Prince Vlad III, who ruled Wallachia in the 15th century, went down in history with the nicknames Dracula - not only “Son of the Dragon”, but also “Son of the Devil” - and Tepes, “Impaler”. In modern popular culture, his name is firmly associated with the image of a bloodsucker vampire, while in Romania he is glorified as a folk hero, a fighter for the country's independence. There are many legends and little documentary evidence preserved about Dracula, which, however, make it possible to reconstruct the biography of this extraordinary ruler, who lived at the turn of the era, at the turn of the confrontation between the strongest powers of his time - the Ottoman and Holy Roman Empires, Hungary, Poland. Historian Vadim Erlikhman in his book explores not only the life of the real Vlad Dracula, but also the development of the “black legend” about him from popular popular books of the Renaissance to the latest Hollywood films. Inevitably, legends about vampires are also touched upon, although Dracula became associated with them only in the 19th century. Whether by chance or not is a difficult question, which is also considered by the author of the book.