{"product_id":"2940044500983","title":"In the Shadow of Empires","description":"\u003cp\u003eVlad Dracula, three times ruler of Walachia, never once ruler of Transylvania, indeed he left Transylvania at around the age of 7, when his\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003efather took the throne in Wallachia and moved his family from Sighisoara to Tirgoviste (and no, he didn't have a castle in Transylvania\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eeither. Neither the one in Bran, nor any other). Vlad was given as a hostage to the Ottomans in ca. 1442 and held there until his father's\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003emurder in 1448. He then briefly ruled with Ottoman backing. Sent packing, he roamed around until he managed to get the throne back in 1456.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe ruled for 6 years in what by many is still seen as a golden period, where crime and anti-social behaviour was as good as eradicated\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ethrough harsh and very public punishment of those that broke the law (impaling was particularly popular. He had learned that trick from the\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOttomans). He enraged Fatih Sultan Mehmet by a series of raids into Ottoman held Bulgaria in the winter of 1461, and in 1462 Mehmet came\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003efor him. Following a series of guerrilla skirmishes, Vlad finally withdrew to his bolthole castle in Poienari, which was eventually\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ebombarded by Ottoman cannons and Vlad had to flee to Transylvania. Having had enough of him causing trouble with the sultan, the Hungarian\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eking, Matthias, put him in house arrrest for the next 14 years (partly in Budapest), only to support his last reign in Wallachia in 1476,\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ewhen Mathias needed a strong arm facing the sultan. He was killed in battle in January 1477 and his head was sent to the sultan as proof\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ethat his long-time adversary had died.\u003cbr\u003eDespite this historic summary, most people think that Vlad Dracula was from Transylvania, that his castle stands in the Borgo Pass and that\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ehe is a vampire.\u003cbr\u003eThe book \"In the Shadow of Empires\" is a narrative of the historic Vlad Dracula, the events he shaped and the events that shaped him. It\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003efollows Vlad Dracula from cradle to grave and specifically avoids discussing vampires, apart from where it is absolutely necessary to link\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ethe historic person to nineteenth century fiction writing.\u003cbr\u003eWritten by an international traveller, who spent 9 years living in Transylvania, and couldn't understand why there was no Dracula, the book\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eis factual but written in light and accessible language aimed at a general, rather than academic, audience.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"First Break","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47067158282480,"sku":"2940044500983","price":3.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940044500983_p0.jpg?v=1763962254","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940044500983","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}