They Were Found Wanting

Balint Abady is forced to part the beautiful and unhappily married Adrienne Uzdy. Laszlo Gyeroffy is rapidly heading for self-destruction through drink and his own feckleness. The politicians, quarrelling among themselves and stubbornly ignoring their countrymen's real needs, are still pursuing their vendetta with Habsburg rule from Vienna. Meanwhile they fail to notice how the Great Powers - through such events as Austria's annexation of Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1908 - are moving ever closer to the conflagration of 1914-1918 that will destroy their world forever.

ISBN 1905147996   Pages 470 ISBN13 9781905147991 (What's this?)   Volumes 1 Publisher Arcadia Books   Weight (grammes) 499 Imprint Arcadia Books   Published in London Format Paperback   Height (mm) 198 Publication date 07 May 2009   Width (mm) 138 Translator Patrick Thursfield, Countess Banffy-Jelen   Spine width (mm) 41 DEWEY 894.511332   Academic level General DEWEY edition DC22

'A genuine case of a rediscovered classic. The force of Banffy's enthusiasm produces an effect rather like that of the best Trollope novels - but coming from a past world that now seems excitingly exotic' - TLS 'My great find of the year is a reprint of the magnificent trilogy, set in pre-war Transylvania by Miklos Banffy...which stands comparison with the great Russian and French masters. Banffy vies with Tolstoy for sweep, Pasternak for romance and Turgenev for evocation of nature; his fiction is packed with irresistible social detail and crammed with superb characters: it is gloriously, addictively, compulsively readable' - Caroline Moor, Books of the Year, Seven'A very romantic book set in Transylvania during the days of the Austro-Hungarian Empire before the First World war. It's full of balls and hunting parties, snow and politics. It's totally absorbing and I'm looking forward to reading the next two books in the trilogy' - Martha Kearney (Newsnight BBC Two, The World at One Radio 4), My Six Best Books, Daily Express'A masterpiece. This very readable translation makes a wonderful book accessible to many more people' - New Statesman'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

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