Bela Kiraly

As a major general in the Hungarian Army, in 1951 Kiraly was arrested on political charges and sentenced to death. But in 1956 he was released from prison -- weeks before the Hungarian Revolution of October 23, when the people of Hungary spontaneously revolted against the harsh Stalinist regime. Kiraly tried to marshal various Hungarian security forces into a National Guard to fight the Soviets, but "to tell the truth," he said long afterward, "there was no central command of the freedom fighters; it was spontaneous fighters, here and there. Freedom, liberty, was the idea, everyone fought for that -- and independence." Despite knowing the tiny country couldn't repel the huge Soviet army -- "Not for a moment" did he think they could win, he said -- Kiraly fought back anyway. It was not in vain, he said: "The Hungarian Revolution was an inspiration for resistance against Bolshevik rule, resistance against Soviet imperialism" -- the first step that led to the ultimate collapse of the Soviet Union. Kiraly fled, first to Austria and then to the U.S., where he received a PhD from Columbia and taught history at Brooklyn College. When the communist bloc finally withdrew in 1989, Kiraly returned and was elected to parliament in the country's first free elections after the Soviet era. He died July 4, at home in a free Hungary, at 97. From This is True for 5 July 2009 Suggestions for further reading: The Cold War: A New History by John Lewis Gaddis Amazon Price: $10.88 Customer Review: This is probably the best history book I've read so far. It's not a book filled with facts and dates that makes you forget what you read two chapters ago. Gaddis keeps the reader intrigued and motivated to read on after the end of each section. He ex...   Thirteen Days: A Memoir of the Cuban Missile Crisis by Robert F. Kennedy Amazon Price: $11.16 Customer Review: Robert Kennedy never got a chance to add to his furst draft of the manuscript becuase he wrote this book shortly before his death, but what he did get a chance to write was very insightful of himself, then men in the ex-comm meetings and the presiden...   Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege: 1942-1943 by Antony Beevor Amazon Price: $12.24 Customer Review: I bought this book based in an episode of Peep Show, a British comedy series. Mark, one of the characters who is the ultimate self effacing, nerdy doofus, is reading it. His major talent is in history, but of course that has nothing to do with how hi...   The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky Amazon Price: $12.24 Customer Review: I have now read this stunning book twice. The first time was about 5 years ago in the much over-hyped Pevear / Volokhonsky translation. The book was really good, and had some powerful sections, but on the whole I found myself struggling to finish. ...   The Charm School by Nelson DeMille Amazon Price: Customer Review: This is longer than most of his other books, but well worth the time!. Relevant and thought provoking. DeMille develops his characters well and holds the reader's attention until the very end. LOVED IT!- my 6th book by this author and they are all un...   Newsfeed display by CaRP

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