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The blood countess : murder, betrayal, and the making of a monster / Shelley Puhak.
Van Pelt - New Book Display HV6535.H8 P84 2026
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Log in to request item- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Puhak, Shelley, author.
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Baathory, Erzsaebet, 1560-1614.
- Baathory, Erzsaebet.
- Bathory, Elizabeth, 1560-1614--Biography.
- Women murderers--Hungary--Biography.
- Women murderers.
- Women torturers--Hungary--Biography.
- Women torturers.
- Women serial murderers--Hungary--Biography.
- Women serial murderers.
- Herbalists--Hungary--Biography.
- Herbalists.
- Countesses--Hungary--Biography.
- Countesses.
- Malicious accusation--Hungary--History--16th century.
- Malicious accusation.
- Misogyny--Hungary--History--16th century.
- Misogyny.
- Hoaxes--Hungary--History--16th century.
- Hoaxes.
- Countesses--Hungary--History--16th century--Biography.
- Countesses--History--16th century--Hungary--Biography.
- Malicious accusation--History--16th century--Hungary--Biography.
- Genre:
- Biographies.
- True crime stories.
- Physical Description:
- ix, 293 pages, 8 unnumbered page of plates : illustrations (some color), maps ; 24 cm
- Place of Publication:
- New York : Bloomsbury Publishing, 2026.
- Summary:
- There have long been whispers, coming from the castle, from the village square and from the dark woods. The great lady--a countess, from one of Europe's oldest families--is a vicious killer. Some even say she bathes in the blood of her victims. But despite claims that Elizabeth Bathory tortured and killed as many as 650 girls, some have wondered if the Countess was herself a victim of one of the most successful disinformation campaigns known to history. So, was Elizabeth Bathory a monster, a victim, or a bit of both? With the breathlessness of a whodunit, drawing upon new archival evidence and questioning old assumptions, Shelley Puhak traces the Countess's downfall, bringing to life an assertive woman leader in a world sliding into anti-scientific, reactionary darkness--a world where nothing is ever as it seems.
- Contents:
- Dramatis personae
- Prologue
- Part one: 1603-1609. A long, terrible year
- The first clue
- A wedding and a rebellion
- The curious case of Miss Modl
- See you in court
- The dose makes the poison
- Part two: 1610-1614. Strained relations
- The preacher of eCachtice
- The mysterious will
- The raid
- The servants' trial
- Her day in court
- The last Bathory
- Epilogue.
- Notes:
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 213-272) and index.
- ISBN:
- 9781639732159
- 1639732152
- OCLC:
- 1570698868
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