A vivid, brilliant, darkly humorous and horrifying hiStory of some of the strangest dictators that Europe has ever seen.
Children of the Night is also a personal discovery of this extraordinary country, bringing together Paul Kenyon\'s eye for the private vices and kleptocratic tendencies of despots with a heartfelt exploration of the fate of one Romanian family in particular..
And thus began the strangest dictatorship in recent European history.
Then in 1964, Nicolae Ceaușescu came to power.
After 1945 power was handed over to Romania\'s tiny communist party, under whom it experienced severe repression, purges, and collectivization.
The interwar rulers form a gallery of bizarre characters and movements: the corrupt King Carol; the antisemitic Iron Guard led by Corneliu Codreanu; the vain general Ion Antonescu who seized power in 1940 and led the country into alliance with Nazi Germany.
In the First World War her German king remained neutral until 1916.
The only country in Eastern Europe to speak a Latin language, Romania has always felt itself different, and its unique fate has been to experience some of the most disastrous leaderships of the last century.
A vivid, brilliant, darkly humorous and horrifying hiStory of some of the strangest dictators that Europe has ever seen
