Shortlisted for the Prix du livre européen 2012
(Europe Book Prize 2012)

No Matter Where I Am, I See the Danube

—Autobiography of  Thomas KABDEBO

with foreword by Árpád Göncz, President of Hungary 1990-2000.

A gripping personal story that is also the dramatic story of 20th century Hungary.

"He was rendered cosmopolitan by Hungarian history," the President of Hungary, Árpád Göncz, writes of the author. "His homeland was twice trodden by occupying armies, and as a consequence, hundreds of thousands of its people were forced to flee their country, making their living elsewhere."

Illustrated Hardback (with photograph plate sections, printed endpapers, head+tail bands):
ISBN: 978-1-908420-046, r.r.p.: £21.00 / €25.00

Also in an ePub (& Kindle-format) eBook:
ISBN(eBook): 978-1-908420-053
r.r.p. £8.30 (excl.VAT) / €9.99 (excl.VAT) /$11.99

[• click here to preview sample pages of this book on PDF >]

[link to Prix du livre européen Shortlist 2012]

Born to a prosperous family in 1930s Hungary, Tom Kabdebo was a schoolboy in the post-war Stalin years when ten percent of Hungarian men (including his father and uncle) were sentenced to prison and to the loss of all possessions.
In 1956, as a student in Budapest, he took part in the Hungarian Revolution—his diary of those few extraordinary days is reproduced in this book. Because of his involvement, he had to flee the country, along with 200,000 others.

[• click here for more information about the author, Dr Thomas Kabdebo •]

[• click here for information on the historical background to this book •]

'… This is an intimate and affectionate account of his family background and life. … he witnessed or experienced many traumatic historical episodes during his life and his account of his part in the Rising is gripping. His is one of those lives that serve as a European history lesson. …
'… One minor but fascinating feature of his book is the endpapers which show the parts of what was once Hungary that have been occupied, re-occupied, ceded and regained. If Ireland is wounded by the imposition of the border, how much more deprived must a Hungarian feel with twice as much territory lost as has been retained—and particularly when you realise how isolated is their language, surrounded by unrelated tongues.' —Books Ireland.

'… Kabdebo evokes the old settled life of the Hungary of his ancestors and parents, but for himself Hungary under the Communists after WWII took on a different aspect. Like so many of his contemporaries, he fled west after the collapse of the 1956 rising, leading for some years the life of a wandering intellectual before settling in Ireland. Though a very personal account, this book provides vivid insights into the convulsions of recent Eastern European history, changes which many suspect may not yet be at an end. …

'… The key to this book is provided by the endpapers which map out the extraordinary revolutions in Hungary’s borders from the time that it was a partner in the old Austrian Empire, through the changes of the 20th Century. …' —The Irish Catholic.

The Hungarian News Agency (MTI) quotes this description of the book by Phaeton Publishing:  'Kabdebó's first-hand experience of the often cruel reality of life in Central and Eastern Europe after World War II, and of the hardships (as well as the infinite possibilities) of life as a refugee, has been captured unforgettably in this compelling, deeply honest book.' —Culture.hu

'Nota Bene—Thomas Kabdebo recounts the postwar Stalin years of his childhood, his involvement in the Hungarian Revolution, and the events leading up to becoming a successful author in this autobiographical portrait of twentieth century Hungary. Now living in Ireland, he continues to augment his prolific output of writing and translating.'—World Literature Today, University of Oklahoma, 2013.

Thomas Kabdebo's autobiography was launched in Ireland at a reception hosted by H.E. the Ambassador of Hungary, Dr Tamás Magyarics, at the Embassy of Hungary in Dublin—Magyarország Nagykövetsége, Írország :

In May 2012 No Matter Where I Am, I See the Danube was presented in London at an event in the Hungarian Cultural Centre —Londoni Magyar Kulturális Központ, in Covent Garden :

— Kabdebó Tamás magyar születésű író, költő, műfordító, irodalomtörténész legújabb angol nyelvű könyvét, a No Matter Where I Am, I See the Danube, azaz Bárhol is legyek, a Dunát látom című kötetet mutatták be a Londoni Magyar Kulturális Központban.

Exceptional Books and Exceptional Authors !