Hungary's Negotiated Revolution: Economic Reform, Social Change and Political Succession (Cambridge Russian, Soviet and Post-Soviet Studies, Series Number 101) - Softcover

Tökés, Rudolf L.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0521578507 ISBN 13: 9780521578509

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1996

Synopsis

In this book Rudolf Tökés offers a comprehensive study of the politics and personalities of the rise and fall of Hungary's communist regime. The study provides a fully documented reconstruction of the several phases of the ancien régime's road from economic reform to political collapse, based on interviews with former top party leaders and transcripts of the Party Central Committee. Tökés gives an in-depth account of Hungary's peaceful transformation from one-party state to parliamentary democracy, and a comprehensive assessment of Hungary's post-Communist politics, economy and society.

About this title

Book Description

A comprehensive study of the rise and fall of Hungary's communist regime provides a fully documented reconstruction of its road from economic reform to political collapse. It is based on interviews with former top party leaders and transcripts of the Party Central Committee.

Review

"...[a] very useful and informative book on Hungarian politics from 1957 to 1990." Timothy Garton Ash, New York Review of Books

"An impressive intellectual accomplishment by one of the scholars best qualified to write about contemporary Hungary. This book is a valuable study of Hungary's recent transition to democracy as well as of the political history of the previous Kadar period. Relying on the insights of the political scientists and on the judicious use of original archival materials Tökés produced a book that will remain a standard work on modern Hungarian history and politics for decades to come." Andrew C. Janos, University of California

"I very much enjoyed Professor Tökés' book. I think it provides an excellent description and commentary on the development of Hungary from the revolution of 1956 through the fall of communism. It is attractively written and offers insights on the reasons and mechanisms of the decline of communism which are instructive not only in regard to Hungary but to East-European developments in the last thirty years in general. Hungary's Negotiated Revolution is to my mind one of the best treatments of the historical drama of Eastern Europe in recent days." Adam Ulam, Harvard University

"The collapse of communism is one of the great hinges of our time. With this book we are a good deal closer than before to understanding how and why it happened. Professor Tökés' magisterial analysis of the end of communism in Hungary is thoughtful and thought-provoking, illuminating and authoritative. The book is a major contribution to our knowledge and appreciation of this key process in the transformation of Europe." George Schopflin, University of London

"Surely the definitive treatment of the Hungarian case. A nuanced but squarely elite-centred analysis, which deftly combines aggregate evidence of changes in elite composition and orientations with rich and fascinating studies of the dozen or so top elite actors and their cliques. But even more impressive is the sheer scope of the work, disentangling while intricately relating the stratification system, the economy, the country's longer history and its external relations, the structure and workings of the HSWP, regular comparisons and contrasts with other CEE countries, and much more. In short, encyclopedic in its coverage of events, persons, and patterns." John Higley, University of Texas, Austin

"Tökés has written a fine book. It is splendidly argued meticulously documented, and written with a wry sense of humor....The book is a major achievement." American Political Science Review

"The great value of Toke's book is that it has provided the most thorough analysis to date of both old and new political elites. The book has been made coherent, logical, and enjoyable because its author has faithfully followed that train of thought....It should be assessed as a valuable empirical contribution to the literature on elite theory-the creation of elites, change of elites, and preservation of elites-that has become, of late, increasingly significant." Andras Bozoki, East European Constitutional Review

"Tökés has written a fine book. It is splendidly argued, meticulously documented, and written with a wry sense of humor....The book is a major achievement." Michael H. Bernhard, American Political Science Review

"What readers will find attractive about Hungary's Negotiated Revolution is its encyclopedic quality. There is no dearth of evidence here; the effort on the book is extremely well researched and represents a tremendous archival effort on the author's part. Tökés has provided us with a definitive account of the period. More important, this book is a first-rate attempt by one of the members of the 1956 exodus to come to terms with the painful and traumatic experience of October 1956 and to recover his own place in the history of the last 30 years. It is in this sense that this work is, ultimately, a truly laudable effort." Camille M. Busette, American Journal of Sociology

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0521578507
• ISBN 13: 9780521578509
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 572