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)

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

Must read

It was easy to follow and understand. I usually fine history books boring but I couldn’t stop listening to this book

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!

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.