The life (in fact the lives) of Vlad III 'the Impaller' or 'Dracula' is a Rorschach test. Everybody sees what they want to see in the 'documentary stains'. And these 'stains' are expanding. Based on research in the archives and libraries of Budapest, Dubrovnik, Genoa, Mantua, Milan, Modena, Munich, Rome, Venice and Vienna, the book focuses on the conflictive medieval, and modern images created by the clash between the classical pictures of Vlad and the still preserved coeval sources.

Alexandru Simon is Research Professor at the Centre for Transylvanian Studies of the Romanian Academy in Cluj-Napoca. His recent publications include: 'Valachorum regulus' (2017), 'Re de Dacia' (2018, with Ioan-Aurel Pop), and as co-editor 'Reform and Renewal in Medieval East and Central Europe (2019, with Suzana Miljan and Éva B. Halász).

Résumé
The life (in fact the lives) of Vlad III 'the Impaller' or 'Dracula' is a Rorschach test. Everybody sees what they want to see in the 'documentary stains'. And these 'stains' are expanding. Based on research in the archives and libraries of Budapest, Dubrovnik, Genoa, Mantua, Milan, Modena, Munich, Rome, Venice and Vienna, the book focuses on the conflictive medieval, and modern images created by the clash between the classical pictures of Vlad and the still preserved coeval sources.