Reading the 20th Century discussion

I'm currently reading...


Children of the Night: The Strange and Epic Story of Modern Romania

by

Paul Kenyon


I can't praise it highly enough

I bought it on a whim in an Audible sale and have now got round to it

I had almost no knowledge of Romanian history however, having got through over half of it, I can confirm it's fascinating. Absolutely extraordinary

I'm now wondering about reading more about Eastern European history. I've read a few books about Russian history but not the other countries, except in passing, usually as part of Cold War related books.


Any suggestions?


Here's more about the splendid Children of the Night: The Strange and Epic Story of Modern Romania...

The only country in Eastern Europe to speak a Latin language, Romania has always felt itself different, and its unique fate has been to experience some of the most disastrous leaderships of the last century. In the First World War her German king remained neutral until 1916. The interwar rulers form a gallery of bizarre characters and movements: the corrupt King Carol; the antisemitic Iron Guard led by Corneliu Codreanu; the vain general Ion Antonescu who seized power in 1940 and led the country into alliance with Nazi Germany. After 1945 power was handed over to Romania's tiny communist party, under whom it experienced severe repression, purges and collectivization.

Then in 1964, Nicolae Ceaușescu came to power. And thus began the strangest dictatorship in recent European history.

Children of the Night is also a personal discovery of this extraordinary country, bringing together Paul Kenyon's eye for the private vices and kleptocratic tendencies of despots with a heartfelt exploration of the fate of one Romanian family in particular.

And this from Paul Kenyon...

This book was twenty-six years in the making. It tells of a country which is uniquely situated between the great ideologies, religions and political blocs of the world. I had always wanted to travel to Romania, seduced by the mixture of fairytales, Cold War politics, and the lost Fin de siècle glamor of the place. I got my chance when I attended an ambassadorial party in Bucharest after the revolution, and met the girl I would later marry.

It is controversial, I know, to begin with the story of Vlad Tepes - Dracula. As soon as the book was published I received critical emails and reviews from historians. They are right. I used Dracula as a way into an otherwise unfamiliar landscape, to bring a new audience to the story of Romania. For that I make no apologies. Otherwise, the country's history remains dry and inaccessible and debated only by academics exchanging arcane pet theories between themselves. In other words, it remains an elitist minority pursuit, rather than an open book for all to know and to try to understand.

My style is historical narrative. I believe description of place and character are crucial to help readers immerse themselves in the subject matter. I transport my 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.

I hope you enjoy.

Sounds fascinating. I've downloaded the free portion from Amazon to give it a try.

Satisfaction guaranteed Ben

Sounds interesting, but I'm not great at reading history books. Give me some fiction set in Eastern Europe and I'm all in!

Full disclosure, I'm listening to it


As Paul Kenyon says, 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

Fab fab fab

It sounds great, Nigeyb. Eastern Europe and the old Soviet bloc are fascinating to me. I think I also downloaded this on kindle, so you are encouraging me to get around to it.

I love history and biography and recently finished something so wildly different, but equally fascating, which was the biography of Kenneth Williams, Kenneth Williams: Born Brilliant. I am debating my next non-fiction read at the minute and thinking of some true crime. Possibly A Passion for Poison: Serial killer. Poisoner. Schoolboy

Sorry, I am digressing!

Queen Marie was very popular with the people. Queen Victoria was, of course, her grandmother! I think, at one point, Victoria was grandmother of almost every monarch in Europe.

Thanks


Reading your post Susan it is very obvious that you will also enjoy this book.

And yes, Marie's relationship with the royals of Europe is discussed in some detail, she also had a fascinating relationship with Romania. Her son was an "interesting" character with a dysfunctional background, as you'll discover

He liked football, I think? Wasn't he the President of the football league? Couldn't have been all bad, if so :)

Yes, I am sure I would like it. Glad you are enjoying it, Nigeyb.

Nigeyb, what is your view concerning the author's opening section on Vlad Tepes? He explains why he starts this way, but this seems to indicate that his writing might be angled to attract readers via attention getting splashes rather than more serious information!

Please convince me about the quality of the writing. I too am interested in learning more about Romana.

It works well Chrissie. It instantly grabbed my attention and is a good way into modern Romanian history as Transylvania is symbolically important for the country. Vlad is also a significant touchstone throughout their history


Re: Carol II, his football associations are not mentioned in the book Susan but, sure enough, it says here "Carol was also a fan of football, being the Romanian Football Federation's president for almost one year from 1924 until 1925"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carol_I...

We was pretty awful though, but a lot of that can be attributed to his upbringing

Thanks for your thoughts.

Have to give a really strong recommendation on this historical memoir, “Wind of Change: an American Journey in Post Soviet Russia.” Set in the early 1990’s, shortly after the USSR collapsed, the author describes his travels in Russia trying to do business and find investments. It’s the Wild West, with free wheeling managers, leaders who cannot conceive of a market economy, and exKGB trying to get ahead. Anything goes, and this one young American is hopeful for positive change. His journey reminds us of the short spark of hope that existed for just an instant in time. 5/5 ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Sounds fab. Thanks

I've now finished reading...


Children of the Night: The Strange and Epic Story of Modern Romania

by

Paul Kenyon


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.



Five star review here...

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I picked up the audiobook from the library following your rave review so thanks for that, Nigeyb - it sounds fascinating.

Have you read The Last Hundred Days? I have it, haven't got to it yet.

Also The Balkan Trilogy is set in Romania though, honestly, I struggled with it. Susan loved it, though.

You’ll love it RC


I haven’t read that book but will go and investigate

I read the first in the Balkan Trilogy but didn’t continue

I've started the audiobook of Children of the Night - for once, having the author read his own book is working very well.

It's especially interesting as I'm also reading The Books of Jacob at the moment which is set in this area of Central Europe at the crux of the Ottoman, Russian and Polish-Lithuanian empires, but 300 years later in the eighteenth century.

Serendipity 💕

That was unexpected but fascinating starting with the story of the real Dracula! I've picked up bits and pieces about him from other books so it was good to have the character and his history fleshed out - all that impaling, though ☹️

I find the Ottoman Empire so interesting so really enjoyed all the stuff about the politics of vassalage.

I'm listening slowly, have just got to the assassination of Dracula. What a great figure to have as your national character! Though I guess St. George was bloodier than we like to remember.

Delighted it’s all working so well RC

In 1903, members of the Macedonian Revolutionary Organization were often considered terrorists, and some later specifically described themselves as terrorists: killers for a cause. But by 1948, many wars and struggles later, the surviving elderly veterans of the group were retrospectively considered freedom fighters by the new Yugoslav Macedonian government, and were invited to apply for pension recognition. Although the shift in categorization from terrorist to freedom fighter is not Keith Brown's specific or overriding subject in his fine monograph, Loyal Unto Death: Trust and Terror in Revolutionary Macedonia, it hovered in my mind throughout my reading of the book, probably because it is an issue that has obvious contemporary relevance and that will never be fully settled to everyone's satisfaction. The linchpin seems to be that if one approves of the goals of a revolutionary organization, one has moved some way towards excusing its methods, and in re-defining terrorists as freedom fighters.

Brown's study is specialized, but quite readable. He uses up-to-date historical and anthropological concepts without getting bogged down in impenetrable language or overly convoluted relations of ideas. He also does not commit the common sin of sniffily dismissing earlier literature on his topic - in fact, he mines such writing, both academic and popular, for all it is worth, and in a very respectful spirit. His chief sources are archival - the aforementioned pension applications, and British Foreign Office records. His goal is to trace the internal workings of the Macedonian Revolutionary Organization through anthropological analysis. The promotional copy for the book lays out the project well: "Keith Brown focuses on social and cultural mechanisms of loyalty to describe the circuits of trust and terror--webs of secret communications and bonds of solidarity--that linked migrant workers, remote villagers, and their leaders in common cause. Loyalties were covertly created and maintained through acts of oath-taking, record-keeping, arms-trading, and in the use and management of deadly violence."

Brown has some pointed things to say about the interpretation of past events in the Balkans through a prism of contemporary ethno-nationalism, even suggesting that it was not an ESSENTIAL goal of the MRO to replace one "distant" governing authority, the Ottoman Empire, with another, localized government that would presumably be more representative of and responsive to the people. He calls this skepticism "thinking past the nation," borrowing a term from Arjun Appadurai, and he draws on James Scott's work on traditional forms of "anarchist" resistance to "being governed" to elucidate the theme. I can identify this as an area where experts will debate his conclusions, without claiming any competence to make a judgment on them myself.

The readership for a work of academic history such as this, driven by analysis rather than narrative, is naturally somewhat circumscribed, but it could be larger than it is. Enthusiastic readers of "popular history" ought not to be overly wary of tackling more advanced analyses which will help them to understand historical events in a different, more complex way, and in fact this book is a perfectly recommendable one in that respect, because it is challenging without being inaccessible to the typical educated reader. Brown opens up the concepts that he uses in a way that invites further curiosity, rather than shutting it down, and his very ample bibliography offers many avenues for additional exploration.

Susan wrote: "Beyond the Wall: East Germany, 1949-1990 which I know you enjoyed, Nigeyb, is a kindle deal of the day today if you want to pick up a copy"


Thanks Susan - that's great. I think I will grab a copy as the copy I read came from the library.