Hungarian Studies Newsletter, 1974 (2. évfolyam, 3-5. szám)
1974 / 4. szám
sfl HUNGARIAN MSTUDIES WLNEWSLETTER NO. 4 Spring 1974 published three times a year by the HUNGARIAN RESEARCH CENTER Subscription: $3.00 per annum. Single copy: $1.00 Communications concerning content should be sent to Dr. Bela C. Maday, Editor 4528-49th Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20016 Subscriptions and communications concerning circulation should be mailed to the Hungarian Research Center American Hungarian Studies Foundation 177 Somerset Street P.O. Box 1084, New Brunswick, N.J. 08903 BOOKS Bender, Peter. EAST EUROPE IN SEARCH OF SECURITY. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins, 1972.144 pages. $7.00 cloth; $3.00 paper. The author offers a look at the European scene through East European eyes. Using a broad range of sources, including political speeches, press articles, and his own knowledge of these countries, he analyzes the security concerns and policies of six Warsaw Pact countries. Bender maintains that the security of Eastern Europe is a complex matter, poorly understood in the West. He believes that a stalemate evolved from fear in both the West and the East concerning each side’s security. Both sides proclaim that security can be achieved only through a “peaceful order” for Europe. There is little chance for progress toward this end, says Bender, until we have a clearer idea of the fears and wishes of the other side. In the chapter on Hungary he says that “Hungarians do not feel threatened by anyone, as a state and nation. A typical statement is that ‘We are afraid neither of a Western attack, nor of being completely absorbed into the Sovet Union’... All that Hungary really has to worry about are ideological dangers, which in an extreme case can even have military consequences." The chapter concludes by saying that “In foreign policy Budapest proceeds as in domestic policy. In place of spectacular actions it limits itself to inconspicuous but tough detailed work.” Bender is a former Research Associate of the International Institute for Strategic Studies and author of three other books on East-West relations. n Gervers-Molnar, Veronika. THE HUNGARIAN SZUR; An Archaic Mantle of Eurasian Origin. (History, Technology and Art monographs No.1) Toronto: The Royal Ontario Museum, 1973. 142 pages, 83 illustrations. Canadian $5.00. The study emphasizes the historical background of an archaic mantle, the Hungarian szűr, which is known from relatively recent ethnographic material. Through artistic represenations, written documents, existing garments, and detailed research on the construction of the coat, the author traces its history and diffusion from 500 B.C. on. The predecessor of the mantle, the kandys, first appeared in antiquity worn by the Medes on the stone reliefs of Persepolis. Thereafter, it was adopted by various peoples in Central and West Asia. Examples are to be found in Achaemenid Persian art, Scythian grave goods, Parthian coins, material from Russian excavations in the Altais, the frescoes of Central Asia and Chinese tomb figurines representing foreigners. The Hungarians adopted the garment around the middle of the first millenium A.D. From medieval times, the szűr became traditional among the Transylvanian Saxonians and the Slovaks in the Carpathian Basin. The Slovaks introduced it to Moravia and Gallicia. Characteristic in the countries of South-East Europe are the many variants of a related mantle, which was brought to the Balkans by the Bulgarians from north of the Black Sea, the same territory whence the Hungarians carried their tradition. Keefe, Eugene K. et at. AREA HANDBOOK FOR HUNGARY Prepared by the Foreign Area Studies, American U., for the Department of the Army (DA Pam 55-165). Washington: G.P.O., 1973. 338 pages, maps, tables, biblio. $5.40 cloth. This is a comprehensive handbook designed to be useful to government personnel for quick access to basic facts on social, political, economic and military conditions of Hungary. The book does not express any specific point of view and does not make policy recommendations. Its four subdivisions include chapters on history, land, population, social system, living conditions, education, art, government, political dynamics, foreign relations, communication, economy, public order, and the armed forces. It is notourpolicy to give critical reviews but rather to report factually on publications of interest to our readers. Nevertheless, in the campaign for accurate Hungarian spelling in English language sources, we feel compelled to express surprise of the U.S. Government Printing Office’s neglect of putting diacritical marks on Hungarian words in both, the text and the maps. Thus “pa^t” (party) becomes “part” (shore or bank), “országos” (national) becomes “országos” (odorous), “banya” (mine) becomes “banya” (witch), etc. McCagg, Jr., William O., JEWISH NOBLES AND GENIUSES IN MODERN HUNGARY. New York: Columbia U. Press, 1972. 254 pages, $9.00. Published for the East European Monographs, a series on East European history and civilization, sponsored by the East European Quarterly under the general editorship of Dr. Stephen Fischer-Galati at the University of Colorado. This social h istorical essay tries to identify the causes of the international success of Hungarian scientists. Although it generalizes about all of Hungary’s pre-World War II elite, the book focuses on 346 Jewish families who acquired Hungarian nobility during the nineteenth and early twentieth century. The enoblement symptomized the recognition of mutual interests between the nobility and the industrialcapitalist elite. The study recounts how first the court-banker traditions of Vienna, then the development of Magyar and (Continued on page 3) 2 NO. 4, 1974, HUNGARIAN STUDIES NEWSLETTER
