your short, uneventful life compare to the lives of those who actually resisted, fought, and died? What does your angst mean in a city still pocked with bullet holes from war and crushed rebellion?

Journalist John Price finds these questions impossible to answer yet impossible to avoid, though he tries to forget them in the din of Budapest's nightclubs, in a romance with a secretive young diplomat, at the table of an elderly cocktail pianist, and in the moody company of a young man obsessed with nostalgia. Arriving in Budapest one spring day to pursue his elusive brother, John finds himself pursuing something else entirely, something he can't quite put a name to, something that will draw him into stories much larger than himself.

With humor, intelligence, masterly prose, and profound affection for both Budapest and his own characters, Arthur Phillips not only captures his contemporaries but also brilliantly renders the Hungary of past and present: the generations of failed revolutionaries and lyric poets, opportunists and profiteers, heroes and storytellers.

"Dazzling... brilliant... the most memorable fiction debut of the year."
   PUBLISHERS WEEKLY (starred review)

"Arthur Phillips's bold and ambitious novel, Prague, is one of those rare books that help define and identify a whole generation, in the same way that Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises introduced his lost generation."
   PAT CONROY, AUTHOR OF THE PRINCE OF TIDES

"In Prague, Arthur Phillips spins the Jazz Age novel. His expatriate Americans have settled in Budapest rather than Paris, and instead of champagne and ragtime, they outfit themselves with Gauloises, paprika-dusted sandwiches, punk rock, and post-Cold War irony. But their passion -- to know America and to shrug it off -- is timelessly literary. A hip-hop remix of Fitzgerald and Hemingway, a meditation on a generation, a polemic, a love story, a new branch of sociology, Prague tries to do it all and succeeds."
   PAGAN KENNEDY, AUTHOR OF BLACK LIVINGSTONE

"An intricate and wordly-wise novel, with sly and acute perceptions on every page, Prague sets itself the challenge of extending the tradition of brainy Central European fiction from an American perspective, and succeeds handily."
   PHILLIP LOPATE, AUTHOR OF PORTRAIT OF MY BODY

"Phillips's exhilarating exploration of time, memory, and nostalgia brings to mind such giants as Proust and Joyce."
   LIBRARY JOURNAL

Customer Reviews:

waste of time.......2007-05-01

It took me a year to read this book and I am 50 pages shy of finishing it and still not understand why it's called Prague when the action is in Budapest. At times it was the description of the city (Budapest) that kept me turning the pages, especially that I visited Prague and Budapest long time ago and the book brought back nice memories. Other than this and occasional wonderful and witty phrases, the action gets boring, the characters got mixed up in my head (especially after pauses in reading), everything is so lax....

tedious and awful.......2007-01-31

i hated reading this book:

(1) the language is pretentiouly self conscious and awkward, in short it is poorly written.

(2)the characters are unidimensional caricatures and uninteresting.

(3)it really has no insights or anything interesting to say

do not waste your time or money

Tedious and self-indulgent.......2006-09-21

First I should say that this book makes a decent backdrop if you're spending some time in Budapest - the descriptions of the city and its people are sharp, witty and perhaps even accurate. Soon enough, you'll start recognizing not only the famous sights, but will start seeing the book's characters in the inhabitants.

Alas, altough the book gets off to a good start, and you develop a faint interest in its characters, it gets tedious, self-indulgent, and just boring. There's a wonderful page-turner of a history chapter in the middle, but it's all downhill from there. By the end, I lost interest in all of the characters, their endless rondezvous, contrived conversations, silly dealings... I lost my suspension in disbelief and just wanted the book to end. It should have ended about 100 pages sooner. But I persisted until the end, with little reward.

Arthur Phillips is clearly a talented writer, but this book seems somewhat immature, forced, and conceited. And I hope the editing is more aggressive next time around.

And really, I wanted to like the book. I really tried... But I can't really recommend it beyond the first half.

Defining neverland.......2006-09-10

I have read so many great reviews of this book in papers, magazines, on line reviews. My expectations were very high by the time I was ready to pick up this book and start reading it. Not all of my expectations have been met. At the moments book does seem disjointed in its flashbacks from the past. However, it the author does capture a disconnect between two worlds - Eastern Europe and North America. No matter how hard both sides seem to want to assimilate, cooperate and coexist, they are too disparigingly apart to ever be able to meet in the middle. It is not exactly a failure of sorts but rather a mutual disappointment that connects them all. And at the end that is the only delight. Knowing that there is no end to it and trying, trying and trying again is the only way to pursue that idealistic dream. Perhards in century or two these things can eventually coexist. But until then we need to determine for ourselves if we should feel sorry for these characters, admire them for being so bold in their humble attempt to conquer the world or just plain forget aboout them as quickly as possible.

Just the right touch when in Budapest.......2006-07-06

I usually try to read novels about places we have seen or will soon travel to, and I'm always looking for ways to write better descriptions of places in my own novels (please see my new New York City based legal thriller, A Good Conviction, and my historical novel The Heretic (Library of American Fiction) set in 15th century Spain. The settings presented in Prague described aspects of Budapest beautifully and enhanced our trip greatly.

Prague is the story of five ex-patriots living in Budapest in 1990, just after Hungary became an independent nation. It is very self-consciously written, and is best read slowly and savored.

I'm not usually interested in the exploits of spoiled twenty-somethings, but the characters become interesting and are well developed. The caring descriptions of the streets, bridges, coffee houses and nightclubs of Budapest added just the right touch to our first few days as visitors in the city.

There is a long section, which, as a writer of historical fiction myself, I particularly enjoyed, tracing the last few hundred years of Budapest's history through the ups and downs of a fictional publishing house. The only caveat is that the author says, in his notes at the end of the book, that it would be foolish to take his novel as accurate history. However, I also read several histories in preparation for our trip, and I think he's got it quite right enough.

Good reading for anyone planning a trip to Budapest.

Lonely Planet Best of Budapest (Lonely Planet Best Of Series)

Average customer rating:

Great Pocket Guide
Excellent Literate Guide
A real disappointment
Vaguely useful
lacking

Lonely Planet Best of Budapest (Lonely Planet Best Of Series)
Steve Fallon
Manufacturer: Lonely Planet Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1741791219

Book Description

More cosmopolitan than Prague, more exciting than Warsaw and more beautiful than both, Budapest is one of Europe's most romantic cities.

From Turkish-era therman baths to pumping late-night clubs, from enchanting fin-de-siecle streetscapes to chic wine bars and restaurants - Best of Budapest will you to the finest the city has to offer.

--FULL COLOR FOLD-OUT MAPS make navigation easy.
--DON'T MISS A THING with our recommended highlights and coverage of all your sightseeing options.
--GO BEYOND GOULASH - insider tips for exploring Budapest's modern and varied cuisine scene.
--DETAILED WALKING TOURS take you off the beaten track to the city's hidden corners.
--STAY IN STYLE - only the best-value hostels, the most charming guesthouses and deluxe hotels worth every point of their five stars.

Customer Reviews:

Great Pocket Guide.......2007-05-12

This slim volume contains pretty much all you need for a short trip to Budapest. There are plenty of maps, albeit very small. The highlights section is nice as well as the photographs and suggestions for walking tours. A great little carry along.

Excellent Literate Guide.......2006-07-20

I travel extensively and, after long experience, I find the Lonely Planet guides the best, so I now buy them automatically and am never disappointed. Still, they do vary in quality. The Budapest guide, however, is among the best.

I appreciate how well this guide is written. The introduction, which sets the tone for the book, is literate and is good writing, as writing. The history chapter, not too long, but also not too superficial for this type of book, gave me an insight into Hungary that I found invaluable in enjoying my five-day visit to Budapest. Although the edition is several years old (I think a new one is about to come out), it was amazingly up-to-date and accurate. I followed several of the walking tours in the guide, and they were all well thought out and enjoyable, with a great deal of relevant information about the sights I saw.

In short, this is about as good as a general travel guide gets.

A real disappointment.......2005-03-27

It seems like the Lonely Planet travel books are really hit and miss. Some are really great while others, like this Budapest guide, seem like little work was put into them. The sections titled Facts About Budapest, Places to Stay, Places to Eat, and Entertainment are pretty good (though still not as detailed as they might be), but I was disappointed with what I consider the most important section, Things to See and Do. For a city as big as Budapest it seemed like scant few pages were devoted to this subject. I also wish more photos were included, because it's hard to know whether something is worth going to see if you have no idea what it looks like beforehand.

Vaguely useful.......2004-08-10

We did a thorough comparison of the Budapest Guide and the Budapest section of Lonely Planet's Hungary Guide. The extra information provided in the Budapest book was (for the most part) simply more detail about the material already reported in the nationwide guide. It was more conversational, more spread out, yet with no genuine added content. Reviews of eateries and lodgings were no more in-depth and only slightly greater in number. Take a pass on this one. Lonely Planet's Hungary Guide is roughly just as useful in Budapest, and has the added advantage of telling you about so much in this fascinating country that's outside the standard tourist line.

lacking.......2004-03-19

The restaurant descriptions seemed very vague and generally unhelpful. I think that the maps could be organized better, so that they would be easier to use.

The description of the Metro did not adequately describe the different types of tickets and where and when they are valid. I found out at the end of our trip that tickets are cheaper (admittedly, only a bit) when bought from a ticket window rather than a ticket machine. And by the time I left, even after searching two guidebooks, I still wasn't always sure which type of ticket I needed for a given journey.

Frommer's Budapest & the Best of Hungary (Frommer's Complete)
Average customer rating:

Where's the pictures and maps? Have they even been to Budapest?

Good Guide

Frommer's Budapest Review

Great help!

Frommer's Budapest and the Bes of Hungary

Frommer's Budapest & the Best of Hungary (Frommer's Complete)
Andrew Princz , Carolyn Býýnfalvi , Anna Kutor , and Nýýra Lakos
Manufacturer: Frommer's
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Europe | Travel | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0471778192

Book Description

Frommer's Budapest & the Best of Hungary, 6th Edition has all the practical details and candid advice you need to plan a successful trip. This book has been completely updated to give you the best places to stay and dine, from historic hotels to intimate guesthouses and from grand cafes to atmospheric taverns and pubs. Explore the city's highlights on detailed walking tours and learn about the gorgeous architecture of both the city's famous buildings and hidden treasures. And of course, we've got all the details on Budapest's exciting nightlife, its vibrant arts scene, and its fabulous thermal baths and spas.

Then explore the best of the Hungarian countryside, where you'll discover sunburnt hillside vineyards and deep verdant valleys, lush cherry orchards, the riverside towns along the Danube Bend, the famous caves in Aggletek, and the shores of Lake Balaton. Our book puts it all at your fingertips, with a handy glossary of Hungarian phrases and detailed color maps.

Download Description

You'll never fall into the tourist traps when you travel with Frommer's. It's like having a friend show you around, taking you to the places locals like best. Our expert authors have already gone everywhere you might go--they've done the legwork for you, and they're not afraid to tell it like it is, saving you time and money. No other series offers candid reviews of so many hotels and restaurants in all price ranges. Every Frommer's Travel Guide is up-to-date, with exact prices for everything, dozens of color maps, and exciting coverage of sports, shopping, and nightlife. You'd be lost without us!

Budapest, awakened in 1989 after its long slumber behind the Iron Curtain, is one of Europe's hottest destinations. It stands proudly at the center of Eastern Europe's cultural rebirth, and best of all, it still ranks as one of the continent's best bargains. Frommer's Budapest & the Best of Hungary has all the practical details and candid advice you need to plan a successful trip. We've reviewed the very best places to stay and dine, from historic hotels to intimate guesthouses, from grand cafes to atmospheric taverns and pubs. With Frommer's in hand, it's easy to explore the all the city's highlights; our detailed walking tours will introduce you to a wealth of gorgeous architecture and show you the hidden treasures of the city. And of course, we've got all the details on Budapest's exciting nightlife, its vibrant arts scene, and its fabulous thermal baths and spas.

Then we'll take you to explore the best of the Hungarian countryside, where you'll discover sunburnt hillside vineyards and deep verdant valleys, lush cherry orchards, the lovely riverside towns along the Danube Bend, the famous caves in Aggletek, and the shores of Lake Balaton. Frommer's puts it all at your fingertips, with a handy glossary of Hungarian phrases and detailed color maps.

Customer Reviews:

Where's the pictures and maps? Have they even been to Budapest?.......2007-06-14

Disapointment is the only word I have for all Budapest travel guides that I have purchased. I am anger at Fromer's inconsistency. I purchased a Venice book that had great maps, etc... This book was boring. No thrills.
Go to Budapest and re-write this book. Try a map or 2.

Good Guide.......2007-01-09

This seems extremely helpful (though I haven't taken the trip yet, so won't be sure for another couple of months). It has made planning my days in Budapest much easier and given me some insight into what to expect culturally.

Frommer's Budapest Review.......2006-11-09

Very helpful, I don't think we would have been able to get around Budapest without it! We also went to a couple of the restaurants that were recommended, and we were quite pleased with those as well. The maps were all very useful as well.

Great help!.......2006-08-27

We bought both this and the Lonely Planet guide for our trip to Budapest and lived by this book! I think the Lonely Planet guide is more for students backpacking across Europe, this is for the traveler not interested in only spending $20/day in Budapest. The recommendations were top notch, with the top attractions listed actually living up to the billing. All the restaurant reviews were dead-on, we ate at mostly reviewed restaurants and never had a bad meal. It felt like everyone in Budapest spoke English, so you really don't need a Hungarian dictionary, but it would be helpful if the back of the book had a slightly larger translation listing of foods, some important words like "liver" aren't included and can be a shock, especially in a pastry!

Frommer's Budapest and the Bes of Hungary.......2006-08-26

I am looking forward to visiting places that have been described in the book. This is our first trip to Budapest.

The Magic Lantern: The Revolution of '89 Witnessed in Warsaw, Budapest, Berlin, and Prague

Average customer rating:

An inside account of the revolutions of '89
Solid read from an insider's perspective
Very Informative
Before the Fall:
A wonderful book

The Magic Lantern: The Revolution of '89 Witnessed in Warsaw, Budapest, Berlin, and Prague
Timothy Garton Ash
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Eastern | Europe | History | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0679740481
Release Date: 1993-08-31

Customer Reviews:

An inside account of the revolutions of '89.......2007-01-06

An often eye-witness account of the democratic revolutions of 1989 in Poland, Hungary, East Germany and Czechoslovakia.

The writing is a little uneven but it provides an excellent inside account of historic events. Ash left me with a very strong sense of the contingent and uncertain nature of the revolutions. Miscommunications, errors, spur-of-the-moment statements, all combined to move events forward much, much more quickly than any of the participants had expected.

Yet they succeeded in being peaceful revolutions, driven by a deliberate choice by their leaders to take and hold the moral high ground. With a corresponding inner collapse by the existing authorities, who really had nothing to which they themselves were committed or could fight to defend.

I found this a welcome tonic after reading Richard Evans' "The Third Reich in Power". Ash left me feeling much more optimistic about human nature!

Solid read from an insider's perspective.......2006-08-01

A good snapshot of the mood during 1989 and how events in the four featured countries were connected. Also, thoughtful insights as to how to view this book, especially this edition, which is re-printed many years later. Ash's theory as to what, if any, learnings are to come out of how each government went about their transformation is especially relevant given the status of those same governments today. Not always the easiest read, nor the best on the subject, but a good companion for further investigations.

Very Informative.......2006-05-20

It was a very informative book, especially considering the author could write it from the point of view that he did. The only major downside, which I will point out is a downside on my part and not his, is that I sometimes would get a little confused when he mentioned too many foreign names.
Nonetheless, it was an excellently written book.

Before the Fall:.......2006-05-08

Eberhart - 1

Before the Fall:

A critical analysis of The Magic Lantern a book by Timothy Garton Ash

By: David C. Eberhart II

The Magic Lantern is a based on the events leading up to the fall of the soviet empire as

experienced from a first hand point of view. The title of the book is taken from a theater in Prague

called "the magic Lantern". This was where the reformers and revolutionaries came together to rid

themselves of the communist regime and to start anew. This is a common theme in this book. That

theme being one n which the reformers and the revolutionists work together with the communists of

old to recreate the old soviet satellite countries. According to Ash this "refolution" (p.14) worked

very well since the powers that be wanted to reform the system from above and the lay people wanted

to reform the system from below. As such changes of power were expected and reform was

implemented. However in each case; Hungary, Prague, Warsaw, and East Germany the unexpected

often cropped up. But the people and the communists worked together to over come these issues. In

effect this refolution and compromise brought about the end of the communist empire and ushered in

a new dawn of free market capitalism.

The book is divided into seven easily read chapters. But the meat and potatoes of the book is

written in the four chapters devoted to the Eastern European states held by the dominant soviet

oppressors. The language is often harsh but one must realize that this book was written shortly after

the communists were removed from power. The old hatreds are still fresh and this hatred is subtly

woven into the chapters. This is done by blaming the communists for most of the problems with the

economy, the stifling of innovation, and the backwardness of these areas. The most obvious of these

references is in the chapter on Berlin. Wall sickness (P. 65) was the name given to the general

malaise of the east Berliners. The fact that they were walled in depressed them and reduced the

Eberhart - 2

people to shadows. Once the wall is removed the people are instantly transformed into glorious

people.

The transformation of an oppressed and tired people into a glorious and productive people is

another common thread in the book. As if by magic the problems of the people disappear when the

communists are no longer in power. This is an odd facet of the book. Since the book also states that

the communists were always in power, even when they were not officially in power. The people may

have voted the communists out but the communists often controlled the military, the police, and the

economy. As such the reformers, the revolutionaries, and the communist party had to swallow their

pride, make compromises, and work together.

It was the right time to do this. Communist Russia was falling apart. Relations between Russia

and the U.S.A. had grown friendly and the Russians could not afford to toe the hard line between it's

satellite nations and mother Russia. So dialogue and compromise was often used to smooth the way

between the satellites and Russia. But this meant that Russia gave up it's last ace in the whole. That

being the truth. Instead of covering up and hiding the truth, the communists came clean. This mean

that when the communists lost the first free election in Warsaw they did not try and cover it up.

Instead they admitted defeat, validated the new government, and tried to work things out to the best

of everyone's ability. This might not seam so shocking today but in the later part of the 1980's any

compromise with the Communists was unthinkable. Especially when it was the Communists who

helped make the first moves towards openness.

To complicate matters as Russia and the Soviet Empire was evolving China was on the offensive.

When student demonstrators protested the Communists in Tiananmen Square the Chinese

Communist Party reacted with violence. Tanks, tear gas, bullets, and the combined might of the

Chinese army ruthlessly crushed this act of defiance. This was terrifying. For the most part the

Eberhart - 3

Chinese were viewed as the lesser of the two communists evils. Between Russia and the Chinese the

Chinese were viewed as the nice guys. If China was this desperate and ruthless in keeping control of

her empire then the question remained. Would Russia react in the same manner? OR would it be

worse? No one thought that Russia and the Soviet Empire would use dialogue and peaceful means to

restore order among the Soviet Union.

Instead of controlled markets the people wanted free markets. The Soviet Union was fragmenting

and instead of giving up power completely the party decided to work with the leaders of the

revolution and the reformers to create a new era of "good will" between Russia and her former

Satellites. After all with the economies of Eastern Europe heavily recessed who else was going to

trade with them but the former Empire.

However Mr. Ash tends to view things from the reformers side and not the Communists. Instead

of seeing how the Communists opened up and worked with the revolutionaries Mr. Ash instead tells

us that it was the revolutionaries and reformers who forced the Communists open. Ash , our author

and self proclaimed hero, takes the moral high ground in his writings and admits that he is on the side

of the revolutionaries. He admits his bias to sway the reader into his form of objectivity. But he is

not objective. Indeed he states very early in his writings that, "I cannot emphasize too strongly that

this is not a comprehensive history of the events of 1989 in Eastern Europe" (P. 20). By stating that

he does not have the entire history written here in his book he tries to trick you into accepting his

form of reality. After all the history of this time period, and specifically the year 1989 had a lot going

on but by only presenting one side and a very small side of this temporal period we are flooded with

his bias. By omission he taints what he writes faster than if he was more vocal on the subject. By

remaining silent he subtly influences the reader to side with him.

The problems with Mr. Ash is his optimism. He tends to play down the violence, the pain, the

Eberhart - 4

tears, and the awful fear that the Eastern Europeans felt under the Communists. Instead of trying to

focus the reader on the dread of the time Mr Ash gets you to focus on the positive. Things might

have been very bad but the was under the Communists. The image of hope, unity, and brotherhood is

stated in bright optimism. Perhaps this is how the people actually felt. After decades under the

Communists perhaps this is the breath of fresh air everyone wanted. But Mr. Ash contradicts his own

optimism in the Chapter on the Warsaw election. "My own . . . suggested that the main reason was a

deep tiredness and disbelief in the capacity of any political force." (P.31) So the elation Mr. Ash tries

to convey may have been his own optimism or perhaps he was picking up on the promises the

reformers felt but this optimism was probably not felt by the majority of people. Change is difficult

for anyone and instead of wanting a complete revolution most people just wanted things to get better.

The people got more than they bargained for when Communist Russia decided to give in to the

people's demands.

Even with Mr. Ash's cheery optimism one has to wonder if this man is truly qualified to report on

the events that are conspiring. All to often the reader gets the impression that Mr. Ash is like Forest

Gump. That being a man who is always in the right place at the right time and looked at for advice.

If he was a mover and shaker in the politics that transpired than his reporting of events is tainted.

Since he states that he used television, personal observations, and even telephone conversations to

reconstruct the events leading up to the events in the book one has to ask if the author is just making

his observations up. The majority of notes, telephone conversations, and meetings have nothing

documented to check upon. So it is the word of the author against the rest of the historical

community.

Most people have gone into a bar or spent time with a survivor from a great event. Whether it be

a war or a natural disaster. The common line most people use is "No Shi@#$%T their I was . . . "

Eberhart - 5

These stories are often colourful but based only slightly in fact. The mind can play tricks on your

memories of the situation and in the immortal words of Patrick Warburton, "Stories are not made up.

Instead they are made "Good". The idea being that a boring story or one that is uninteresting is

embellished to make it more palatable to the reader. This is obviously what has happened here in the

magic lantern.

Although an amusing read the book is not a reliable work for historical research. To much of this

book is based on faith instead of hard historical evidence. It is almost as if the writing style of the

author mirrors the movement of Solidarity. After all these brave men and women placed much on

faith and ignored the brutal history of the Communists party. Whether this was done on purpose or

if it was a side effect of living with these refolutionaries does not matter. What matters to the

historian is the ability to track the primary documents that this author's work is based on. Since these

primary documents do not exist you can not prove one way or another that what Mr. Ash says is true

or not true.

You then have a wonderful story that frustrates the historical community. The fall of the Soviet

Empire and the liberation of the Satellite nations could have happened exactly like Mr. Ash says it

did or it might not have. There is no real way to find out since the majority of Mr. Ash's sources are

all his friends or have a stake in presenting the history of these events as Mr. Ash has presented them.

In the end you have to take this book with a grain of salt and realize that it is only one piece of the

puzzle of 1989. To understand the whole you must research the entire time period and come to your

own conclusion. Sadly since most of the books written about these events are from first hand

accounts the majority will be biased. It is then up to the historian to look at all the materials

objectively in order to reconstruct the events leading up to 1989 and this time specifically. Still it is a

start and when used as part of a larger source of research this book is able to shed light on some of the

Eberhart - 6

mysteries of the fall of the Soviet Empire. But as a stand alone book this book alone is not sufficient.

The Magic Lantern, like the reference to Aladdin's lamp we learn one thing. That being when

you let the genie out of the bottle you can never stuff him back inside. The same was true of the

book. For when Communism falls and freedom comes to Eastern European everything is changed

forever. For good and for ill, for better and for worse, for richer or poorer. So saying the

Refolutionaries were an odd marriage between the locals and the communists. It worked and in that

manner so does the book. One only has to realize that, like a marriage, this book is often frustrating

at times and leaves you asking for more. Which is probably what the refolutionists felt, so in the end

you are able to feel what they feel as they experienced it. An odd feeling when reading a historical

work but one that is surprisingly justified for this work.

I've got better things to do tonight than die.

--Springer

I know not whether laws are right,
or whether laws are wrong.
All that we know
is that we who live in Gaul,
is that the wall is strong.
And everyday is like a year.
A year that is oh so long.

-- Oscar Wilde

A wonderful book.......2006-01-30

I decided to read this after finishing Tina Rosenberg's THE HAUNTED LAND and Slavenka Drakulic's CAFE EUROPA. Both of these books cite THE MAGIC LANTERN, and I see why. Timothy Garton Ash's reportage is personal, immediate, and fascinating. As I write, these events took place more than sixteen years ago, yet the book puts you right there. It's a good, lively introduction to these largely bloodless revolutions and well worth reading. The chapters on Prague and Warsaw are highlights.

Top 10 Budapest (Eyewitness Travel Guides)

Average customer rating:

good concise guide

Top 10 Budapest (Eyewitness Travel Guides)
DK Publishing
Manufacturer: DK ADULT
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0756613620

Book Description

Whether you're looking to indulge in the finest cuisine or eat well on a limited budget, stay in the most luxurious hotels or find great deals on hostels and B&Bs, Eyewitness Top 10 Travel Guides provide invaluable information from local experts, all of which will help you discover the best of everything at each destination.

Customer Reviews:

good concise guide.......2007-02-17

good concise guide for budapest. has fold-out maps and small enough to fit your pocket. nice colorful photos too.

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