As the author is of Hungarian origin, IÂ found this book commendably even handed and factual, as well as being very readable. As IÂ stated in the summary, it changed my whole perception of the Hungarian revolution, and gave an extraordinary insight into the dithering of the politburo which was seen as a monolith in the 50's. The only slight flaw was that IÂ think that the author is a little too lenient on the UN and Dag Hammarsjold.