Failed Illusions

"The 1956 Hungarian revolution, and its suppression by the Red Army, was a key event in the Cold War, demonstrating both deep dissatisfaction with the communist system and old-fashioned Soviet imperialism. But now, fifty years later, the simplicity of treating this extraordinary event as an uncomplicated David and Goliath story should be revisited, according to Charles Gati's new history of the revolt." "Denying neither Hungarian heroism nor Soviet brutality, Failed Illusions nevertheless modifies our picture of what happened. Gati finds the revolutionaries brave but their expectations…