Probáld, F. (2006). [Review of the book Őrség – Vendvidék – Felső-Rába-völgy. Szentgotthárd és környéke, by Pál Beluszky]. Modern Geográfia, 1(1), 73–74.
The presentation of the three small regions discussed in the volume was justified by their special position in the corner of the southwestern triple border and their belonging to the catchment area of Szentgotthárd. The first, short chapter of the work deals with the demarcation of the micro-region and its complicated internal historical, ethnographic and physical geographical division. The second chapter of the volume outlines the specific natural features of the small region in sufficient detail, highlighting the different effects on society, and then evaluates their advantages and disadvantages in a short summary table. In the voluminous third chapter, written with historical thoroughness, the reader can trace the socio-economic processes that determined the fate of the small region from the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin to the present day. The subject of the fourth chapter is the current socio-geographical situation, but in the course of explaining the main economic branches, the labor force balance, the population trends and the geographical features of the settlements, the author also looks back at the historical changes of the last half century. We consider our critical comments to be acceptable in order for the further volumes of the series not only to reach regional development workshops and public libraries, but also – in accordance with the publisher’s and author’s intention – to really find their way to the “educated readership”. We are convinced that Pál Beluszky’s groundbreaking initiative – according to his own modest introductory words it was only intended to be experimental – is worth following, and we can welcome it as an important sign of the rebirth of Hungarian landscape geography.