Sections
Magazine
Latest Issue

Why a referendum on the death penalty might not be as far away as you think, what happens when politicians and judges pass the buck on law-making, why Britain struggles to escape the shadow of hands-off economics and the tricky moral terrain of growing babies outside of the womb. Plus Jacqueline Rose on the violence we ignore a review of Rachel Cusk’s new book

Read Now Or Checkout the archive
Previous
June 2021
May 2021
April 2021
March 2021
Events
Next Event

Watch: Managing global supply chains in a post-Covid world—current challenge or future opportunity?

Previous
What next for pensions? Why the 2020s are the crunch decade—discussion 2
Watch: How do we stop a generation from sleepwalking into retirement?
Watch: Homes for all—what new social and affordable housing can do for Britain
To the archive
Podcast
Latest Episode

The Prospect Interview #183: Why Britain is condemned to be liberal

Previous
The Prospect Interview #182: The rise of the British shock jock
The Prospect Interview #181: The life and mind of Edward Said
The Prospect Interview #180: Classical music after Covid
To the archive
Essays Magazine Other World Eastern Europe Hungary

Tyranny’s new trick: how the Hungarian government is waging war on liberalism

The darkening of the skies in Eastern Europe shows that the optimism of 1989 is long gone

By Nick Cohen  
November 14, 2017
December 2017

The House of Terror in Budapest is one of the most carefully contrived museums I have visited. It uses music, props and video—all the modern curatorial tricks—to recreate the rule of the Nazis and Communists. In a final stunt, a lift inches tourists down to the gallows in the basement, as if guards were pushing our resisting bodies towards the hangman. The House of Terror is manipulative. But ignorant foreigners can console themselves with the thought that it is manipulating in a good cause.

The museum is in the old secret…

Register today to continue reading

You’ve hit your limit of three articles in the last 30 days. To get seven more, simply enter your email address below.

You’ll also receive our free e-book Prospect’s Top Thinkers 2020 and our newsletter with the best new writing on politics, economics, literature and the arts.

Prospect may process your personal information for our legitimate business purposes, to provide you with newsletters, subscription offers and other relevant information.

Click here to learn more about these purposes and how we use your data. You will be able to opt-out of further contact on the next page and in all our communications.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to letters@prospect-magazine.co.uk

Nick Cohen

Nick Cohen is a columnist for The Observer

More stories by Nick Cohen

More From Prospect