Synopses & Reviews
Painting an unrivalled portrait of the vanished world of pre-1914 Hungary, this story is told through the eyes of two young Transylvanian cousins, Count Balint Abády and Count László Gyeroffy. Shooting parties in great country houses, turbulent scenes in parliament, and the luxury of life in Budapest provide the backdrop for this gripping, prescient novel, forming a chilling indictment of upper-class frivolity and political folly, in which good manners cloak indifference and brutality. Abády becomes aware of the plight of a group of Romanian mountain peasants and champions their cause, while Gyeroffy dissipates his resources at the gaming tables, mirroring the decline of the Austro-Hungarian Empire itself. The first book in a trilogy published before World War II, it was rediscovered after the fall of Communism in Hungary and this edition contains a new foreword.
Synopsis
A portrait of the vanished world of pre-1914 Hungary, as seen through the eyes of two young cousins. Shooting parties in great luxury country houses or turbulent scenes in Parliament provide the backdrop for this gripping, prescient novel, a chilling indictment of upper-class frivolity and political folly, in which good manners cloak indifference and brutality.
About the Author
Miklós Bánffy was a diplomat, a member of parliament, and a foreign minister in the early 1920s. He signed the peace treaty with the U.S. that granted Hungary's admission to the League of Nations. He is the author of The Phoenix Land and volumes one, two and three of the Transylvanian trilogy: They Were Counted, They Were Found Wanting and They Were Divided. Patrick Leigh Fermor is the author of numerous travel books, including Between the Wood and the Water: On Foot to Constantinople, A Time of Gifts: On Foot to Constantinople, and A Time to Keep Silence. Patrick Thursfield is a translator and a former Times journalist and television writer. Katlin Bánffy-Jelen is a translator and the daughter of Miklós Bánffy. They are the cowinners of the Weidenfeld Translation Prize for their translation of volume three of the Transylvanian trilogy, They Were Divided.