HUNGARY

The dramatic and bloody story of Hungary, from its ancient origins to its contemporary attempts at democracy, is recounted in this conscientious but tepid history. Although Hill opens with the fantastic battles of the Magyars--the warriors who ruled over the territory as far back as the ninth century--the prose is straightforward and faithful, without any excitement. While Hill parades tidbits--e.g., Hungarian goulash is really more of a soup than a thick stew, or that the country's capital, Budapest, was once three towns (Buda, Obuda, and Pest)--he is also careful to document more serious matters, such as the rise of anti-Semitism through WW II. From the Red and White Terrors to the failed 1956 uprising against the USSR, Hungary is a country of contradictions, seeming at once greedy, then open-hearted; Hill's text covers all essential facts but may fail to stir students of history.