20th Century History - Europe, Canada

 PEACE, WAR and the AFTERMATH is an account of war and communist takeover, and a coming-of-age tale with a twist. As a young boy, Sándor Erdélyi saw the horrors of war firsthand:

A work crew had already dug out a long ditch in the nearby church garden, a mass grave, in effect. We were given no tools with which to extract the bodies from the slush and ice that covered them. Shaking with horror, crying with despair, I dug alongside my mother.

After WWII, Hungary was stripped of vast chunks of her territory and her remnants were swallowed by Soviet Russia. Classmates and workplace colleagues disappeared and families were torn apart. Erdélyi's generation was decimated by deportation, internal exile and murder as the communist regime tightened its chokehold on the country. By turns harrowing, comical and moving, Erdélyi's story is a testament to the strength of the human spirit and a valuable chronicle of a country that is still poorly understood in the world. The book sets the stage for the Hungarian Revolution of October 1956.

 YUKON, Land of the Midnight Sun, is the second book in a trilogy by the author. The story leads the reader through an era from the time when the Military Highway was constructed between Dawson Creek, British Columbia and Delta Junction of Alaska, USA, to 1966. The highway was best described by one of its early travelers, Troy Hise, in his poem:

  "Winding in and winding out                                       Leaves my mind in serious oubt                                          As to whether the man who built this route                        Was going to hell or coming out."    

After WWII, opening up the Military Highway (Alaska Highway) to civilian traffic ended travel by romantic paddle-wheeler on the Yukon River between Whitehorse to Dawson City. The boats that plied the treacherous waters of the Yukon River were dry-docked in Whitehorse and the important role they played in the life of the territory was nearly forgotten. With the highway open, the Yukon began to develop by leaps and bounds.

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                                                                                                                            WALK 20 MILES IN MY MOCCASSINS is part history lesson, part memoir, this collection of   essays is Alexander Erdelyi's third book. His passion for history was formed by his experiences in wartime and Communist-ruled Hungary , and by emigration to and  

Many of these essays comprise Erdelyi's take on the ills of modern society. Fuelled by conviction and a desire to educate, he lambasts politicians, scientists, historians, political correctness, bureaucratic bungling and contemporary childrearing. Erdelyi's fierce love of his adoptive country does not prevent him from excoriating its public policies. Indeed, it is his love of the ideal of democracy that serves as the foundation for his vehemently expressed beliefs.

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