An Illustrated History of Hungary / István Lázár / Corvina, 1998 / Hardcover 

ISBN-13: 9789631345421 / 978-9631345421

Printed in Hungary

Pages 131

Eleven hundred years ago, the Hungarian people arrived as a late wave of migrants from the East and took possession of the heart of the Carpathian Basin. Fundamentally Finno-Ugric in language, but more Turkic in origin, these people were familiar not only with nomadic animal husbandry, but also with agriculture. Moreover, they still had their distinctive tribal alliance. For decades the Hungarians held Europe in terror. Their bold military campaigns, their final settlement, their settling down and blending in this part of East-Central Europe, their establishment of a state and accession to Roman Christianity, their thousand-year history rich in struggles against external aggression and internal oppression even up to present times-all this is dealt with in a concise and up-to-date way. At a time when politically-motivated reappraisals and changes in outlook are taking place, a sober and objective depiction of the past is greatly needed by Hungarians and by those interested in Hungary. This is no dry history book, but rather an essay on Hungarian history. Based on very many sources, it still reflects a personal view. With the help of illustrations chosen by the historian Géza Buzinkay, the work sheds light on little-known aspects of the past. The picture captions give much additonal information, and supplement the main text.

István Lázár was born in Sárospatak in 1933.
He trained as a geologist, but since 1955 has been a journalist in Budapest. In 1964 he became an editor on the social sciences journal Valóság.
He has written travel books about England and the Dalmatian coast; in addition he has published a volume of interviews with state and political leaders. He has also written a biography of the writer István Örkény. István Lázár's
greatest undertaking so far has been a sociological work about the wine-producing Sárospatak and Tokaj region in the Magyarország felfedezése (Discovering Hungary) series.