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The Last Days of Budapest

The Destruction of Europe's Most Cosmopolitan Capital in World War II

The Last Days of Budapest Open the full-size image

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By Adam LeBor

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$31.99

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Format:

  1. Audiobook Download (Unabridged) $31.99
  2. Hardcover $35.00 $45.00 CAD

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In 1945, Budapest, once one of the cultured twin capitals of the Austro-Hungarian empire, became the site of the last great, brutal city siege of WWII–now brilliantly recreated in this new history. 

Although Hungary was a German ally in 1941, two years into World War II, it was still possible for Allied prisoners of war, French and Polish refugees, spies of every kind, and the city’s large Jewish population to live freely and openly, enjoying the cafes and boulevards that made Budapest one of the great European capitals. While the other multicultural centers of Europe had fallen to the almost all-consuming conflict, Budapest remained intact, a shining reminder of what middle European high culture could be.

In September 1944, three months after D-Day, life in the city seemed idyllic. But under the guise of peace existed an undercurrent of tension and anxiety: British and American troops advanced from the west and Soviet troops from the east. Who would reach the capital first? By mid-October 1944, Budapest had collapsed into anarchy: death squads roamed the streets, the city’s remaining Jews were funneled into ghettos, Russian shells destroyed city blocks, and everyone struggled to find food and survive the winter.
 
Using newly uncovered diaries and archives, Adam Lebor brilliantly recreates the increasingly desperate efforts of Hungary’s leaders to avoid being drawn into the cataclysm of war, the moral and tactical ambiguity they deployed in the attempt, and the ultimate tragedy that befell Hungary and, in particular, its Jewish population. Told through the lives of a glamorous aristocrats, SS Officers, a rebellious teenage Jewish school student, Hungary's most popular singer and actress, and a housewife trying desperately to keep her family alive, the story of how Budapest is threatened from all sides as the war tightens its noose is highly dramatic and utterly compelling.
 

Genre:

On Sale
Apr 22, 2025
Publisher
Hachette Audio
ISBN-13
9781668647547

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Adam LeBor

About the Author

Adam LeBor is an author, journalist, and literary critic based in Budapest. He writes for the Economist, the Times (London), and numerous other publications, and also reviews books for the Financial Times. He has been a foreign correspondent since 1991, covering the collapse of communism and the Yugoslav wars, and has worked in more than thirty countries. He is the author of eight critically acclaimed nonfiction books, including the groundbreaking Hitler’s Secret Bankers, and seven novels. His books have been published in fifteen languages.

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