Vlad the Impaler: In search of the real Dracula

A very interesting read. I pulled this one off my bookshelf after seeing last year's Dracula: Untold. The tale of Vlad is, of course, a bit different from the film, as we've all come to expect. But, of course, one's a non-fiction history, the other Hollywood entertainment. But, if you are looking for a well-written, well-researched read about Vlad Dracula, I recommend this book. I did feel, having just recently read it, that it could have provided a bit more information on the conditions of the times (roughly the mid-1400s) in the larger context of the world around Romania at the time. But, as far as telling the tale of Vlad himself, the author does a commendable job in separating fact from fiction (including Bram, Stoker's classic, which also sits on my library shelves).I am still staggered by the barbarism of the times, but frankly, as a counterterrorism professional, it would not surprise me to see Vlad's trademark act of horror re-staged in our time by ISIS and other like-minded perptrators of terror.

I should have paid more attention to what the author intended to do because I had no interest in what I consider an extremely implausible connection between the prince, Vlad Țepeș, and the Bram Stoker and Christopher Lee takes on the myths. If you find this either plausible or interesting, you might find this book of more value than I did. However, even on that topic, I was a bit dismayed that he got how the Bram Stoker Dracula was killed.I was interested in an easily readable book on Vlad Țepeș. While this did cover the real Vlad to some extent, I was looking for more, so there I was disappointed. I also felt the comparison between Vlad and Nicolae Ceaușescu a bit of a stretch. The time periods are simply too disparate for that to work well. He also got the date of Nicolae Ceaușescu's death wrong. On the other hand, some of what he had about Vlad was interesting, so I can't say it was a complete waste.

Excellent research, background and perspective placing Vlad Dracula in his milieu. Maps and pics would have been helpful. Interesting and thorough.

stared out great and then dragged. did not get an essence of the mans (Vlad) real essence.

It's OK. There's better, there's worse. Some recycled information, some new.

Didn't know I was getting a history of Dracula and part of Europe. Don't care about Dracula movies and film stars that may have stared as Dracula. Disappointed..

Although the book has several chapters about vampirism and Bram Stoker's Dracula, the remaining chapters about Vlad Tepes are very detailed and a good read. Vlad surely was one of the most cruel tyrants ever and his atrocities are described with much detail. Contemporaries wrote about the "untold abuses, sad murders and mutilations by the cruel tyrant Dracula" and the author discusses the sources and their reliability by their level of interest in blackening Vlad. According to Trow, many of Vlad Dracula's acts can be interpreted as efforts to enforce his own moral code upon his country and to strengthen and modernise the central government at the expense of the nobility, because they had repeatedly undermined the power of the Wallachia's rulers (and buried alive his elder brother).An interesting section describes the `usual' way of impalement and the most likely way used by Vlad in the case of mass impalements or when a mother was impaled together with her baby.

I was very disappointed in this book. While the history sections are reasonably solid, the author falls into the usual traps whenever he tries to make links between the historical Vlad and the Dracula of Bram Stoker's novel. Numerous times he states speculation as if it were fact. Worse, he makes statements that any reader of the novel "Dracula" would know are ludicrous: for example, that at the end of the story, Count Dracula has a stake driven through his heart; or that Dracula is unable to function during the day. To be fair to the author, I plan to write him directly and elaborate on all the flaws I found in the book. Maybe in a second edition (if there is one) they can be corrected. In the meantime, if you are looking for a reliable book on Vlad without all the nonsense about his being the inspiration for Stoker's novel, stick with "Vlad III Dracula" by Kurt Treptow.Dr. Elizabeth Miller[...] [Dracula's homepage]

Good book. Informative. Interesting to learn about his life. Would recommend if you are into history or the life of Vlad the Impaler.

A deep dive into the history and legends behind the real Dracula. Whilst clearly an appalling man, Trow casts doubt on the scale of his atrocities and the veracity of some of the horror stories surrounding him. What we get is a fascinating account of the times he lived in and what we can glean from the occasionally sketchy biographical information about Vlad the Impaler. An ideal primer for someone interested in Vlad and Eastern European history.

On the one hand I disliked the structure of this book. I wasn't interested, I confess, in the history of vampire lore and movies, I just wanted to know about the real Vlad. It took a while to get there and even then the structure was thematic so it remained problematic getting a thorough chronology. There are certainly things I still don't know, such as wives'/concubines' names and so on, but I found the review of the evidence interesting and useful and the wider historical context invaluable. The coverage of his military campaigning was good. The review of his nature was a surprise: the book had been very positive until that point.I suppose it is difficult to categorise him in terms of his psychosis and behaviour and I didn't find this section helpful. As for the theories as to how to impale ergonomically I came away not much the wiser, but I did come away with the strong impression that Vlad's crimes were exaggerated - aren't they always? No doubt the regular cross-references to Richard III were intended to imply this as well. I enjoyed it and found it more useful than not on balance.

The product was good not as described though . The dust cover was tatty. Said like new. The book was in great condition. Would have been good to know there was significant wear on the dust cover. So 5 star is fair I feel

As a book about the origin and lore of vampires, this book is an ideal starting point. The history of 'Dracula' in literature and movies is interesting, but sadly this book lacks little of interest about the Real Vlad, which is ultimately what I bought it for. On the whole an enjoyable book, but I feel the title is a tad misleading.