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Category: History

OFFICIAL ENEMIES, SECRET ALLIES PART III

VIII. A LOST OPPORTUNITY, A CLASH OF VISIONS US–Hungarian negotiations had dragged on for too long, close to half a year. As in the case of the delay of six weeks spent by the Allies and the anti-Nazi Badoglio government to negotiate an armistice, the Germans were given ample time

THE BURIAL OF ATTILA

A Folklore Motif in Historical Consciousness Introduction When it comes to interpreting certain historical legends or myths, folklorists who focus on oral traditions tend to adopt a stance not entirely identical with that of the historians. In this clash of approaches scholars of myths appear to start with a grave

THE INCONVENIENT GRAND SEIGNEUR

Memory of Miklós Bánffy I. THE INCONVENIENT GRAND SEIGNEUR The Memory of Miklós Bánffy1 If there were a single word to describe the life and afterlife of the author of the monumental A Transylvanian Trilogy, “inconvenient” would certainly best epitomize both the man and the writer. He was the scion

THE TRANSYLVANIAN TRILOGY

A passage from Book I. – They Were Counted Balint spent the next few days in seeing that he had everything he would need for a winter trip to the mountains. He was fairly well provided, having spent a year in Stockholm where winter sports were beginning to be all

‘HE GAVE A SWISH OF HIS ARM’ – AND IN GERMAN?

Thoughts on the German Translation of They Were Counted I should perhaps begin where the story itself began for me. It is worth a line or two, not so much for my sake as for the sake of Miklós Bánffy. Or to be more precise, for the sake of his

THE LEGEND OF THE PALETTE OF MIKLÓS BÁNFFY

I have often been asked how and why I organized the travelling exhibition on the life and work of Miklós Bánffy. Depending on my mood at the time, I explained more or less rationally what had taken place and how. Then after awhile I too began to wonder, what had

‘NOBODY LIFTED A FINGER’

On 25 October 2011, King Michael I of Romania celebrated his 90th birthday in Bucharest, with a speech to Parliament, a gala performance in his honour in the Opera and other public and private festivities. Crowned king of Romania first as a child in 1927, then as a young man

OFFICIAL ENEMIES, SECRET ALLIES PART II

V. Negotiations Stall In late 1943, the Allies were on a roll. Italy no longer carried weight as Germany’s principal European partner, and the Allies built up Joseph Broz-Tito’s ragtag bands of communist outlaws to the point that they challenged German control over a sizeable chunk of prewar Yugoslavia. The

CURRENTS OF A SECRET LIFE

István Bibó and Bernard Crick An Internal Exile István Bibó (1911–1979) led what could well be called a secret, even hidden life. This is true to some extent of all true intellectuals, for introspection and contemplation are indispensable to their calling. When the demon of inspiration has roused the mind,

INTRODUCTION TO ISTVÁN BIBÓ

When three years ago two chapters of this book and a table of contents were shown to me, I immediately saw, despite what was then merely a quick and literal translation, that this was a work of real importance, and I was determined that it should be properly published. Now,