Derek Hall’s superficial examination of the vampire, aimed primarily at the
teenage market, has a chapter on Vlad Țepeș and another on Transylvania, which
despite being crassly titled ‘Land of the Vampire’ expands on the region’s
folklore. The book is nicely illustrated
with some very attractive photographs that will delight the Romanian tourist
board. The text, however, while it is
useful background for anyone whose ideas of the historical Vlad and of
Transylvania come from films and mass-market novels, does not delve
particularly deeply and is at times simplistic when dealing with the complex
historical material.
