"Triggered by a confluence of fateful events in 1956, Hungarian students led hundreds of thousands of their countrymen in a spontaneous open revolt against the Soviet-sponsored government. It all lasted less than two weeks. On November 4, the USSR unleashed "Operation Whirlwind," a vengeful blitzkrieg of the best the Soviet army had to offer. Within months, more than 200,000 Hungarian refugees crossed the border into Austria; many made their way to the U.S. The true story of the uprising was subject to censorship until the fall of the Iron Curtain." "A Radio Free Europe journalist in Munich, John P. C. Matthews realized he had a ringside seat to the events unfolding in Hungary. Sensing the importance of that moment in time, he saved his notes, articles, and dispatches, and now uses them all to create a picture of what it was like, day by day, to live through that exhilarating and tragic time. This is by far the most comprehensive account of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956."--BOOK JACKET.