Tibor Valuch is anything but a newcomer to the field of consumption history of modern Hungary. His impressive oeuvre spans almost four decades of publishing activities, engaging profoundly with the material situation of different social classes, especially during state socialism, but also after the political change of 1989–90. While the bulk of his work has so far only been accessible to Hungarian- and, occasionally, German-speaking academia, Valuch’s newest book, published by Central European University Press, finally makes the essence of his research on everyday consumption practices in Hungary available to most scholars interested in consumption patterns in Eastern Europe. Based on an analysis filling more than 500 pages, this is a major and highly awaited undertaking.
In his work Everyday Life under Communism and After, social historian Valuch is interested in how “everyday people” (1) of different social strata experienced the ruptures and continuities brought upon them...
