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This article is about the 2005 novel by Elizabeth Kostova. For the academic journal, see The Historian (journal). The Historian is a journal of history published quarterly in the United States on behalf of the national history honor society Phi Alpha Theta, by
The Historian
The Historian
Author Elizabeth Kostova
Country United States
Language English
Genre(s) Horror, Historical
Publisher Little, Brown
Publication date June 14, 2005
Media type Print (Hardcover, Paperback)
Pages 656 (Hardcover)
ISBN ISBN 0-316-01177-0 (Hardcover)

The Historian is a 2005 novel by Elizabeth Kostova about a quest, reaching through the past five centuries, for the historical Dracula. Elizabeth Johnson Kostova (born December 26, 1964) is an American author The United States of America —commonly referred to as the English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States Horror fiction is broadly Fiction in any medium intended to scare unsettle or horrify the audience An historical novel is a Novel in which the story is set among historical events or more generally in which the time of the action predates the lifetime of the Author Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of Literature or Information &ndash the activity of making information available for public view A hardcover (or hardback or hardbound) is a Book bound with rigid protective covers (typically of cardboard covered with Cloth Paperback, softback, or softcover describe and refer to a Book by the nature of its binding. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. A novel (from Italian novella, Spanish novela, French nouvelle for "new" "news" or "short story Elizabeth Johnson Kostova (born December 26, 1964) is an American author This article is about the word for other meanings see Quest (disambiguation A quest is a journey towards a goal used in Mythology Dracula is an 1897 novel by Irish author Bram Stoker, featuring as its primary Antagonist the vampire Count Dracula. The novel, Kostova's first, appeared on the New York Times bestseller list during the summer and fall of 2005 and it was named the 2006 Book Sense "Book of the Year" in the Adult Fiction category. A bestseller is a Book that is identified as extremely popular by its inclusion on lists of currently top selling titles that are based on publishing industry and book trade Book Sense was a Marketing and branding program of the American Booksellers Association, in which many Independent It's been published in 28 languages. "This book is undoubtedly the most suspenseful book I have ever read and I will soon read it again. Kostova's unique way of narrating is intricate in its own way. " says Kristelle Baysa of the New York Times.

While nominally a modern re-telling of the Dracula story, The Historian delves deeply into the nature of history and its relevance to today's world, as well as serving as a cautionary tale on the historical antagonism between Western Civilization and Islam. History is the study of the past particularly the written record Those who study history as a Profession are called Historians Etymology A cautionary tale is a traditional story told in Folklore, to warn its hearer of a Danger. For other meanings including people named 'Islam' see Islam (disambiguation.

Contents

Plot introduction

The novel is presented as 1st-person account written in the year 2005. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The narrator (Familia named after her grandmother) is a historian whose father, Paul, unwittingly ended up searching for the vampiric Vlad Ţepeş. See also History An historian is an individual who studies and writes about History, and is regarded as an Authority on it Vampires are mythological or folkloric revenants who subsist by feeding on the blood of the living Although the narrator's adventures begin in 1972, there are three distinct storylines narrated in parallel, alternating chapters:

All of the story is told through letters, excerpts from books and academic literature, and above all, the narrator's reconstructions of stories told to her by her father. Details of the plot and of Dracula's nature, motives, and history are slowly revealed.

The book has numerous settings all across Europe, many of which are complicated by Cold War tensions after World War II, the period when much of the action occurs. Cold War is the state of conflict tension and competition that existed between the United States and the Soviet Union (USSR and their respective allies from the World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including

Plot summary

The story begins with the narrator first discovering a very old, vellum-bound book with a wood carving print of a dragon in the center of the book as well as several old letters that are all addressed to '"my dear and unfortunate successor"' in her father's library in their home in 1972 Amsterdam. Amsterdam (pronounced) is the capital and largest city of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Holland in the west

When the narrator confronts her father about these odd items, he begins to tell her about how he came to find the unique blank book with the solitary dragon in his study carrel in the library while he was doing graduate work at a university in America. When he was unable to discover whom the book belonged to, he took it to his mentor, Bartholomew Rossi, and was shocked to find that Rossi himself had also found one of the books when he had been a graduate student in much the same manner that Paul had found his own book. Upon discovering that Paul has also received an identical book, he began to tell Paul of the research that the book had sparked in him, curious to discover how this book could be connected to Vlad the Impaler, also known as Vlad Dracula, the cruel ruler of Wallachia. This article is about the region in what is now Southern Romania He had traveled to Istanbul, doing research and the appearance of curious characters and unexplained events cause him to drop the subject and return to his graduate work in Greece, forgetting the legend of Dracula because of the odd events that had occurred. Istanbul (historically Byzantium and later Constantinople; see the other Names of Istanbul) is the largest city of Turkey Dracula is an 1897 novel by Irish author Bram Stoker, featuring as its primary Antagonist the vampire Count Dracula. Rossi takes from the same shelf where he had kept the book a stack of letters and gives them to Paul, telling him to read them so that he can better understand what he had learned of the Dracula legend. Dracula is an 1897 novel by Irish author Bram Stoker, featuring as its primary Antagonist the vampire Count Dracula.

Once Paul learned of his advisor's own experiences, he leaves, meaning to consider what he has just learned. When he returns to campus the next day, he learns that Professor Rossi has disappeared, leaving a smear of blood on the desk and on the ceiling. Paul, certain that something must have happened to his advisor, begins to delve into research of Dracula. Dracula is an 1897 novel by Irish author Bram Stoker, featuring as its primary Antagonist the vampire Count Dracula. During his research one day, he meets a young, dark haired woman reading a copy of Bram Stoker's 'Dracula'. Abraham "Bram" Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912 was an Irish writer of novels and short stories who is best known today for his 1897 horror Dracula is an 1897 novel by Irish author Bram Stoker, featuring as its primary Antagonist the vampire Count Dracula. Believing that she might be able to help him in his research and surprised at the coincidence that someone could be doing research on the same topic as him, he tries to strike up a conversation with her, but she seems uninterested and leaves quickly. Later, when Paul goes to the card catalog to do more research on Vlad Dracula, he discovers that someone has taken all of the cards for every book even relating to Dracula, including Stoker's novel. Dracula is an 1897 novel by Irish author Bram Stoker, featuring as its primary Antagonist the vampire Count Dracula. Convinced that the dark haired girl might have been responsible, he goes to the front counter to find out who might have checked out the only copy of Dracula. Dracula is an 1897 novel by Irish author Bram Stoker, featuring as its primary Antagonist the vampire Count Dracula. After discovering her name, Helen Rossi, he arranges to meet with her and convinces her that someone might be trying to stop them from doing research on Dracula. Dracula is an 1897 novel by Irish author Bram Stoker, featuring as its primary Antagonist the vampire Count Dracula. Although she seems unconvinced, she does admit that she is the daughter of Bartholomew Rossi, and she is trying to out-do her father. She does not seem to want to have anything to do with him other than to one-up him in the academic world. She has not even approached him since enrolling in the university after arriving from Budapest. Budapest ( also /ˈbʊ-/) is the capital city of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary it serves as the country's principal Political, When Paul tells her that he has several letters of Rossi's regarding his Dracula research, she agrees to meet him in a church so they can both look at the papers Rossi left with him.

After several other events, they decide that Rossi might have been taken by Dracula to Istanbul. Istanbul (historically Byzantium and later Constantinople; see the other Names of Istanbul) is the largest city of Turkey They embark on a trip to Istanbul immediately and there they met a professor, Turgut Bora from Istanbul University who specialized in Shakespearean literature while out to dinner on their first night in Istanbul. Istanbul University (İstanbul Üniversitesi is Turkey 's main and oldest prestige University. William Shakespeare ( baptised Istanbul (historically Byzantium and later Constantinople; see the other Names of Istanbul) is the largest city of Turkey While conversing with him, they discover that Turgut was very interested in the history of Dracula because of an odd book that he had found many years before that had a single woodcutting of a dragon and a single inscription of "Dracula". He also has access to the archives of Sultan Mehmed II, which is exactly what Helen and Paul had been looking for during their walk through Istanbul. They agree to meet the next morning and he promises to lead them to the archives.

From Istanbul, Paul and Helen then travel to Budapest, Hungary where they meet with Helen's aunt who works in the Hungarian government. Budapest ( also /ˈbʊ-/) is the capital city of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary it serves as the country's principal Political, Hungary (Magyarország 'mɔɟɔrorsaːg) officially in English the Republic of Hungary ( Magyar Köztársaság, literally Magyar (Hungarian Republic During a lecture that he gives at Budapest University, Paul meets another recipient of another "Dracula" dragon book, Professor Hugh James. During this part of their search, they travel to see Helen's mother, hoping there is some information that she can give them about Rossi's activity when they'd met in the 1930s.

During her father's story, they travel to Oxford for a week of lectures and meetings. When she wakes up one morning, the narrator searches her father's room and finds letters written to her, explaining all of her father's, and Rossi's, mysterious story leaving off the story that he had been telling. These letters ultimately lead her to a monastery in Pyrénées-Orientales, in the south of France. This article concerns the buildings occupied by monastics. For the life inside monasteries and its historical roots see Monasticism. Pyrénées-Orientales (Eastern Pyrenees Pirineus Orientals Pirenèus Orientals is a department of southern France adjacent to the northern Spanish frontier

On her way there she reads letters of her father's travels through Eastern Europe while looking for Rossi with the help of Helen. He eventually found Rossi, and had to drive a silver dagger through his heart to prevent his full transformation into a vampire. Silver (ˈsɪlvɚ is a Chemical element with the symbol " Ag " (argentum from the Ancient Greek: ἀργήντος - argēntos gen The heart is a muscular organ in all Vertebrates responsible for pumping Blood through the Blood vessels by repeated rhythmic Helen (gradually revealed to be the narrator's mother) is also in danger of becoming undead, as throughout the journey she is injected with vampiric venom twice (of the three required to become a vampire).

The accounts written by Paul and Rossi reveal many events, developments and revelations. To name the most relevant:

When the narrator arrives at the monastery, she finds her father by a tomb there. In an ensuing struggle, individuals mentioned throughout the story mysteriously converge in a final attempt to defeat Dracula, which results in the death of Hugh James, and the supposed death of Dracula from a silver bullet fired directly into his heart by Helen, who finally returns to Paul and the narrator.

Back into the present (when the narrator is fully grown), it is revealed that nine years after Helen and her family were reunited and killed Dracula, Helen dies of a wasting disease. A few years later, Paul dies from a land mine. The narrator is visiting a conference of Dracula scholars to discuss his life, when she stops in at an exhibit in a nearby museum about Dracula. She accidentally leaves her notes in the museum, and the attendant rushes out and returns to her her notes, as well as another one of the books with the Dragon in the middle, revealing that either Dracula or one of his minions with access to Dracula's library is still alive and continuing the legacy.

The book concludes with the narrator day dreaming about what Dracula's last visit to Snagov Monastery must have been like, with Dracula talking to the Abbot about his intention to live on after death.

Background and major themes

Like Bram Stoker's Dracula, Historian presents the story in the form of correspondence. Abraham "Bram" Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912 was an Irish writer of novels and short stories who is best known today for his 1897 horror Kostova regularly quotes from Stoker's original book, and intentionally includes the book and some of its more memorable passages and scenes within her novel. For example, the encounter between Rossi and Vlad Ţepeş is written exactly like Stoker's description of the initial meeting between Count Dracula and Jonathan Harker.

Unlike in Stoker's book, the Dracula of Historian is developed from the historical, real-life Vlad III Dracula of Wallachia. This article is about the region in what is now Southern Romania The book only makes historical departures when necessary to explain his transition into a vampire. Kostova even includes the historical fact that Dracula was beheaded after his death, and that his body had to be reunited with his head before he could be brought back to life. Decapitation (from Latin, caput, capitis, meaning head or beheading, is the cutting off of the head of a person or animal

The central theme of the book, as implied by the title and described in the introduction, is the ability of history to provide insights into how to deal with the present and future, as well as the danger of ignoring such insights. A theme, from Old French tesme, is a broad idea in a story or literary work or a message or lesson conveyed by a written text As Rossi remarks numerous times, history can often "reach forward" to grab people in the present; in the person of Dracula, this warning becomes quite literal.

Within the novel, Dracula also becomes a symbol for mankind's destructive nature and capacity. It is revealed that Joseph Stalin admired Ivan the Terrible, who in turn admired Vlad Ţepeş. Joseph Stalin ( ნამდვილი გვარი ჯუღაშვილი|Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili; March 5 1953 was General Secretary of the Communist Party Throughout the entire narrative, the characters encounter sinister events that foreshadow the twentieth century's bloodshed. The twentieth century of the Common Era began on For example, in 1930, Rossi and a guide in Transylvania accidentally encounter a group of Romanian Iron Guard members who greet each other with the fascist salute. Transylvania (Ardeal or ro ''Transilvania'' Erdély, see also other denominations) is a Central European region located in the eastern half of the Carpathian The Iron Guard is the name most commonly given in English to a Far-right ultra- nationalist Antisemitic, fascist movement and political party The Roman salute is a gesture in which the arm is held out forward straight with palm down As Rossi's guide warns:

They are sweeping through the villages in this part of the country, picking up young men and converting them to hatred. They hate the Jews in particular, and want to rid the world of them. We Gypsies know that where Jews are killed, Gypsies are always murdered too. And then a lot of other people, usually. The Holocaust (from the Greek el ''ὁλόκαυστον'' (el-Latn holókauston holos, "completely" and kaustos, "burnt" also known as

During his conversations with Rossi in the 1950s, Dracula expresses admiration for Adolf Hitler (he owns a first edition of Mein Kampf) and Stalin (he owns a memo from the leader), and praises the United States for both developing and using the nuclear bomb. Hi and welcome to Wikipedia! Please understand that this article is frequently vandalized and vandalism is reverted immediately Mein Kampf ( English: My Struggle/My Battle) is a book by Adolf Hitler. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from Nuclear reactions either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. While he never explicitly explains his final goals, they appear to include inflicting damage on the entire human race. Human beings, humans or man (Origin 1590–1600 L homō man OL hemō the earthly one (see Humus As he tells Rossi:

In my day, a prince was able to eliminate troublesome elements only one person at a time. You do this with an infinitely greater sweep. (pg. 617)

While no direct link between Dracula, his undead followers, and atrocities is ever established, it is nonetheless revealed that there is a striking correlation between where he is staying, and where violence occurs. Undead is a collective name for fictional beings that are deceased yet behave as if alive In Probability theory and Statistics, correlation, (often measured as a correlation coefficient) indicates the strength and direction of a linear Some examples: he was in Rome during the 1620s (during the Thirty Years' War), he stayed in Florence during the excesses of the Medici family, and he appeared in Paris during the French Revolution. Rome ( Roma ˈroma Roma is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city with more than 2 For the Mauritanian Thirty Years' War see Char Bouba war. For the band see The 30 Years War. Florence ( Italian: Firenze Florentia and Fiorenza) is the Capital City of the Italian region of Tuscany Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city The French Revolution (1789–1799 was a period of political and social upheaval in the History of France, during which the French governmental structure previously an

Additionally, and also described in the introduction, Dracula is presented as something of a metaphor for the historic clash between the Western world and Islam, based on the fact that the historic Dracula fought against Muslim invasions of Europe. Metaphor (from the Greek: μεταφορά - metaphora, meaning "transfer" is language that directly compares seemingly unrelated subjects For other meanings including people named 'Islam' see Islam (disambiguation. Even centuries after his mortal existence, Dracula continues to hate Muslims everywhere - he still regards the fall of Constantinople to Muslims as the worst moment in history, and he rejoiced when the Ottoman Empire collapsed following World War I. Constantinople (Κωνσταντινούπολις Konstantinoúpolis, or gr ἡ Πόλις hē Polis, Latin: la CONSTANTINOPOLIS The Ottoman Empire (1299–1923 ( Old Ottoman Turkish: دولتْ علیّه عثمانیّه Devlet-i Âliye-yi Osmâniyye, Late Ottoman and Modern Turkish World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All

Likewise, the narrator and her family are portrayed - either symbolically or in actuality - as becoming victims of wider historical trends. Many members of the maternal side of the narrator's family, who lived in Romania, disappear following the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. Romania ( dated: Rumania, Roumania The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 ( Hungarian: 1956-os forradalom) was a spontaneous nationwide Revolt against the Stalinist government of Paul, the narrator's father and diplomat, is killed by a land mine in the former Yugoslavia during the 1990s. A land mine is an Explosive device designed to be placed on or in the ground to explode when triggered by an operator or the Proximity of a vehicle person See also Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Yugoslavia ( Serbo-Croatian The 1990s collectively refers to the years between and including 1990 and 1999 Although Helen, the narrator's mother, does not become a vampire, the vampiric blood she is infected with apparently causes a blood disease, which she dies of during the early 1980s. The 1980s was the decade spanning from January 1 1980 to December 31 1989. Finally, throughout the book, the narrator constantly makes references to a horrible and deadly terrorist attack on American soil. Terrorism is the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion Although readers are (apparently) meant to assume she is referring to the September 11, 2001 attacks, in the final chapter, it is revealed that, in the fictional future set out in the novel, terrorists successfully attack Philadelphia sometime in 2006. Events 9 - The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest ends 506 - The Bishops of Visigothic Gaul Year 2001 ( MMI) was a Common year starting on Monday according to the Gregorian calendar. Philadelphia (ˌfɪləˈdɛlfiə Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar.

Many of Dracula's motives remain unclear. Historian only includes a few brief conversations with him, although the following information comes out:

Although Stoker's book makes numerous appearances within The Historian, it is never revealed if the events (as opposed to the historical background) of the 1897 novel had any basis in fact within the novel. Year 1897 ( MDCCCXCVII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common

Literary significance & criticism

The Historian has been heavily marketed by its publisher, Time Warner, and much hype was given to it prior to its release. Time Warner Inc ( is the world's largest media and entertainment conglomerate, headquartered in New York City. Moreover, Kostova was paid an advance of $2 million. Both the marketing campaign and advance are unusual for an author's first book. In popular usage "marketing" is the promotion of products especially Advertising and Branding However in professional usage the term has a wider meaning of

Some critics have sarcastically nicknamed Historian "The Dracula Code" because of all the hype surrounding it, as well as its similarities with Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code, claiming that the publishers are trying to capitalize on the "buzz" that surrounded Brown's novel. Dan Brown (born June 22 1964 is an American Author of Thriller fiction, best known for the 2003 bestselling novel The Da Vinci Code The Da Vinci Code is a controversial mystery / detective Novel by US author Dan Brown, published in 2003 by Doubleday

However, Kostova started writing the book ten years before it was published, making any comparisons between it and The Da Vinci Code completely coincidental, and any claims of plagiarism questionable. Plagiarism is the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work Kostova was awarded the University of Michigan's Hopwood Award for the Novel-in-Progress while she was still working on it. The Hopwood Awards are a major scholarship program at the University of Michigan, founded by Avery Hopwood.

Historical Inaccuracies

The Historian takes certain obvious liberties with the story of Vlad Ţepeş, the historical Dracula, yet it also makes a number of other historical mistakes.

Helen Rossi describes a communist upbringing and a Marxist education, yet communism only came to Hungary in 1948, when Helen would have been eighteen years old. If Helen were a real person, only her college education would have been Marxist.

Paul describes seeing spartan Soviet housing complexes, yet these complexes would not have existed outside Budapest in the early 1950s.

Helen discusses her uncle’s knowledge of Stalin’s crimes:

I think my uncle was a passionate man, a convinced follower of Leninist doctrine and an admirer of Stalin before his atrocities were known here. Quit Stalin and come home to dinner. This was his affectionate way that he'd call me down to dinner while I studied upstairs in my room.

Yet those crimes were not public knowledge until well after the action of the book. Nikita Khrushchev made his famous anti-Stalin speech in 1956. Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (April 17 1894 – September 11 1971 served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 following

In libraries and archives of the 1950s, you were already not allowed to touch any book or document older than 200 years without protective gloves, etc.

External links

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