The Great Escape: Nine Jews Who Fled Hitler and Changed the World

The book weaves a fascinating tapestry from the lives of nine men - four scientists, two movie directors, two photojournalists, and an author, all of whom are first of all Hungarian and secondly Jews. It is thoroughly researched and well written. However, after I read the Kindle version, I went back and bought a paperback copy. My five stars are for the paper version. As usual, the Kindle version is barely adequate to read a work of non-fiction. Since there are no page numbers in the Kindle version, the extensive index the author has provided is totally useless. The footnotes do not appear on the pages where they belong, but are at the end of the book and appear mangled and incomplete compared to the paperback. As with other works of non-fiction that I have tried to read on my Kindle, maps and charts are undecipherable and photos are barely useful. I'd give the Kindle version 2 stars, at best, for the translation from paper to e-reader.

Our book club liked the book and the fact that all of these men were in the same school in Budapest. We had a guest speaker who had escaped from Hungary through the underground and who talked about who the Hungarians were and where they came from - this was very interesting. The book is quite disjointed and very difficult to follow. We gave our members a summary of each of the men and what they did in ensuing years, which seemed to help sort out the facts. The theme of the book is great - the writing could have been better organized.

This was a fantastic book. Kati Marton brought the lives of these nine Hungarian geniuses to life. She managed to weave their stories together in a beautiful way. I was so impressed with the amount of research that went into this book. I plan to read her other books.

This may be the worst book I've ever read. The style is terrible; so bad I can't tell about the substance. However, the premise - that nine Hungarian refugees saved the world - is a bit absurd. author jumps from person to person, place to place, and time to time in a fashion that makes it most difficult to follow. Also, sometimes uses their birth names, others the names they adopted. And, we are told innumerable times that Hungarian, as a language, is sui genesis. Apparently, no one not raised speaking Hungarian can master it.

This is a well-written work. It gives a lot of detail that gets left out of history books dealing with "the big picture". I'm glad to have bought the book.How she shifts between the nine primary subjects as she moves along a time line is impressive writing. Keeping the shifts easy to handle and keeping the reader moving along is not a feat that many authors can manage so well!It is important to note that "The Great Escape" is about nine Hungarian Jews who fled for their lives. That the focus is on Hungarian Jews is fine. Does the word "Hungarian" belong between "Nine" and "Jews" in the book's subtitle? Until starting the book, I was under the impression that the book was about nine Jews from several European countries. While the Hungarian focus is quite OK, I did find myself having to switch thinking upon realizing that the book includes interesting details about Hungarian history. I wonder if the subtitle's wording was an editorial rather than author decision.Ultimately a word in or out of the title is no big deal; Kati Marton is an excellent author - I'll keep an eye out for her other books when browsing stores and libraries.

Very interesting book, for those who like all things Hungarian as well as for those who know virtually nothing about this country. The impact that Jewish Hungarians had on photography, literature, science, and movies is incredible: the director of "Casablanca"; the author of "Darkness at Noon"; several scientists/mathematicians who were very involved with the creation of the atom and the hydrogen bombs; the photographer whose shots of the Spanish Civil War and WWII earned him the title of best war photographer, etc. Not knowing Hungarian history very well, I appreciated the historical perspective which dealt with the creative period of the early 20th century, the 1930's, WW II, the Stalin, and Communist eras. The author chose to include several of the people in each chapter instead of tracing the life of one person at a time. I understood why, yet it made it a little hard to follow. Yes, I recommend it.

If you're interested in physics, photography, movies, or literature, this book looks at 9 of the most important practitioners of the past century:Physics: von Neumann, Szilard, Teller, WignerPhotography: Kertesz, CapaMovies: Korda, CurtizLiterature: KoestlerAll grew up and were educated in Budapest while it was co-capitol of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, all were Jewish (though mainly non-observant), all escaped to the West and played important roles in combatting the Nazis, and all were geniuses. The book is a lively read, and is well worth reading.

A fascinating book written about 9 Jews from Budapest during the Nazi Germany/Stalin era that made an impact on this world. I was enthralled with this book as we will soon be visiting Budapest and the area and I haven't read much about Hungary. We will be having coffee at the New York Cafe in Budapest and this book has set the stage for our visit! I'd say more but other reviewers have recapped it nicely, but do read this book to get a different view point of the tragedies that happened as well as what was happening in Britain, America and France during that time period.

Great book, great read. Very informative.

Wonderful people.

Fascinating

A fascinating collection of short biographies of the many Hungarian Jews who became world leaders in their different fields from physics to film and photography. Sadly all had to make their homes elsewhere mainly USA, France, UK - hence the title.

Great read but choppy