None

In the year 1000AD the King of Hungary accepted Christianity from the Pope and a crown from the Eastern Roman emperor at Constantinople. Hungary now entered mainstream Europe instead of looting and pillaging it. The royal house married into Polish and French aristocracy and the great landowners looked to Europe for their culture while retaining a fierce nationalism for their traditions and history. Disaster struck as the Ottoman Turkish onslaught - which swept through the remains of the Byzantine empire, taking Constantinople and renaming it Istanbul - flooded through Europe, almost reaching the gates of Vienna. Hungary fell before the Ottoman tide, with the exception of a small sliver which looked to the nearest power, the Habsburgs of Austria, for protection. The Austrian advance into eastern Europe in the 17th Century gradually recovered Hungary from their Turkish overlords, but instead of restoring its independence, the Habsburgs took the crown for themselves. For the next 150 years the Hungarians tried several times to reassert their sovereignty, without success. In 1848, with Europe rocked by revolutions and the Habsburgs fleeing from an uprising in Vienna, the Hungarian parliament declared, lawfully, their right to govern themselves. To protect their new status they formed a government and ordered the Hungarian regiments in the imperial armies to return home. Some managed to get back to Hungary, while others stayed in Italy to fight for Radetzky, yet others were forced to stay put. A regional National Guard was raised to defend the homeland and a new national army, the Honved, was formed to counter the revitalized Austrian forces who invaded the country. When the Russian Tsar offered his help to the young Francis Josef of Austria, the situation became desperate, even more so as the Croat border troops and other non-Magyars within the country also took up arms in favor of the imperial cause. This book covers the armed forces of the Hungarian state, the former imperial regiments, National Guards, Honveds, foreign volunteers such as the Polish, Italian and German Legions, their organization, uniforms, flags, arms and equipment. Additional material is provided, including brief biographies of Hungarian generals, and a selection of orders of battle. The book is fully illustrated with superb color uniform plates by Ron Poulter, and line drawings showing the uniforms and equipment of the various branches of the armed forces of the country during Hungary's brief period of freedom. It is being produced in a strictly limited edition hardback printing of 500 copies, each copy signed by the author and individually numbered.