'Sebestyen reminds us once again why he is one of the best historians writing today' ANDREW ROBERTS, author of Churchill: Walking with DestinyIn the years after the First World War, Berlin was - as Vladimir Nabokov described it - a place 'of dangerous glamour and worldliness, of tawdry cynicism, where art and riot flourished side by side.'The Weimar Republic was Ge...

AN ECONOMIST BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR • A vivid and enthralling account of the historical and cultural events that defined Budapest, a unique city in the heart of Europe, on the fault line between East and West—from the critically acclaimed author of Lenin“A compelling portrait of one of the most important cities in Europe. Full of sharp insights, elegant writing and vivid characters.” —Andrew Roberts, author of The ChiefVict...

Budapest has always been an important place. Almost at the centre of Europe, it is at the crossroads of geographical regions and of civilizations, at the intersection of ancient trade routes. Mountains that gradually slope into gentle hills converge on a great river, the Danube, and the regions of Buda and Pest sprang up on either side.Throughout history the centre of gravity in Budapest and among Hungarians has shifted between this division of East and West - culturally, political...

‘Sebestyen vertelt de verhalen die in de Sovjet-Unie niet verteld mochten worden.’ – TrouwDit is het eerste grootschalige werk dat in twintig jaar over Lenin is verschenen. Victor Sebestyen laat een nieuw licht schijnen op de man die in Rusland nog steeds wordt aanbeden en in de rest van de wereld wordt gezien als een man die een grote stempel heeft gedrukt op de wereldgeschiedenis.Uiteraard kon Sebestyen het politieke leven van Lenin niet negeren, maar hij laat vo...

Een complete geschiedenis van de voormalige hoofdstad van het Oostenrijks-Hongaarse Rijk'Niet alleen een grandioos portret van Boedapest, maar ook een historische kijk op tweeduizend jaar Centraal-Europese geschiedenis.' Simon Sebag MontefioreBoedapest heeft een rijke en veelbewogen geschiedenis. Vanwege zijn centrale ligging en de verbindingen via de Donau is het altijd een kruispunt geweest van handel, cultuur en volken. In de afgelopen tweeduizend jaar...

Victor Sebestyen's riveting biography of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin—the first major biography in English in nearly two decades—is not only a political examination of one of the most important historical figures of the twentieth century but also a fascinating portrait of Lenin the man.Brought up in comfort and with a passion for hunting and fishing, chess, and the English classics, Lenin was radicalized after the execution of his brother in 1887. Sebestyen traces the story from Lenin's e...

Victor Sebestyen's riveting biography of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin—the first major biography in English in nearly two decades—is not only a political examination of one of the most important historical figures of the twentieth century but also a fascinating portrait of Lenin the man.Brought up in comfort and with a passion for hunting and fishing, chess, and the English classics, Lenin was radicalized after the execution of his brother in 1887. Sebestyen traces the story from Lenin's e...

An illustrated account of one of the most pivotal events in modern history – the Russian revolution of 1917.In the early years of the twentieth century, Imperial Russia was an ethnically diverse empire, stretching from Ukraine and Belarus in the west to the Bering Sea and the Sea of Okhotsk in the Far East. At the head of this profoundly dysfunctional polity was Tsar Nicholas II, whose Romanov successors had ruled Russia since the start of the seventeenth century w...

'A fresh, powerful portrait of Lenin' Anne Applebaum, author of Red Famine'Richly readable ... An enthralling but appalling story' Francis Wheen, author of Karl MarxThe cold, one-dimensional figure of Lenin the political fanatic is only a partial truth. Drawing on extensive material that has only recently become available, Sebestyen's gripping biography casts an intriguing new light on the character behind the politics....

'A compelling and illuminating account of a great drama in the history of our times which showed once again that ordinary men and women really can change the world' Jonathan Dimbleby, MAIL ON SUNDAYFor more than 40 years after the Second World War the Iron Curtain divided Europe physically, with 300 km of walls and barbed wire fences; ideologically, between communism and capitalism; psychologically, between people imprisoned under totalitarian dictatorships and the...

Revolution 1989 is the first in-depth, authoritative account of a few months that changed the world.At the start of 1989, six European nations were Soviet vassal states. By year’s end, they had all declared national independence and embarked on the road to democracy. How did it happen so quickly? Victor Sebestyen, who was on the scene as a reporter, draws on his firsthand knowledge of the events, on scores of interviews with witnesses and participants, and on newly uncovered archiv...

From the author of Twelve Days: The Story of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution and Revolution 1989: The Fall of the Soviet Empire comes a powerful, revelatory book about the year that would signal the beginning of the Cold War, the end of the British Empire, and the beginning of the rivalry between the United States and the USSR. Victor Sebestyen reveals the events of 1946 by chronologically framing what was taking place in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, with seminal deci...