Since this book was first published in 1988, Hungary has experienced dramatic changes as the disintegration of the Soviet Union has dissolved the framework - and the political and economic certainties - of the Cold War era. Professor Hoensch has updated and greatly enlarged the book to cover the end of the Kadar regime and the crowded years since. He analyses the failure of communism in Hungary and why the 'velvet revolution' was so successful; and he explores the achievements and disappointments of the new Hungary and considers why a free electorate voted the post-war communists into power in June 1994. The appearance of this updated edition: the only full history of Hungary from the late Habsburg period to the present, will be greatly welcomed.