Most of these poems were written in Hungary, during the dramatic events of 1989. Szirtes, whose previous work has concerned itself with the Holocaust and Hungarian experience during World War Two, now turns to the building of the new Europe on the ruins of the old. These are moving, tremendously powerful poems. Also included are vignettes from the poet's childhood in England, and a few translations from leading Hungarian poets Ottó Orbán and Agnes Nemes Nagy.