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Vlad Drakulya #1
The Prince Drakulya
Being an account of the life of Drakulya, Prince of Wallachia And the bloody deeds that shaped the legend
- GenresHistorical Fiction
192 pages, Hardcover
First published February 13, 1986
About the author
Paul Doherty
250 books627 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
He has been published under several pseudonyms: P.C. Doherty, Celia L. Grace, Paul Harding, Ann Dukthas, Vanessa Alexander, Michael Clynes and Anna Apostolou but now writes only under his own name.
Paul Doherty was born in Middlesbrough (North-Eastern England) in 1946. He had the usual education before studying at Durham for three years for the Catholic priesthood but decided not to proceed. He went to Liverpool University where he gained a First Class Honours Degree in History and won a state scholarship to Exeter College, Oxford, whilst there he met his wife Carla Lynn Corbitt. He continued his studies but decided that the academic world was not for him and became a secondary school teacher.
Paul worked in Ascot, Nottingham and Crawley West Sussex before being appointed as Headmaster to Trinity Catholic School in September 1981. Trinity is a large comprehensive [1700 on roll] which teaches the full ability range, ages 11-18. The school has been described as one of the leading comprehensives in the U.K. In April, 2000 H. M. Inspectorate describe it as an 'Outstanding School', and it was given Beacon status as a Centre of Excellence whilst, in the Chief Inspector’s Report to the Secretary of State for January 2001, Trinity Catholic High School was singled out for praise and received a public accolade.
Paul’s other incarnation is as a novelist. He finished his doctorate on the reign of Edward II of England and, in 1987, began to publish a series of outstanding historical mysteries set in the Middle Age, Classical, Greek, Ancient Egypt and elsewhere. These have been published in the United States by St. Martin’s Press of New York, Edhasa in Spain, and Eichborn, Heyne, Knaur and others in Germany. They have also been published in Holland, Belgium, France, Italy, Romania, Estonia, Czechoslovakia, Russia, Bulgaria, Portugal and China, as well as Argentina and Mexico.
He has been published under several pseudonyms (see the bibliography): C. L. Grace, Paul Harding, Ann Dukthas and Anna Apostolou but now writes only under his own name. He recently launched a very successful series based around the life of Alexander the Great, published by Constable & Robinson in the U.K., and Carroll and Graf in the U.S.A., whilst his novels set in Ancient Egypt have won critical acclaim. Paul has also written several non-fiction titles; A Life of Isabella the She-wolf of France, Wife of Edward II of England, as well as study of the possible murder of Tutankhamun, the boy Pharaoh of Egypt’s 18th Dynasty, and a study on the true fate of Alexander the Great.
Paul and Carla live on the borders of London and Essex, not far from Epping Forest and six of their children have been through his own school. His wife Carla currently owns two horses and is training, for showing and dressage, a beautiful Arab filly named Polly.
Paul lectures for a number of organisations, particularly on historical mysteries, many of which later feature in his writings. A born speaker and trained lecturer Paul Doherty can hold and entertain audiences.
His one great ambition is to petition the Privy Council of England to open the Purbeck marble tomb of Edward II in Gloucester Cathedral. Paul believes the tomb does not house the body
He has been published under several pseudonyms: P.C. Doherty, Celia L. Grace, Paul Harding, Ann Dukthas, Vanessa Alexander, Michael Clynes and Anna Apostolou but now writes only under his own name.
Paul Doherty was born in Middlesbrough (North-Eastern England) in 1946. He had the usual education before studying at Durham for three years for the Catholic priesthood but decided not to proceed. He went to Liverpool University where he gained a First Class Honours Degree in History and won a state scholarship to Exeter College, Oxford, whilst there he met his wife Carla Lynn Corbitt. He continued his studies but decided that the academic world was not for him and became a secondary school teacher.
Paul worked in Ascot, Nottingham and Crawley West Sussex before being appointed as Headmaster to Trinity Catholic School in September 1981. Trinity is a large comprehensive [1700 on roll] which teaches the full ability range, ages 11-18. The school has been described as one of the leading comprehensives in the U.K. In April, 2000 H. M. Inspectorate describe it as an 'Outstanding School', and it was given Beacon status as a Centre of Excellence whilst, in the Chief Inspector’s Report to the Secretary of State for January 2001, Trinity Catholic High School was singled out for praise and received a public accolade.
Paul’s other incarnation is as a novelist. He finished his doctorate on the reign of Edward II of England and, in 1987, began to publish a series of outstanding historical mysteries set in the Middle Age, Classical, Greek, Ancient Egypt and elsewhere. These have been published in the United States by St. Martin’s Press of New York, Edhasa in Spain, and Eichborn, Heyne, Knaur and others in Germany. They have also been published in Holland, Belgium, France, Italy, Romania, Estonia, Czechoslovakia, Russia, Bulgaria, Portugal and China, as well as Argentina and Mexico.
He has been published under several pseudonyms (see the bibliography): C. L. Grace, Paul Harding, Ann Dukthas and Anna Apostolou but now writes only under his own name. He recently launched a very successful series based around the life of Alexander the Great, published by Constable & Robinson in the U.K., and Carroll and Graf in the U.S.A., whilst his novels set in Ancient Egypt have won critical acclaim. Paul has also written several non-fiction titles; A Life of Isabella the She-wolf of France, Wife of Edward II of England, as well as study of the possible murder of Tutankhamun, the boy Pharaoh of Egypt’s 18th Dynasty, and a study on the true fate of Alexander the Great.
Paul and Carla live on the borders of London and Essex, not far from Epping Forest and six of their children have been through his own school. His wife Carla currently owns two horses and is training, for showing and dressage, a beautiful Arab filly named Polly.
Paul lectures for a number of organisations, particularly on historical mysteries, many of which later feature in his writings. A born speaker and trained lecturer Paul Doherty can hold and entertain audiences.
His one great ambition is to petition the Privy Council of England to open the Purbeck marble tomb of Edward II in Gloucester Cathedral. Paul believes the tomb does not house the body
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 3, 2014
Over the years, I’ve read several books on this Medieval Bad Boy both fictional and biographical in nature. Most of the fiction blends history with the occult or supernatural, combining the real Vlad Dracula with his vampiric alter ego, and this is fine as the majority of those stories I read were quite good. (And some were quite awful, but that's another story...)
All this leads to my decision to read Prince Drakulya by P. C. Doherty. This book was originally published in 1986, but I only recently came across it. When I saw that it was about the historical Dracula, and that it was by an author whose historical mysteries I love, it was a no-brainer that I would give this a whirl. Not only have I a long-time interest in the historical Vlad Dracula (or Drakulya as Doherty spells it, which is closer to the original form of the name), but I also love reading Medieval European history, particularly persons, places, and things in Eastern and Central Europe.
I was interested to see how Doherty would tell the story. It would be easy to turn the novel into little more than a cheap Medieval horror story, but Doherty hasn’t fallen into that trap. Instead, he has tried to show the man behind the legend and what made him tick.
Prince Drakulya is actually the first of two books, with this one telling of Vlad’s rise to power through the eyes of Rhodros, a slave of the Turks who becomes Dracula’s close friend and confidant. The story opens with a young Vlad and his younger brother Radu as hostage-prisoners of the Ottoman Turks, pawns in the power game being played by his father, Vlad Dracul, prince of Wallachia, and the Turks. (By the way, the surname Dracula means “son of Dracul” or “son of the Dragon”, which refers to his father having been invested in the Order of the Dragon, chivalric order founded in 1408.) During his youth with the Turks, Vlad is treated with reasonable care along with cruelty, at times subjected to both physical and psychological torture, tactics that are used to create in Vlad Dracula a malleable client prince the Turks can place on the throne of Wallachia. In the end, however, the Turks will have created an enemy that cannot fathom.
When news reaches Vlad that his father and oldest brother Mircea are dead (Vlad ambushed and killed by boyars – Wallachian nobles – in league with the Hungarian regent Hunyadi, Mircea tortured and buried alive), he convinces his captors that he is their man, and gets Turkish support to claim the throne of Wallachia, now occupied by his cousin. This sets the groundwork for the invasion of Wallachia, with Vlad’s early successes and failures. Vlad has learned his lessons from the Turks well, and he is not above using terror as a means to an end. This first book ends with Vlad taking the throne, and the foreshadowing of darker events to come as Vlad plots his revenge against those boyars (nobles) who were responsible for his father’s and brother’s death.
Mr. Doherty’s research is quite good, and he makes good use of what we know about the historical Vlad Dracula to create a fast-paced historical novel filled with treachery, conspiracies, plots and counter plots, and (of course) battles. Doherty’s Drakulya is not a monster, but he definitely has a dark side to his personality that, when let loose, can do monstrous things.
All this leads to my decision to read Prince Drakulya by P. C. Doherty. This book was originally published in 1986, but I only recently came across it. When I saw that it was about the historical Dracula, and that it was by an author whose historical mysteries I love, it was a no-brainer that I would give this a whirl. Not only have I a long-time interest in the historical Vlad Dracula (or Drakulya as Doherty spells it, which is closer to the original form of the name), but I also love reading Medieval European history, particularly persons, places, and things in Eastern and Central Europe.
I was interested to see how Doherty would tell the story. It would be easy to turn the novel into little more than a cheap Medieval horror story, but Doherty hasn’t fallen into that trap. Instead, he has tried to show the man behind the legend and what made him tick.
Prince Drakulya is actually the first of two books, with this one telling of Vlad’s rise to power through the eyes of Rhodros, a slave of the Turks who becomes Dracula’s close friend and confidant. The story opens with a young Vlad and his younger brother Radu as hostage-prisoners of the Ottoman Turks, pawns in the power game being played by his father, Vlad Dracul, prince of Wallachia, and the Turks. (By the way, the surname Dracula means “son of Dracul” or “son of the Dragon”, which refers to his father having been invested in the Order of the Dragon, chivalric order founded in 1408.) During his youth with the Turks, Vlad is treated with reasonable care along with cruelty, at times subjected to both physical and psychological torture, tactics that are used to create in Vlad Dracula a malleable client prince the Turks can place on the throne of Wallachia. In the end, however, the Turks will have created an enemy that cannot fathom.
When news reaches Vlad that his father and oldest brother Mircea are dead (Vlad ambushed and killed by boyars – Wallachian nobles – in league with the Hungarian regent Hunyadi, Mircea tortured and buried alive), he convinces his captors that he is their man, and gets Turkish support to claim the throne of Wallachia, now occupied by his cousin. This sets the groundwork for the invasion of Wallachia, with Vlad’s early successes and failures. Vlad has learned his lessons from the Turks well, and he is not above using terror as a means to an end. This first book ends with Vlad taking the throne, and the foreshadowing of darker events to come as Vlad plots his revenge against those boyars (nobles) who were responsible for his father’s and brother’s death.
Mr. Doherty’s research is quite good, and he makes good use of what we know about the historical Vlad Dracula to create a fast-paced historical novel filled with treachery, conspiracies, plots and counter plots, and (of course) battles. Doherty’s Drakulya is not a monster, but he definitely has a dark side to his personality that, when let loose, can do monstrous things.
July 14, 2020
This is not a novel about Dracula as a vampire. Just thought I'd mention that first off. Rather, it's a novel about the historical figure Vlad Drakulya (Vlad the Impaler). This first novel of two concentrates of Vlad's early life as a hostage of the Ottoman Turks. This isn't a book for the faint of heart. Book 2 is even more graphic and gory. However, if you want a good historical read about this little known slice of history, give these a go. Well written, exciting, engaging.
January 16, 2014
Though his murder mysteries are always excellent to read, Doherty is most gifted at bringing historical figures to life. See An Evil Spirit Out of the West for the best example of his talent.
I loved The Prince Drakulya. A quick, fast-paced read with some beautiful descriptions of Europe, then under the control of the Ottoman Empire. The story is told form the POV of a slave, Rhodros, who accompanies Drakulya from Edirne, all the way back to his native land of Wallachia. The book is more of a set up, I feel, for the following book than anything else, though it serves as an in-depth character study of Drakulya (whom I am personally fascinated with). Mihail, Radu and the rest make an intriguing, unique ensemble. A definite read for any history fan (or any person anywhere ever generally. I'm not a Doherty fangirl, I swear...).
I loved The Prince Drakulya. A quick, fast-paced read with some beautiful descriptions of Europe, then under the control of the Ottoman Empire. The story is told form the POV of a slave, Rhodros, who accompanies Drakulya from Edirne, all the way back to his native land of Wallachia. The book is more of a set up, I feel, for the following book than anything else, though it serves as an in-depth character study of Drakulya (whom I am personally fascinated with). Mihail, Radu and the rest make an intriguing, unique ensemble. A definite read for any history fan (or any person anywhere ever generally. I'm not a Doherty fangirl, I swear...).
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews