They Were Counted (UNESCO Collection of Representative Works: European)

They Were Counted (UNESCO Collection of Representative Works: European)

by KathyBanffy-Jelen (Translator), Miklos Banffy (Author), PatrickThursfield (Translator)

Synopsis

Shooting parties in great country houses, turbulent scenes in parliament and the luxury life in Budapest provide the backdrop for this gripping, prescient novel, forming a chilling indictment of upper-class frivolity and political folly in which good manners cloak indifference and brutality. Abady becomes aware of the plight of a group of Romanian mountain peasants and champions their cause, while Gyeroffy dissipates his resources at the gaming tables, mirroring the decline of the Austro-Hungarian empire itself.

$3.45

Save:$16.54 (83%)

Quantity

2 in stock

More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 596
Publisher: Arcadia Books
Published: 09 Feb 1999

ISBN 10: 190085015X
ISBN 13: 9781900850155

Media Reviews

'This epic Hungarian novel, absorbing both for its exploration of human nature and its study of the decline of the Austro-Hungarian Empire ... weaves social and political themes into Banffy's powerful tale'

* Daily Telegraph *

'A genuine case of a rediscovered classic. The force of Banffy's enthusiasm produced an effect rather like that of the best Trollope novels - but coming from a past world that now seems excitingly exotic'

* Times Literary Supplement *

'Fascinating. He writes about his quirky border lairds and squires and the high misty forest ridges and valleys of Transylvania with something of the ache that Czeslaw Milosz brings to the contemplation of his lost Eden'

-- W. L. Webb * Guardian *
Author Bio

Miklos Banffy (1873-1950) was variously a diplomat, MP and foreign minister in 1921/22 when he signed the peace treaty with the United States and obtained Hungary's admission to the League of Nations. He was responsible for organizing the last Habsburg coronation, that of King Karl in 1916. His famous Transylvanian Trilogy, They Were Counted, They Were Found Wanting, They Were Divided was first published in Budapest in the 1930s.