Triumph in Adversity [antikvár]

EDITORS' PREFACE This book is the result of the joint efforts of twenty-five scholars from twelve disciplines and three continents. Although a large number of them are historians from the United States, the majority represent such diverse fields as cultural anthropology, economics, law, library science, linguistics, literature, military science, political science, social work, and theology, and live in such countries as Australia, Canada, Hungary, and the United States. The contributors and their studies are bound together first of all be their respect for Professor Ferenc Somogyi, as well as by their interest in the Hungarian past, present, and future. They wish to honor Professor Somogyi with these contributions, and hope that by doing so they will also add to knowledge about Hungary and the Hungarians in the English speaking world. Although the editors have undertaken this project already in the spring of 1983, for various reasons — including delays in receiving the enclosed essays, extensive editorial work, search for funds, and other obligations — have prevented them from delivering the finished manuscript to the publisher until the late summer of 1987. This puts the publication date of this work well beyond the target date of 1986, but it is hoped that the resulting book will be judged so as to have warranted this delay. As is inevitable in a work of this nature, the enclosed essays do not center on a single topic and do not represent a homogeneous view of Hungarian Civilization. They mirror the distinct views, diverse methodological approaches, and varied scholarly or creative abilities of their respective authors. As such, they are bound together only by their concentration on Hungarian history, culture, and various manifestations of Hungarian life. Even so, however, they represent XI