Brillant

I really enjoyed it - very focussed on the key geopolitical elements. I know nothing of Romania, but I found the entire book very gripping for that reason.

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Excellent

Highly recommend this book. It's almost 20 hours long, but finished it in 3-4 days. Interesting all way through but especially details of the ceausescu era!!!! you cannot make such stuff up!!! crazy story excellently told and superbly narrated.

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Brilliant insight of a bracing history

The author combined an authoritative macro view of the country’s history with a storyteller’s eye for details and quirks. Well narrated too.

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Exceptional

Exceptional history of modern Romania. I bought this in an Audible sale knowing next to nothing about Romanian history and I can't recommend it highly enough. The title is a line taken from Bram Stoker's Dracula, and this book unfolds much like a gothic horror story.

Extraodinarily, since achieving independence in 1878 as an Ottoman vassal state, Romania has been a constitutional monarchy, a fascist state, a military dictatorship, a communist republic and a parliamentary democracy. Its frontiers ebbed and flowed in a similar way.

Paul Kenyon is married to a Romanian and makes good use of the family memories of life under communist rule.

This is a gripping history, expertly related. As Paul Kenyon explains, his style is historical narrative. He believes description of place and character are crucial to help readers immerse themselves in the subject matter. He transports his audience into Ceausescu's politburo meetings, through the wildly corrupt court of King Carol II, along the secret passageways of Dracula's castle, into the bed chamber of the British-born Queen Marie, and through the swastika-festooned meeting rooms of the mystical cult of the Iron Guard.

Superb

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Fascinating and entertaining sweep through Romania

Having once visited Romania I was suprised by the beauty and character of the place. This book fed my interest in its history. The pace of the writing and narration made this a superb audio book for me.

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A thoroughly enjoyable read

I knew little of the history of Romania. This narrative is illuminating and very well-researched, detailing the brutal transition of the country from Fascism to Communism and finally to democracy and entry to the EU.

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Stunning💥

An extraordinary history told with great verve, humour and insight. Can not recommend it enough.

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Highly recommended

Audible always ends by saying I hope "you enjoyed listening". No, I cannot say that I "enjoyed" it! For me, as an offspring of a Romanian family, the book is too heartbreaking for that at times. It is well told, both in writing and in the author's reading. The prose is often reminiscent of a thriller rather than a political history but that will probably help keeping listeners engaged.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is not familiar with my poor dear country.

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10 people found this helpful

You Just wouldn't believe it.

You have to be interested in HISTORY and this books take you through Romanian History from first record up to the 1990 with a lot of information on the 20 Century which explains the Russian Influence on the country.
It does also cover everybody's friends Count Dracula
So if you want to discover a whole new world dive into this story

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1 person found this helpful

Fascinating

I downloaded this with some excitement since books on the history of Romania don’t abound on Audible (Romanian history is fascinating) and I also enjoyed the author’s previous history book on Africa (Dictatorland). This book is basically at the intersection of history and entertainment, and by that I don’t mean it is inaccurate (I am not qualified to judge) but rather that the author seems to pick the periods and topics he thinks will be of most interest to the popular (foreign) reader. He starts off with Dracula, which I think is a mistake since Romanian people (in my experience) are quite dismissive of the Dracula connection and it is arguably quite tangential. The chapters on late C19 through to early communism were enlightening and fascinating. Then there is a lot of focus on communism but he didn’t cover the subsequent post-communist period in any detail, telling the story of how Romanian got to be the country it is now (which would have interested me). So overall pros and cons but this book is well worth it even if some aspects aren’t covered.

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