Paints an unrivalled portrait of the vanished world of pre-1914 Hungary, as seen through the eyes of two young aristocratic Transylvanian cousins

Continuing the story of the two Transylvanian cousins from They Were Counted, this novel parallels the lives of the counts Bálint Abády and László Gyeröffy to the political fate of their country: Bálint has been forced to abandon the beautiful and unhappy Adrienne Miloth, while his cousin László continues down the path of self-destruction. Hungarian politicians continue with their partisan rivalries, meanwhile ignoring the needs of their fellow citizens. Obstinate in their struggle against Viennese sovereignty and in keeping their privileges, Hungarian politicians and aristocrats are blind to the fact that the world powers are nearing a conflict so large that it will soon give way to World War I and lead to the end of the world as they know it. They Were Found Wanting is the second novel of the Transylvanian Trilogy published by Miklós Bánffy between 1934 and 1940, and it is considered one of the most important Central European narratives of the first half of the twentieth century

The final part of Banffy's trilogy reflects the rapidly disintegrating course of events in Central Europe. In the foreground the lives of Balint, with his ultimately unhappy love for Adrienne, and his fatally flawed cousin, Laszlo Gyeroffy, who dies in poverty and neglect, are told with humour and a bitter-sweet nostalgia for a paradise lost through folly. The sinister and fast moving events in Montenegro, the Balkan wars, the apparent encirclement of Germany and Austria-Hungary by Britain, France and Russia, and finally the assassination of Franz Ferdinand all lead inexorably to the youth of Hungary marching off to their death and the dismemberment of their country