The Siege of Budapest - 100 Days in World War II
by Krisztian Ungvary

List Price: $35.00  Hardback: 512 Pages
Publish Date: March 11, 2005

Review by Brian Williams 

The area of operations in and around Hungary is probably one of the least understood and written about topics of WWII.  The city of Budapest, with its 800,000 civilians, endured a siege that lasted one hundred and two days by Soviet forces.  Over 80,000 Soviet troops, 38,000 German and Hungarian soldiers, along with 38,000 Hungarian civilians lost their lives during the defense of the city and the subsequent breakout.  Written using several hundred eyewitness accounts, this book does a magnificant job of detailing the hardships and suffering of both the soldiers and the civilians.  (Althought, the book really focuses mostly on the Hungarian and German side of the battle).

The book is divided into 7 chapters: Prelude, The Encirclement, The Siege, Relief Attempts, The Break-Out, The Siege and The Population.  "The Encirclement" is quite interesting in that the civilians, and to a large degree even the Germans, had no idea as to the extent that they were being surrounded.  One of the amazing accounts in the book tells of a handful of Soviet soldiers that jump on a streetcar and the Hungarian civilians riding it don't realize who the Russian soldiers are.  Once they realize that the soldiers are not German or Hungarian, they flee in panic at the next stop.  Such accounts like this provide a unique and incredible glimpse into the siege and the battle.

The book contains a good number of maps which is a huge help to trying to understand the flow of events.  Units and lines of advancement are clearly marked and easy to read.  The only issue I have is that there is no scale showing the distances.  For instance, in trying to understand the breakout or relief attempts, it makes it difficult to appreciate the distances involved.  Besides that issue, the maps are wonderfully detailed and are a huge help in understanding the battle.

This book is a treasure trove of eyewitness accounts and never-before-seen archives.  The chaos and desperation of the siege really comes to life through these personal accounts.  You must read this book to understand the desperate situation the civilians found themselves in.

In conclusion, the book is an in-depth study of the defense of Budapest and the subsequent relief and breakout of the German and Hungarian forces.   I highly recommend it to anyone interested in World War II and especially in learning about this not-so-known part of the war.  The southeastern flank of the war is so little-known and this book does a magnificent job in helping us understanding it.

Review by Brian Williams (militaryhistoryonline@hotmail.com)