Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 1998. [Vol. 5.] Eger Journal of American Studies. (Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 25)

Book reviews - András Tarnóc: The Return of the Holy Crown. (Giant Tibor: A Szent Korona amerikai kalandja 1945-1978. )

leader of the Hungarian fascist government was compelled by a twisted megalomaniac desire for this national symbol of power. Giant offers a thorough and highly entertaining overview of the milestones of the Holy Crown's adventure. The brief stations of the Holy Crown's ordeal, culminating in its departure from Hungary on December 27, 1945, the Mattsee interlude and the eventual handing over to the American forces, however do not only symbolize a surrender, but a hope in a better future. The Holy Crown taken to the United States in 1953 appeared to have served a dual purpose. For Hungary it functioned as a symbol of historic continuity and of national identity, and the U.S. considered it as a collateral, or a guarantee for a democratic future in the region. The crown's presence in America even at the height of the Cold War held the promise of normalization of the relations between the two countries. The Holy Crown as a metonymy can either represent the Hungarian state and being a central issue to be resolved between Hungary and the United States, functioned as a barometer measuring the intensity and quality of Hungarian-American relations between 1945-1978. Giant views the adventure of the Holy Crown not as an isolated event, but as a process, or a continuum. The work in fact progresses on two levels, describing the Hungarian government's efforts at achieving the return of the national relic and discussing the accompanying political developments in America. The Holy Crown, however, as Giant argues is not a strictly interpreted issue between Hungary and the U.S., but a cornerstone of the relationship between two world orders. Hungarian-American relations started as an object-centered continuum reified in the 1902 unveiling of the Kossuth statue in Cleveland and the presentation of Washington's statue in 1906 in Budapest. The return of the Holy Crown in 1978 appears to be the culmination of this process taking place between the two nations divided by the contemporary political climate and united by the past. The fact that the United States government held the Crown for safe keeping, offered a chance for a new beginning, provided a hope for cooperation and a stable relationship even in the darkest days of the Mindszenty trial and the Vogeler affair. In fact, the Crown buried literally in the vault of Fort Knox, and hidden figuratively in the subconscious of the American people, represented a certain international obligation or unfinished business to be attended to. 136