Luxury and the Ruling Elite in Socialist Hungary: Villas, Hunts, and Soccer Games

György Majtényi's Luxury and the Ruling Elite in Socialist Hungary exposes the lavish standard of living of the higher echelon, including pools, Persian rugs, furniture, servants, and groundskeepers. It also reveals the underbelly of such society, such as how privileges were used to maintain power, initiate or deny entry to party members, and strengthen hierarchies.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 366 pages
Publication date: 02 November 2021
Publisher: Indiana University Press

After World War II, a new community of elite emerged in Hungary, despite the communist principles espoused by the government. In Luxury and the Ruling Elite in Socialist Hungary, György Majtényi allows us a peek inside their affluence. Majtényi exposes the lavish standard of living that the higher echelon enjoyed, complete with pools, Persian rugs, extravagant furniture, servants, and groundskeepers. They shopped in private stores stocked with expensive meats and tropical fruits just for them. They benefited from access to everything from books, telephone lines, and international travel to hunting grounds, soccer games, and even the choicest cemetery plots. But Majtényi also reveals the underbelly of such society, particularly how these privileges were used as a way of maintaining power, initiating or denying entry to party members, and strengthening the very hierarchies that communism promised to abolish. Taking readers on a fascinating and often surprising look inside the manor homes and vacation villas of wealthy post–World War II Hungarians, Majtényi offers fresh insight into the realities of patriarchy, loyalty, gender, and class within the communist regime.

Weight: 560g
Dimension: 151 x 228 x 25 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780253055927