Special 70th Anniversary American Edition A new translation by writer and poet Peter Hargitai

"Writer and poet Peter Hargitai, working on an English translation of Utas es holdvilag Traveler and the Moonlight] in 1988, met with Szerb's widow, Klara, curious to know whether there had been real-life models for the novel's characters-particularly for Tamas and Eva, who intrigued him above all the others. In answer, Klara Szerb pointed out a framed photograph on a bookshelf: 'a youngish man with a pale, aristocratic, melancholy face.'

'This is Tamas, ' Mrs. Szerb said. 'My husband's...

In this important new volume we see the great Hungarian writer Antal Szerb at the height of his powers. Widely recognised in his native country as one of Europe's most important critics, and as the author of enduringly fascinating novels, Szerb was a leading figure in Hungarian inter-war literary life. He was to be overwhelmed by the rise of Fascism: in 1942 his ambitious History of Hungarian Literature was banned; in 1944 he was deported to a concentration camp. Three months later he was dead. Though his writings were revived in Communist Hungary and elsewhere, and his major...