E85 Transylvania P. 1

Gladio Free Europe

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Americans are known for many things. Geographic insight of Eastern Europe is not one of them. Yet every American over age six can tell you which Romanian region is the home of Count Dracula. Thanks to the incredible popularity of Bram Stoker's 1897 novel, Transylvania has a unique place in the American and British popular consciousness, totally beyond that of any other province in this part of the world. To see how this came to pass, we have to understand the ways that Dracula is a snapshot of Victorian fears, fascinations, and colonial psychoses and explore the real history of this long-contested region.

In this two-part series, Liam and Russian Sam pore over the ancient tomes to uncover both the history of Transylvania and the strange, circuitous path that gave this region its uniquely macabre reputation, from the first invasions of the Magyars that terrified Christian Europe, to the establishment of German colonies that may have inspired by the Pied Piper legend, and ultimately the blood, brutal career of Vlad the Impaler. Although he never actually ruled Transylvania, the real-life Dracula's persecution of German-speakers became one of Europe's first media spectacles, giving this proud eastern boyar an afterlife that he still enjoys today.

Don't forget the garlic as you join Gladio Free Europe on this excursion down the Danube, as we venture into the land beyond the forest.