Twelve Days: The Story of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution

by Victor Sebestyen

Book Overview

Twelve Days is a riveting day-by-day account of the defining moment of the Cold War--the inspiring but brutally crushed Hungarian Uprising. Victor Sebestyen, a journalist whose own family fled Hungary, gives us a totally fresh account, incorporating newly released official documents, his family's diaries, and eyewitness testimony. We witness the thrilling first days when--armed only with a few rifles, petrol bombs, and desperate courage--the people...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 030727795X
• ISBN13: 9780307277954
• Release Date: November 2007
• Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 0.82 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.3" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

A gripping account of an unspeakable tragedy

Half a century ago, in 1956, the Hungarian people made a heroic attempt to free themselves from their Stalinist oppressors and the Sovjet occupation forces. Reciting patriotic poems and fighting tanks with improvised weapons, for a few glorious days in October of 1956 it seemed that the impossible was possible, and that they would succeed in bringing their country a more humane leadership outside the Sovjet sphere of influence. But after 12 days the might of Sovjet troops descended upon Budapest, crushing the hopes of the Hungarian people, and sending the country into a deep abyss of totalitarian rule. This tragic tale has been told many times, and has been told well, but Mr. Sebestyen's book is uniquely succesful in combining historical accuracy and detail with good story telling, the coming alive of personalities, and the feeling of being transported to the time and place of the events as they unfold. The author resists the temptation - which must have been present - to overindulge in sadness, bitterness, and anger over the terrible tragedy and injustice of what happened. But he is not detached, either, and in some places the reader may well find her/himself fighting back tears. In some places, Mr. Sebestyen hints at the possibility that a more adroit leader than Imre Nagy might have succeeded in steering the revolution on paths that would have been acceptable to the Sovjet leadership, avoiding the crack-down that happened. This seems to me rather implausible. The leaders of the Prague Spring in 1968 were very deft and managed to drag the process on for months, but in the end the result was the same. Perhaps the one shortcoming of the book is the fact that very little is said about what happened after the revolution was crushed. It might have been useful for the readers to learn a little more about the years that followed, during which first a true reign of terror descended upon Hungary. But fortunately, this gradually gave way to the more humane variety of "goulash-communism", and perhaps it was nonetheless as a result of the failed revolution in 1956 that 33 years later Hungarian border guards cut through the barbed wire fences, opening up the iron curtain, and paving the way for democracy in Eastern Europe. In summary, a terrific account of a very important piece of modern history.

A VERY COMPELLING BOOK

I Think this Book is very well written, I liked how it follows a logical order and tells about the events in a clear way giving all the background necessary to understand the development of the revolution and it's aftermath. I Think the Author makes it more interesting in the way he tells the story in a simple and logical way.The Revolution itself it's a great history wich has everything including Heroes (The revolutionaries ),lots of Action, Treachery, espionage,Villains (Mr. Andropov ,Rakosi,Kadar ),Superpowers in Action (USSR ), And Inactive Superpowers (USA and The West ),indifference (UN ),and victims. After This I Want to Express my Great Admiration to the Hungarian People who showed so great courage and Fought Incredibly against a Superpower Empire, and the Sadness for all the People that died or suffered under these events and the rule of communism. And at last but not least I Hope that Mr.Andropov stays well attended in Hell by You Know Who.

Twelve days of Revolutuon and then Red Revenge.

This is a great book. I have read several books about the Hungarian Revolution and this has got to be the most definitive. The story is broken down into three parts. First, you have the rejection of Rakosi and Gero,downright incompetent Stalinists. Then you have the rise of Nagy who tried to chase the Revolution with his evolving policies. Finally, you have the Russian leadership (greatly influenced by Suslov and the young Andropov), finally deciding to quash the Revolution. Along the way, you get images of the lynching of AVO men and the youngsters fighting tanks with Molotov cocktails. This is an exciting story. As I said, this is the definitive story of the Hungarian Revolution. Hats of to the author Sebestyen for writing a very readable account.

Freedom Crushed by an Iron Fist

This is a story about betrayal. First from the West. Ike and Dulles wanted a "rollback" of communism and led the people (through Radio Free Europe) to believe the US would be there to help them. But when the Suez Crises arouse, Hungarians were forgotten. The last pleas from Imre Nagy to the UN were not even read for 2 hours, then debates over the minutia of what "assembly" Nagy was referring to. All leading to nothing being done, while thousands of Soviet tanks and troops were tightening the noose around Budapest. The next day the UN Secretary General when went to Egypt the next day. Imre Nagy was a man who being a lifelong communist was the only leader available but was unable and unwilling to do what needed to be done. While not betrayal in the true sense of the word, Hungarians deserved better. While the Soviets were sending tanks and troops into Hungary, Nagy did nothing. Not mobilize the army, warn the people, nothing. He did believe that the Soviets would stick to their word about troop withdrawals even as the noose tightened. Only when Budapest shook under tank and air bombardment did he realize, too late, than the Soviets had lied to him. He was hanged after being promised that his life would be spared if he came out from hiding and recognized the Soviet puppet government with the Judas Kadar in the Presidency. The worst acts were committed by the workers paradise, the USSR. Strangely the Soviets were at first confused and shocked by the revolution happening in Hungary. After the initial revolution the Soviets promised that they would withdraw. After much discussion and politics in the Kremlin, Khrushchev decided to crush the revolution to keep it from spreading to the other occupied satellites. The Soviet ambassador to Hungary, Andropov had the job of keeping the Hungarians lulled into a false sense of security. He was a master of lying in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. You can't help but admire Andropov and how he did his job. But Nagy wanted to believe so badly the Soviets were gone and not coming back, Andropov just told him what he wanted to hear. The KGB even engineered the capture of the Defense minister under the umbrella of talks concerning Soviet troop withdrawals. This left Hungary unable to use its army to defend itself. Finally the Judas Kadar. He was a minister under Nagy and betrayed himself to the soviets. He defended himself later, saying if not him, them someone else more brutal would have been installed as President. Such as preventing the reinstall of Stalin's puppet, Rakosi who had led Hungary (brutally) in the postwar years. Kadar himself though proved just as bloodthirsty. He had Nagy hung along with hundreds of freedom fighers. The once open borders were now closed shut to prevent escape to freedom. Some of those who had feld were convinced to return with no harm to them. However they were arrested and imprisoned if not killed once they stepped back on home soil.

History with an engaging narrative

Few writers have the ability to present history to their readers with both historical integrity and quality narration. The former allows the reader an accurate appraisal of history. Yet, writers can easily neglect the latter. It is far easier for them to approach their recount with dry objectivity, void of a human "touch," and void of a true story. Victor Sebestyen accomplishes both tasks in his book "Twelve Days: The Story of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution." Filled with vivid accounts and character analysis, which comes from Sebestyen's in-depth research, a largely forgotten historical event of the Cold War finds new life. As a satellite of the Soviet Union, Hungary fell under the control of Maytas Rakosi, a torrid dictator eager to please his appointer, Joseph Stalin. Under Maytas, Hungarians came to know the AVO (the Hungarian equivalent to the KGB), who under the leadership of Gabor Peter, implemented the "salami tactics" of Rakosi to subdue dissent and retain control of the communist country. After the death of Stalin, and the subsequent approval of Nikita Khrushchev to lead the Kremlin, Rakosi influence in Hungary diminished. Khrushchev and his associates, well aware of Rakosi's brutal "salami tactics" diminished his power. One way in which the Kremlin accomplished this was through the appointment of Imre Nagy as the country's Prime Minister. Nagy represented a communism that sought to withdrawal from the harsh affronts of Stalin, mirroring the desire of Khrushchev, in favor of a more amicable system for the Party and Hungarians through his "June Road" plan. A polar opposite of the much harsher Rakosi, an embodiment of Stalin-communism, Nagy quickly amassed a loyal following amongst his compatriots. His rival-like stature to Rakosi, the First Secretary of the Hungarian Communist Party, was not unseen by the country's leader. As he had done before with perceived rivals, Rakosi attempted to oust Nagy through trumped-up charges, which would ultimately lead to a show trial (a preferred method amongst Soviet communists to remove threats). Rakosi failed at this, and was only able to fire Nagy from his position. Khrushchev later tired of Rakosi, and removed him from power. His successor, Erno Gero, would ultimately be in communist power when the Revolution began. A communist student organization desired to march into Budapest City Park. A last minute approval by Gero sealed the eventuality. What began as a protest march, partly inspired by rhetoric heard on the U.S. sponsored Radio Free Europe, quickly turned into a revolution. Hungarian soldiers joined the side of their country, and what began has a mere protest to voice concerns turned into a hostile takeover of the country. The country rallied around the implementation of a Nagy-led government. Yet, the still loyal communist was unable to inspire and govern a rebellion, whose hatred of communism had grown since initial Soviet takeover of the country after World War II. In