Hungary New Reference for the HUPR is available

[hunyadi]

For anyone who is interested, there is a new history and militaria reference book avaliable. Please see this thread http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=40063&st=0&gopid=370657&

[Guest Rick Research]

After my copy arrived in the mail yesterday, was up until past 1 AM this morning devouring it all in one sitting.

There is a LOT of data packed into this book, in annual chapters not only explaining the almost endless series of changes in awards, but on badges, uniforms, and the dreadful backround to the "salami" totalitarian politics which destroyed Hungarian national life in a ruthlessly murderous cult of grotesquely incompetent personality that has chilling parallels to the road we find ourselves on today.

No more wondering what something was for-- English is a far more "accessible" language for everybody else than Magyar is. Great color illustrations and literally everything anyone could want to know not only about the things we collect, but their historical context as well.

Superbly done and a boon for all of us beyond the borders of Hungary! I have been reluctanctly dabbling in the shallows of Hungarian collecting out of frustrated ignorance. Charles has done us all a favor and written The Book that is what we have long needed. :cheers:

[hunyadi]

Thank you Rick - your short review is refreshing to know that my golas of unlocking not only the militaria of the period but also the chilling history behind them - were met.

As of this post - copies are still available.

[Anatoly13]

Hi Charles!

I need one. :-)

[Verdun16]

Received my copy today and I second everything that Rick said. An outstanding book that I wish I had back in the early 1990s when I was running around the flea markets of Budapest. Will be very useful in another three months when I am back in Hungary. Thank you for your time and effort,

Bryan

[hunyadi]

Bryan -

Thank you - I hope that it will help with your collecting efforts. Dont miss the monthly militaria show (1st Sat of the month) and all those flea markets! I sure do miss them... :cool:

[Gordon Craig]

Gents,

I'd like to add my two cents worth re Charles' book. If you have ever tried to write anything, even a short article for a forum, you will know how much time and effort goes into a project like this book. We all owe Charles a debt of gratitude for doing all of the research and compiling all of this info into a readable volume. Great job Charles and hopefully the future will hold a second volume.

Regards,

Gordon

[Guest Rick Research]

"hopefully the future will hold a second volume"

There better be! Can't just take us to 1957 and LEAVE us there!

I look forward to volumes TWO ... and THREE because they are desperately needed for by non-Magyar speaking (i.e. virtually everyone else, globally) collectors.

Sure sucks as a way to Get Rich Quick though.... :speechless1:

[Gordon Craig]

Rick,

As you say, writing a book like this won't make you rich nor will it make you famous but it definitely makes you appreciated! Charles has other personal projects that will take precedence over future books.

I have been labouring away on a HUPR book focusing on the civilian (uniforms and badges) aspect of the HUPR but problems with a disappearing translator have slowed me down considerably. Not to mention my recent move, an unexpected (are they ever expected?) illness and some eye problems. Hopefully, what I publish will compliment what Charles has done but he has set the bar very high. I am at least a year behind in my plans to publish and only time will tell when it will go to the printers.

Regards,

Gordon

[Ulsterman]

My edition arrived today and as I have only scanned it quickly I say " everything Rick said, only louder".

I sometimes grasp implications of events quickly.

Perusing the 1949 chapter of this beautifully bound volume, the first thought I had was: "Yee Gods!! I don't own one of THOSE and when other people have this book, THAT is going to cost a LOT, LOT more!!!".

Information raises prices, because what once were pretty objects only vaguely understood suddenly become fully fleshed historical object d'art.

I have watched this happen (much to my chagrin) over the past 15 years with nervous horror. The internet provided a LOT of people (who seemingly have a LOT more money than I do)with a LOT of good information. Some things, previously viewed as bland and uninteresting, exploded in value and desirablity when people learned what they were. As I said to Rick almost a decade or so ago, "WE are responsible for the fact that Gallipoli Stars are now going for $250". If we had just shut up back in 1999 perhaps I would still be able to afford the occasional Godet TH. And don't get me started about Tamara Orders, which in 1996 I saw derided by one famed 'author" on the AOL forum as a "cap badge" and "costume jewelry". I missed the boat on those big time.

Charles' book is comprehensive, ground-breaking and fleshes out the background of the HPR medals and badges in a way that many other famous medal texts never did. It makes Angolia's F&F look like a 5th grade school book by comparison. It is probably one of the BEST medal books to come out over the past decade. When people who as yet only have a toe in Hungarian medal collecting get a hold of this book, things are going to happen.

This book is going to spark a LOT of collector activity.

Now, I figure I have six months to a year to obtain some of the earlier badges and Red Stars I don't have yet before they become unobtainable- forever.

I too can not wait for Gordons' volume and volume two and three.

Will documents be covered at all?

Will you include some of your interviews with participants or will those be used for articles?

Well done Charles! Bravo!

p.s. Anyone who collects communist orders who does not get this book will regret it. It is MORE comprehensive than the Red Bible was/is.

p.p.s. Charles, do you plan to keep the press run for this at only 200?

[Guest Rick Research]

I think the print run of 200 will save us. That is 200 English-speaking people (besides Charles and Gordon so that's 202 ) in the whole world will have the possibility to Get One N-O-W.

Knowing what we went through with our "dull" text-only German award rolls, and how that affected Mrs L's and our decisions on producing Eric Ludvigsen's German awards statistical study, the costs (up front) of a beautiful COLOR illustrated book like Charles' is going to make mortals like us unable to ever reach a mass market.

So the only people who WILL get one will be the Really Motivated.

And people smart enough to realize 200 minus 200 = zero. MINE sure isn't going anywhere while I'm above ground.

There IS the example of Dr. Battuschig's book on Mongolian awards and all I can say is

here's hoping for "Battushigian results" on YOUR book, Charles! :cheers:

[Ulsterman]

Oh it will. Literally this is what happened to me today.

11am mail arrives. I open box.

11:10 answer phone, randomly open book to page 153 where I read both pages. Think "OMG, I will never, NEVER be able to afford one of those when this gets out".

11:30 go to eBay-go to "BuyItNow" and spend too much money.

11:45 write above post.

[cimbineus]

... "WE are responsible for the fact that Gallipoli Stars are now going for $250". If we had just shut up ...

Let me react on just a tiny aspect of your substantive contribution. Yes and yes and yes! What else can I say? You are fully right and correct, my friend. This is the usual scenario. If you share knowledge, you educate people. Breadth of view means more interest, and more interest means higher prices. This happened in the case of my book on "KIVÁLÓ" badges as well in Hungary and elsewhere. After publishing it in 1997, the prices on "KIVÁLÓ" badges doubled or even tripled in some cases in some months. But, nevertheless, I think this is my (our) mission to spread knowledge. And we will do, I hope…

cimbineus

Edited October 23, 2009 by cimbineus

[Ulsterman]

YOU are the Kivalo badges author?

Any chance there's any copies in english out there?

[cimbineus]

YOU are the Kivalo badges author?

Any chance there's any copies in english out there?

Yes, my modest personality. But, sorry to say, there is no chance at all. All the 300 copies were snaped up in weeks, in Hungarian and in Hungary.

[Guest Rick Research]

"But, nevertheless, I think this is my (our) mission to spread knowledge. And we will do, I hope..."

I am with you there, my fellow small-printings brother. WE will "soon" be gone from this planet, but the "things" will remain and people who aren't even born yet will be glad that WE did the research work so they don't have to, when sources available to us may also have been lost. In many ways, a book is as enduring as the Great Pyramids of Egypt-- and yes, the authors were the slave labor! :cheeky:

[cimbineus]

"But, nevertheless, I think this is my (our) mission to spread knowledge. And we will do, I hope..."

I am with you there, my fellow small-printings brother. WE will "soon" be gone from this planet, but the "things" will remain and people who aren't even born yet will be glad that WE did the research work so they don't have to, when sources available to us may also have been lost. In many ways, a book is as enduring as the Great Pyramids of Egypt-- and yes, the authors were the slave labor!

Your words are music for my ears, my friend! That is why I am doing all this ...

Edited October 23, 2009 by cimbineus

[Ulsterman]

Yes, my modest personality. But, sorry to say, there is no chance at all. All the 300 copies were snapped up in weeks, in Hungarian and in Hungary.

Any chance a copy of the Hungarian edition could be found for sale to me in the USA?

Any chance you'll do another printing? I'd wager the OMSA would sponsor a publication (eventually).

[hunyadi]

As for the book - there are only 200 copies at this point. Financially I am ruined until those can sell, if they sell and there is still an interest, I have plans on producing more. This is the beauty of electronic publishing, you simply have to wait for the printer and the binder to shell them out (about 1 month). So when they are gone - more can be made available and there would be at least a second edition.

As for a second volume - the last three years of my life have been spent researching and spending a fortune on obtaining items for the publication. My plans are right now to take a year off from research and deal with settling back into life in the USA after living for nearly a decade in Hungary. I do have volumes of research and artifacts already compiled on the 1957-1990 era, so the foundation is there - dont worry.

Yes this is all for education.... if it were profit - I would invest in alot of other things

[ilja559]

Received today my copy.Really great book.Thank you and regards,Charles.

Ilja

[bolgarin]

Good day. I need one copy. How we can orginize it?

Petr

[hunyadi]

Peter - I sent you a PM :cheers: