In the 1950s, Michener volunteered to help refugees cross the Bridge at Andau into Austria escaping communism and the Soviet regime, which was putting down a temporarily successful revolt in Budapest, Hungary. Horrified by what he saw and heard, he investigated in depth what brought about the revolt and its aftermath. This is a profound indictment of communism. Even though written in the 1950s, and being dated, it reverberates in the news from Ukraine and Putin‘s Soviet-era desire to rob the freedom from his neighbors. An excellent book. I learned vasts amounts about Hungary and its history. I‘m so glad I found and read this book. But skip the audio. It is monotonous to the point of robotic. ( )

Pretty good account of Hungarian revolution against the Russians of 1956. ( )

The "Ruskies" were pretty tough against unarmed men, women, and children in tanks. ( )

A very vivid account of the Hungarian revolt of 1956 by the well-known writer James Michener, at that time a fervently anti-communist JFK Democrat. It is done extremely effectively by presenting personal stories of individual rebels who became refugees after the collapse of the revolt, and whom Michener interviewed soon after they had escaped, in some cases by the bridge mentioned in the title. He admits the people described may be composites, with the identities blurred to protect their families and friends who were still in Hungary. This detracts from the book's value as a completely accurate source, but even so the atmosphere of the revolt comes across very clearly. Personally, I was struck by the fact that the revolt initially had mass popular support on the level that brought about the "fall of Communism" 33 years later --the crucial difference was that in 1956 the Soviets were prepared to use ruthless force to suppress the revolt. Michener ends by predicting the eventual collapse of the Soviet bloc, which turned out to be true, though it may have taken longer than he expected at that time. ( )

As is typical for a Michener book, this was very readable and full of historical information. I remember the Hungarian Revolution but being very young at the time, I do not remember many details from that time. Michener takes care of that for me.

While the title refers to a bridge across which thousands of Hungarians fled after the Russians crushed the revolt, most of the book is about the actual uprising and what made the people do it at that time. Michener spends considerable time describing the secret police and their methods.

He gathered his information from refugees that crossed the bridge of the title and then had it verified by others. He actually spend days at the bridge helping escapees to freedom.

Written a year after the Revolution, it lacks historical perspective but does give the reader a close up view of what went on in Hungary in Octpber and November 1956. ( )