Children of the Night

The Strange and Epic Story of Modern Romania

By: Paul Kenyon

Narrated by: Paul Kenyon

A vivid, brilliant, darkly humorous and horrifying history of some of the strangest dictators that Europe has ever seen.
'A witty and page-turning narrative full of grotesque characters' Misha Glenny

'Kenyon relates all this with verve [and] humour ... He patiently untangles the complicated webs of loyalty and enmity' Literary Review

'Absolutely essential reading for anyone interested in Romania past and present' John Simpson

Balanced precariously on the shifting fault line between East and West, Romania's schizophrenic, often violent past is one of the great untold stories of modern Europe.

The country that gave us Vlad Dracula, and whose citizens consider themselves descendants of ancient Rome, has traditionally preferred the status of enigmatic outsider. But this beautiful and unexplored land has experienced some of the most disastrous leaderships of the last century.

After a relatively benign period led by a dutiful King and his vivacious British-born Queen, the country oscillated wildly. Its interwar rulers form a gallery of bizarre characters and extreme movements: the corrupt and mentally unbalanced King Carol; the fascist death cult led by Corneliu Codreanu; the vain General Ion Antonescu, who seized power in 1940 and led the country into a catastrophic alliance with Nazi Germany. After 1945 power was handed to Romania's tiny communist party, under which it experienced severe repression, purges and collectivisation.

Then in 1965, Nicolae Ceau?escu came to power. And thus began the strangest dictatorship of all.

©2021 Paul Kenyon (P)2022 W. F. Howes Ltd

Critic reviews

"A witty and page-turning narrative full of grotesque characters." (Misha Glenny)

"Kenyon relates all this with verve [and] humour.... He patiently untangles the complicated webs of loyalty and enmity." (Literary Review)

"Absolutely essential reading for anyone interested in Romania past and present." (John Simpson)

Extremely interesting and well done

The author is spot on in his analysis from the very beginning of Romania the story is interesting and well told and well narrated. Highly recommend

A harrowing depiction of reality

Having been born in Romania in the ‘70s, but too young to remember the details of its history given my family’s emigration in the mid ‘80s, Paul’s detailed account of the transgressions taken by the country’s leaders should be a lesson to all that cherish democracy and why we need to defend it. This book provides so many insights and parallels that are still taking place around the world today. Great book and highly entertaining, albeit scary!

The story is concise and informative

Very informative. Pronunciation of Romanian very poor. Would have liked to hear about the current situation as it is possible that there are politicians now that are worthy of trust

The End of an Era

I love this book. I saw this play out on TV when I was growing up. I always wanted to know more about what happened during this period. I read one book on this subject a couple of years ago but it was short and did not tell everything that this book told. This book basically went into the whole history of Romania. I love both the narration and the story.

Shines a light on some little understood history

This book was a revelation of the modern history of Romania. A must read if you would like to understand more about this mysterious part of Europe and how it's amazing people and unique culture have managed to survive into becoming one of the fastest growing economies in Europe.

Romania history complete

Excellent. Narration by the author/exceptional. Balanced weight for a knock out body of history. Funny and scary anecdotal stories of human tradegy and farce. Loved this book.

A haunting look at Romanian history

I thought this was a simply fascinating history of Romania. The author does an excellent job of giving background and key people involved in Romanian history. I would strongly recommend this book for anybody who has an interest in the Eastern European history, as well as the Cold War.

Amazing

Paul Kenyon is an amazing author. He has a way of taking very complex events and breaking them into manageable pieces that can be digested. He is also a terrific story teller. He has a technique that is akin to the “Ken Burns” effect. Ken Burns the documentary producer started taking still images and then moving the camera around them in a way that makes you almost feel like they are living like a clip of film. Kenyon does the same thing using images to dissect and then color in a way that brings the moment to life and places it in a visual context. Of course he is often making an educated guess but it is done in a terrific and informative way. The same can be said for Dictatorland another of his novels that is equally brilliant.

Best book I've read in a long time

This book is extraordinary. I read it before returning to Romania and now just reread it for the second time after returning from my second visit in Romania. as an American having visited Romania twice, I have said after both trips that the effects of communism and overall history there is still extremely palpable. You can literally still feel the effects of communism especially. This book brings that history to life and helps give me, as an American who visited, a better sense of what makes Romania what it is today, and the extraordinary resilience of the people and the culture.

Enlightening & Enthralling Narrative

The author reading is always a risk, but Kenyon does very well. The book itself is fantastic, and knits together many of the aspects of the East/West divide’s hinterland that of which most people in my country are only vaguely aware. The story is character driven and chock full of history, along with many examples of the oligarchal political creatures we now seem to be electing more and more in the west. Many lessons to be learned from the Romanian example. I want to visit now too!