THE HISTORIAN
by Kostova, Elizabeth
- Used
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- As New with no dust jacket
- ISBN 10
- 0316011770
- ISBN 13
- 9780316011778
- Seller
-
Palatine, Illinois, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Synopsis
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. 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.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. 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. Generations of historians have risked their reputations, their sanity, and even their lives to learn the truth about Vlad the Impaler and Dracula. 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. 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. In city after city, in monasteries and archives, in letters and in secret conversations, the horrible truth emerges about Vlad the Impaler's dark reign-and about a time-defying pact that may have kept his awful work alive down through the ages.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. Elizabeth Kostova's debut novel is an adventure of monumental proportions, a relentless tale that blends fact and fantasy, history and the present, with an assurance that is almost unbearably suspenseful-and utterly unforgettable.
Reviews
Riding a bit on the coat tails of the Da Vinci Code and awfully similar in theme, but at least much better written with something approaching real-life dialogue.
Excellent fictional account of the mystery of Vlad Tepes.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Round Table Books, LLC (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 4640
- Title
- THE HISTORIAN
- Author
- Kostova, Elizabeth
- Format/Binding
- Hard Cover
- Book Condition
- New As New with no dust jacket
- Edition
- Stated First Edition. Fifth Printing
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN 10
- 0316011770
- ISBN 13
- 9780316011778
- Publisher
- Little, Brown & Co.
- Place of Publication
- NY
- Date Published
- 2005
- Keywords
- 0316011770, Fiction;, Horror, Vampires, Dracula
Terms of Sale
Round Table Books, LLC
SATISFACTION GUARANTEED - Any book may be returned in the same condition within 30 days of receipt for a full refund.
About the Seller
Round Table Books, LLC
About Round Table Books, LLC
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Tight
- Used to mean that the binding of a book has not been overly loosened by frequent use.
- Unopened
- A state in which all or some of the pages of a book have not been separated from the adjacent pages, caused by a traditional...
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- New
- A new book is a book previously not circulated to a buyer. Although a new book is typically free of any faults or defects, "new"...
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- Gilt
- The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in...
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...