Dracula - East Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 450-1450 by Matei Cazacu Hardcover

About the Book

Cazacu's Dracula offers the most authoritative scholarly biography of Vlad III the Impaler (d. 1476), including how his imagery evolved from contemporary to modern times.

Book Synopsis

Originally published in French in 2004, Matei Cazacu's Dracula remains the most authoritative scholarly biography of the Wallachian prince Vlad III the Impaler (1448, 1456-1462, 1476). Its core is an exhaustively researched reconstruction of Dracula's life and political career, using original sources in more than nine languages. In addition Cazacu traces Dracula's metamorphosis, at the hands of contemporary propagandists, into variously a bloodthirsty tyrant, and an early modern "great sovereign." Beyond this Cazacu explores Dracula's transformation into "the vampire prince" in literature, film and folklore, with surprising new discoveries on Bram Stoker's sources for his novel. In this first English translation, the text and bibliography are updated, and readers are provided with an appendix of the key sources for Dracula's life, in fresh and accurate English translations.

Review Quotes

"This book is the new standard for Dracula studies. Summing Up: Essential." W. L. Urban, Monmoth College, in: CHOICE 55.6 (2018).

"Bram Stoker's iconic depiction of Dracula left a lasting mark on portrayals of vampires in popular culture. However, as Matei Cazacu outlines in his careful study of Vlad Tepes III (the Impaler), the biography of the Wallachian prince is far more complex and nuanced than the figure's portrait in gothic fiction. In Stephen Reiner's new edited version, which offers a clear, crisp translation of Cazacu's French original with an updated bibliography, students and scholars alike will find edifying material on the history of Vlad III and the ways in which he appeared in German, Russian, Latin, and Balkan accounts... This first translation of Matei Cazacu's Dracula conveys the richness of the original and the depth of the source material consulted in the biography of Vlad III. The accuracy devoted to the text by the editor and translators is admirable. Dracula will undoubtedly prove useful in curricula focusing on folklore, history, and medieval studies. It opens to English-readers the complexity of Vlad III's rule and the ways in which his legacy was utilized in history, literature, and film." Colleen Lucey, Univserity of Arizona, in: The Polish Review 64.1 (2019).

"[Cazacu's] intimate knowledge of the primary sources, his impressive command of languages, and his overall erudition are truly impressive. But what makes this book a truly compelling read is the author's skilled storytelling. Cazacu is a raconteur, and the book's appeal and considerable success... is due to its ability to address two audiences at once. The book is academically solid and showcases a wide breadth of scholarship, but it does not shy away from blood and gore... The book is a treat for readers interested in Vlad/Dracula or in the fifteenth-century history of Wallachia". Marian Comaon, in: Renaissance Quarterly 73.4 (2020).

About the Author

Matei Cazacu, Ph.D. (1979), Université de Paris, is a research scholar at the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), Paris. He has published over twenty books and numerous articles on medieval Balkan, Byzantine, Ottoman, and Romanian history and culture. His most recent book is Ioan Basarab (c. 1310-1352): A Romanian Prince at the Beginnings of Wallachia (2013).
Stephen Reinert, Ph.D. (1981), University of California at Los Angeles, is an associate professor of History at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey. His most recent book is Late Byzantine and Early Ottoman Studies (2014).