Budapest 1900

Budapest 1900
Author: John Lukacs
Publisher: Open Road + Grove/Atlantic
Total Pages: 312
Release: 2012-01-05
Genre: History
ISBN: 0802194214

A distinguished historian and Budapest native offers a rich and eloquent portrait of one of the great European cities at the height of its powers. Budapest, like Paris and Vienna, experienced a remarkable exfoliation at the end of the nineteenth century. In terms of population growth, material expansion, and cultural exuberance, it was among the foremost metropolitan centers of the world, the cradle of such talents as Bartók, Kodály, Krúdy, Ady, Molnár, Koestler, Szilárd, and von Neumann, among others. John Lukacs provides a cultural and historical portrait of the city—its sights, sounds, and inhabitants; the artistic and material culture; its class dynamics; the essential role played by its Jewish population—and a historical perspective that describes the ascendance of the city and its decline into the maelstrom of the twentieth century. Intimate and engaging, Budapest 1900 captures the glory of a city at the turn of the century, poised at the moment of its greatest achievements, yet already facing the demands of a new age. “Lukacs’s Budapest, like Hemingway’s Paris, is a moveable feast.” —Chilton Williamson “Lukacs’s book is a lyrical, sometimes dazzling, never merely nostalgic evocation of a glorious period in the city’s history.” —The New York Review of Books “A reliable account of a beautiful city at the zenith of its prosperity.” —Publishers Weekly

Double Exile

Double Exile
Author: Tibor Frank
Publisher: Peter Lang
Total Pages: 510
Release: 2009
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9783039113316

This is a social history of refugees escaping Hungary after the Bolshevik-type revolution of 1919, the ensuing counterrevolution, and the rise of anti-Semitism. Largely Jewish and German before World War I, the Hungarian middle class was torn by the disastrous war, the partitioning of Hungary in the Treaty of Trianon, and the numerus clausus act XXV in 1920 that seriously curtailed the number of Jews admitted to higher education. Hungary's outstanding future professionals, whether Jewish, Liberal or Socialist, felt compelled to leave the country and head to German-speaking universities in Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Germany. When Hitler came to power, these exiles were to flee again, many on the fringes of the huge German emigration. Emotionally prepared by their earlier threatening experiences in Hungary, they were quick to recognize the need to uproot themselves again. Many fled to the United States where their double exile catalyzed the USA into an active enemy of Nazi Germany and stimulated the transplantation of European modernism into American art and music. To their surprise, the refugees also encountered anti-Semitism in the USA. The book is based on extensive archival work in the USA and Germany.

Great Escape

Great Escape
Author: Kati Marton
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 289
Release: 2006
Genre: History
ISBN: 074326116X

Extravagantly praised by critics and readers, this stunning story by bestselling author Kati Marton tells of the breathtaking journey of nine extraordinary men from Budapest to the New World, what they experienced along their dangerous route, and how they changed America and the world. They are the scientists Leo Szilard, Edward Teller, Eugene Wigner, and John von Neuman; Arthur Koestler, author of Darkness at Noon; Robert Capa, the first photographer ashore on D-Day; Andre Kertesz, pioneer of modern photojournalism; and iconic filmmakers Alexander Korda and Michael Curtiz.

The Jewish World In Modern Times

The Jewish World In Modern Times
Author: Abraham J Edelheit
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 598
Release: 2019-09-10
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1000302776

The momentous events of modern Jewish history have led to a proliferation of books and articles on Jewish life over the last 350 years. Placing modern Jewish history into both universal and local contexts, this selected, annotated bibliography organizes and categorizes the best of this vast array of written material. The authors have included all English-language books of major importance on world Jewry and on individual Jewish communities, plus books most readily available to researchers and readers, and a select number of pamphlets and articles. The resulting bibliography is also a guide to recent Jewish historiography and research methods.

The Politics of Backwardness in Hungary, 1825-1945

The Politics of Backwardness in Hungary, 1825-1945
Author: Andrew C. Janos
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 408
Release: 2012-01-20
Genre: History
ISBN: 1400843022

Why did Hungary, a country that shared much of the religious and institutional heritage of western Europe, fail to replicate the social and political experiences of the latter in the nineteenth and early twenties centuries? The answer, the author argues, lies not with cultural idiosyncracies or historical accident, but with the internal dynamics of the modern world system that stimulated aspirations not easily realizable within the confines of backward economics in peripheral national states. The author develops his theme by examining a century of Hungarian economic, social, and political history. During the period under consideration, the country witnessed attempts to transplant liberal institutions from the West, the corruption of these institutions into a "neo-corporatist" bureaucratic state, and finally, the rise of diverse Left and Right radical movements as much in protest against this institutional corruption as against the prevailing global division of labor and economic inequality. Pointing to significant analogies between the Hungarian past and the plight of the countries of the Third World today, this work should be of interest not only to the specialist on East European politics, but also to students of development, dependency, and center-periphery relations in the contemporary world.

The New American Anti-Semitism

The New American Anti-Semitism
Author: Benjamin Ginsberg
Publisher: Independent Institute
Total Pages: 278
Release: 2024-02-19
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1598133888

"This book could not be timelier. Benjamin Ginsberg uses his deep knowledge of Jewish history to show that Jews, long identified with leftwing causes, in many ways, are not natural allies of the left. A culture of separateness and high achievement make the Jews vulnerable to political pathologies from wherever they come— and two of the most destructive, anti-Zionism and wokeism, come from the left. With the help of fascinating detail, this book shows that Jews need neither right nor left but a society based on the universal values they brought into the world many centuries ago." — David Satter, author of Age of Delirium: The Decline and Fall of the Soviet Union The New American Anti-Semitism: The Left, the Right, and the Jews is a clarion call— not only to Jews, but to all Americans. As a nation, we must wake up and face the rising anti-Semitic threat and act accordingly. But that threat is not coming from its usual source. The most virulent form of anti-Semitism today, Ginsberg warns, is the result of toxic identity politics and anti-Israeli sentiment coming from today's political Left. Perhaps the most persecuted people in all of history, Jews have stood tall in the face of unprecedented persecution in all places, at all times. Their culture's rigorous emphasis on education and achievement catapults them, Ginsberg argues, to the upper echelons of the societies in which they live. But their success too often breeds resentment and jealousy, leading to an ugly anti-Semitism that has led, historically, to unspeakable violence. In this urgent new work, Dr. Benjamin Ginsberg— political scientist, professor, and bestselling author— exposes the ugly face of this new, progressive anti-Semitism (which is also thriving in Europe). To combat it, he urges American Jews to form new political alliances, particularly with evangelical Christians. The stakes of not doing so, says Ginsberg, are horrifically high— not only for the survival of the Jewish people, but for America's survival. After all, the Jews have contributed immeasurably to America's scientific, cultural, and economic achievements. Jews have been good for America; and America has been good to the Jews. But what once was so can change ... and Jews can never afford to forget their history. Read this book and learn: Why the Jews have always persisted in the face of persecution;Why the new face of Jewish persecution has found a home on university campuses, Left-leaning media outlets, and other unlikely places;The high and horrible costs of anti-Semitism;The profound benefits of philo-Semitism;The details of the new alliances that must be made to ensure the continuing success of American Jews— and America itself;And much, much more...In this must-read tour de force, Ginsberg enlightens readers by tracing the history of the Jewish people— starting from the children of Abraham and ending with Jews today— and urging all Jews and all Americans to learn the lessons of that history. Now.

Lost Genius

Lost Genius
Author: Kevin Bazzana
Publisher: McClelland & Stewart
Total Pages: 394
Release: 2009-02-24
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1551991845

The award-winning author of Wondrous Strange, the critically acclaimed biography of Glenn Gould, explores the bizarre, untold life of another brilliant and eccentric musician. The composer Arnold Schoenberg called him an “utterly extraordinary” pianist of “incredible originality and conviction,” yet today he is all but forgotten. Born in Budapest in 1903, Ervin Nyiregyházi (nyeer-edge-hah-zee) was a remarkable prodigy: at eight he performed at Buckingham Palace, and when he was thirteen a psychologist published a book about him. In his teens, his idiosyncratic, intensely Romantic playing electrified audiences and astounded critics in Europe and America. But his adult career quickly foundered, and he was reduced to penury. In 1928, he settled in Los Angeles, and eventually he withdrew from public life, preferring to spend his time quietly composing. Psychologically, he remained a child, and found the ordinary demands of daily life onerous — he struggled even to dress himself. He drank heavily, was insatiable sexually (he married ten times), and described himself as “a fortissimo bastard,” yet such was his talent and charisma that he numbered among his friends and champions celebrities such as Jack Dempsey, Theodore Dreiser, Bela Lugosi, and Gloria Swanson. Rediscovered in the 1970s, he enjoyed a brief, sensational, and controversial renaissance before slipping back into obscurity. He died in 1987. Lost Genius, the product of ten years’ research, is the first biography of Nyiregyházi, whose story is among the most fascinating — and bizarre — in twentieth-century music.

A History of Habsburg Jews, 1670–1918

A History of Habsburg Jews, 1670–1918
Author: William O. McCagg
Publisher: Indiana University Press
Total Pages: 310
Release: 1992-09-22
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780253206497

"William McCagg has done a great service for scholarship—and for Habsburg scholarship in particular—through his book. Scholars are in his debt." —History of European Ideas " . . . strongly recommended to those interested in either Jewish or Habsburg history." —American Historical Review " . . . McCagg tells a fascinating story with expert knowledge, with the sure eye and sound judgment of the experienced historian . . . " —Midstream " . . . exceptionally fine research and the time frame of the study which make it quite remarkable and original." —German Politics & Society "William McCagg brings out the extent to which Jews were divided not only as Jews, but also as citizens of Austro-Hungary . . . McCagg writes perceptively of Kafka's predicament as a German-speaking Jew in Prague, living through the Czech nationalist revival . . . " —New York Review of Books Drawing on a wide variety of European sources, McCagg has produced the first history of this important but often forgotten community to be written since the nineteenth century.