Budapest: Portrait of a City Between East and West

Historian Sebestyen (Lenin the Dictator) delivers a sweeping and insightful chronicle of Budapest from its origins as a first-century Roman settlement on the Danube to the present. Sebestyen highlights the arrival of the Magyars, who moved into the Carpathian Basin from the Urals in the 850s; the reign of Stephen I, who Christianized the country and named himself the first king of Hungary in 1000; the Hapsburg dynasty, which presided over a golden age in Budapest built on trading, manufacturing, and banking; WWI, which brought down the Austro-Hungarian empire and cost Hungary a third of its territory; WWII, when Hungary became an ally of Germany (the 102-day siege of Budapest at the end of the war killed thousands of civilians, including the majority of the city’s Jewish population); and the postwar occupation by the Soviets, who drove the Germans out of Hungary in 1945 and controlled the country for the next 45 years. Sebestyen vividly describes the invasions, revolutions, wars, and catastrophes (including a devastating flood in 1838) that shaped Budapest as he profiles its notable rulers and citizens, including composer and Budapest Opera director Gustave Mahler and novelist Arthur Koestler. Along the way, he captures the city’s innately pessimistic character and active café society. The result is a comprehensive account of one of Europe’s great cities. (Sept.)