About this Item
Little Brown, New York, 2005. First edition. First printing. A pristine unread copy, very fine/very fine in all respects. SIGNED AND DATED BY AUTHOR on title page in month of publication, dated July 21, 2005. Comes with mylar dust jacket protector. This copy is signed and dated, without any inscription. You cannot find a better copy. Seller Inventory # mmm19
Bibliographic Details
Title: The Historian (Signed First Edition)
Publisher: Little, Brown (New York)
Publication Date: 2005
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: New
Dust Jacket Condition: New
Signed: Signed by Author(s)
Edition: 1st Edition
About this title
As well as numerous settings, both in and out of the East Bloc, Kostova has three basic story lines to keep straight--one from 1930, when Professor Bartolomew Rossi begins his dangerous research into Dracula, one from 1950, when Professor Rossi's student Paul takes up the scent, and the main narrative from 1972. The criss-crossing story lines mirror the political advances, retreats, triumphs, and losses that shaped Dracula's beleaguered homeland--sometimes with the Byzantines on top, sometimes the Ottomans, sometimes the rag-tag local tribes, or the Orthodox church, and sometimes a fresh conqueror like the Soviet Union.
Although the book is appropriately suspenseful and a delight to read--even the minor characters are distinctive and vividly seen--its most powerful moments are those that describe real horrors. Our narrator recalls that after reading descriptions of Vlad burning young boys or impaling "a large family," she tried to forget the words: "For all his attention to my historical education, my father had neglected to tell me this: history's terrible moments were real. I understand now, decades later, that he could never have told me. Only history itself can convince you of such a truth." The reader, although given a satisfying ending, gets a strong enough dose of European history to temper the usual comforts of the closing words. --Regina Marler
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
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