'To you, perceptive reader, I bequeath my history.Late one night, exploring her father's library, a young woman finds an ancient book and a cache of yellowing letters. Blends history & fantasy in evoking the enigmatic figure of Vlad the Impaler. Signed by author on title page without inscription.

The volume is in perfect, pristine condition, unmarked, tight, square and clean. Parsing obscure signs and hidden texts, reading codes worked into the fabric of medieval monastic traditions - and evading the unknown adversaries who will go to any lengths to conceal and protect Vlad's ancient powers - one woman comes ever closer to the secret of her own past and a confrontation with the very definition of evil. What does the legend of Vlad the Impaler have to do with the modern world? Is it possible that the Dracula of myth truly existed - and that he has lived on, century after century, pursuing his own unknowable ends? The answers to these questions cross time and borders, as first the father and then the daughter search for clues, from dusty Ivy League libraries to Istanbul, Budapest, and the depths of Eastern Europe. Now one young woman must decide whether to take up this quest herself - to follow her father in a hunt that nearly brought him to ruin years ago, when he was a vibrant young scholar and her mother was still alive. Generations of historians have risked their reputations, their sanity, and even their lives to learn the truth about Vlad the Impaler and Dracula. It is a quest for the truth about Vlad the Impaler, the medieval ruler whose barbarous reign formed the basis of the legend of Dracula. The letters provide links to one of the darkest powers that humanity has ever known - and to a centuries-long quest to find the source of that darkness and wipe it out. The letters are all addressed to 'My dear and unfortunate successor, ' and they plunge her into a world she never dreamed of - a labyrinth where the secrets of her father's past and her mother's mysterious fate connect to an inconceivable evil hidden in the depths of history. Late one night, in 1972 Amsterdam, exploring her father's library, a young woman finds an ancient book and a cache of yellowing letters.

It is detective work in historical research, travel and pursuit in exotic lands, and expert knowledge of book collecting, that leads to an ancient legend found to be all too real. A lyrical and literate novel of superb style, a tale of Dracula, his story from history and also in the 20th Century. Quarter bound in publisher's red cloth over black boards, gilt lettering and borders on spine, Little, Brown medallion blind-stamped on cover, maps on endpapers.This is a new, unopened copy in perfect condition.

The historian kostova