Infamous Lady: The True Story of Countess Erzsébet Báthory: Second Edition

Amazingly detailed love the fact that the book contains letters and written reports of the period. This includes the Lady in question. Forget about the myths this is historically accurate. If you want the true History and a good read on the subject matter then this is it. Historically the book is balanced and goes beyond the subject matter or moral confines of the individual concerning good and bad, Evil etc. We know based on everything we think we know Elizabeth was Evil and a serial killer. However this book is for those that have been craving an historical record of the Lady and the events sorrounding one of Historys greatest mysterys.

From page one I was instantly drawn in. Not only does the author brilliantly describe the audacious deeds of Erzsebet but also delivered an extremely detailed and accurate historical account of the late 1500s-1600s.

I have purchased this book two times and both copies were exactly the same - the cover of the book itself has a black color that actually comes off on your hands and smears all over everything and to try and read the pages inside proved unbearable - it was as if they used too much ink or something. The smell gave me a headache that wouldn't go away. I am not giving the writing content of the book a bad review - only the atrocious and unprofessional printing they did. I wanted to read the book so badly I tried buying a second copy hoping it wouldn't be like the first one but it was just the same - impossible to read. Was very aggravated at not being able to read a book I was really looking forward to. Have read all the other books about Bathory starting with Dracula was a Woman and find her story most engrossing. Does anyone out there know where one can find a copy of this second edition of Infamous Lady that doesn't seem to be smothered and steeped in motor oil? By the way, I have a copy of the first edition (an excellent book, Kimberly Craft!) and the cover is smooth and shiny and the pages within are fine! Don't know what happened with the second edition - all I know is that I will never again purchase a book if it is from 'Create Space Independent Publishing'.

Loved the detailed translations of various Hungarian documents and the increased detail over the first edition. Looking forward to more revelations as scholarship continues.Erzsébet Báthory was a dangerous personality from a young age, and a combination of hard times, a difficult temperament, and nothing to restrain her, made her a monstrous figure alleged to be literally "bathed in blood." Ms. Craft's book offers a much more measured view by describing more about both the woman and the time she lived in, obliquely raising a disquieting question: Why do we need to exaggerate some people into monsters? What does this behavior do for us, when the person in question is already bad? What do we learn when we learn about genuinely bad people?The only thing I don't like: poor proofreading. Several typos were distracting from arb otherwise very good read.

While the author does an excellent job of establishing that much of what we know about Bathory to be myth, she also clearly proves that Bathory was definitely evil and, probably, a sadistic psychopath. Excellent.

Very well researched and written! The family background and history helped to understand the backstory. Excellent story telling from trial transcripts and witness testimony. The only negative I could find was at the end, the author seemed predisposed to want a diagnosis of schizophrenia. However the Countess was very organized and deliberate, she most likely was a sociopath with a personality disorder, but not schizophrenia. There was no evidence that the Countess heard voices or was disorganized. Just the opposite, in fact. The Countess, from the authors examination of her correspondence, was very capable of proper social interactions and managed her vast holdings capably. Very interesting account of the Countess Bathory!

Wow! This is such an interesting story! The author obviously did her research. I absolutely would recommend this to fans of history or true crime.

As mentioned by other reviewers, the book is extremely well-researched, while avoiding an overly-academic presentation. However, in the Kindle version, more than a few words are misspelled and the formatting in some places is off, leading to, for example, a portrait on one page with the legend on another page that is otherwise completely blank, or paragraphs not beginning on a new line, but after several spaces, like this:Paragraph X. (spacespacespacespacespacespace, Amazon keeps deleting them.) Paragraph Y and this just looks sloppy. I hope the editors (?) fix this problem in following versions - it detracts heavily from what is otherwise an obvious labor of love .

The cover is of poor quality for a £15.54p priced book. It's like an almost smooth card cover. You see every single finger print on it from every pick up. So break out the medical type gloves or be very careful how you handle it unless you want to see marks all over the damned thing. They could have made it like The Private Letters of Countess Erzsébet Báthory where the cover for it was all shiny like it was laminated. This doesn't show up finger prints or anything and IT was almost £10 cheaper than this book.Onto the book now.It's fascinating to read about the Countess and what actually happened and not the usual Hollywood muck almost everyone believes to be true about her Ladyship. I feel that reading up on how she actually was is more appealing to me as a reader than the whole vampire lore side of the Bathory name. I feel myself being drawn in and I feel like I'm falling for The Countess in some way through her being a normal person like everyone else and not some blood thirsty fiend of the night. I feel sympathy for her more than anything. The suffering and hardship even for someone so well off. I kind of wish I could go back in time and save her from her fate. If that sounds silly, I don't know if it does, but it's how I feel when reading the book and just doing general research of my own on The Countess.She was a woman who was dealt a hard hand after her husbands death. And in a time when so very few, if any, women were in power at that time period. She had an up hill struggle to keep things going. Sexism nowadays is nothing compared to what The Countess's era had to go through. Back then she'd have had more right to complain than anyone nowadays. She had the vultures circling when her husband passed. Waiting to set her up to take the fall so they could claim it all. They were waiting for the right moment to swoop down and take her apart piece by piece. And they did by the end.The Countess's admirers and fans alike will keep her living. We'll never let her die in memory!. So even if the lemmings of society choose to believe she was some sort of blood fiend. Lies created by the vermin against her and from decades after her passing. We know she wasn't. And that is all that truly matters.My only complaint about the book (besides the lack of quality cover it has) is it's got an appeal to the scholar type readers among us. I buy a book about Countess Bathory and that is what I want to read about. Slight deviating here and there is all good and well. I have no problem with that. But to focus on more of a historical standing point in a larger doze in this second edition all because some elitist readers feel the need for it is unappealing. I constantly get the urge to skip whole paragraphs at a time when reading the book. If I wanted to know the history of Hungary and Slovakia etc I'd seek out books on those subjects.This is a top class book even with it's scholarly feel to it at times which can be a drag.I only wish we could find more of an archive of The Countess's things. Her letters and that elusive diary people keep speaking of. It's not IF it existed. It's does it still exist and someone is hiding it deliberately along with her other items. Someone descended from one of the vermin who played a part in her downfall. It's possible. But now I'll be called a conspiracy theorist haha (I'm a realist actually). I mean think about it. Even Ms Craft stated many other families not as big as the Bathory family have archives from their past. Yet there's very little in the way of Bathory material. It's deliberate alright. And it's not from the hands of anyone bearing the Bathory name I'll bet.Well done Ms Craft. You did The Countess a great service by publishing this book.

So interesting a book on Elizabeth that you can comprehend the troublesome tines people lived in and the lengths that the aristocracy took to enhance their looks, personality, and character in the eyes of the Hoipoli. Her life was demonic but still interrsting as to how she manipulated the people around her.

Let me be clear, I am not reviewing the intellectual content of the book. I didn't read the book - because the publication quality is abysmal here. The cover image is practically surrealist it is so low resolution. And the typesetting is horrible - widows and orphans everywhere. Elizabeth Bathory might have enjoyed my trying to read it - as I'm pretty sure my eyes were bleeding.

Great book

I really enjoyed this book. Báthory's life story is well-told, with a narrative that allows you to understand, as much as one possibly could, the fears, motives, and thoughts of such a brutal person. Craft provides socio-historical context in an extremely readable way: it's fascinating and, although I would have appreciated more in-depth historical context, it flows perfectly with Báthory's story, explaining only what is necessary (ok, let's be honest: many biographies include lengthy historical context that you're glad you read afterwards, but that are bone-dry in the moment. That's not the case with this book - the context really is enjoyable to read). Craft's treatment of the political and class issues which underlie this story was equally balanced, readable, interesting. Interspersed throughout the book are many comical or relatable anecdotes. I was especially enthralled by the personal letters. See my first 2 photos: Báthory wants her weed; and the craziness of the nobles' weddings in those days.Note that some passages are quite gory in their descriptions of the brutality that Báthory inflicted (see example in my last photo). I'm not particularly sensitive to gore, but I had to skip over one passage in particular. Thankfully, those passages are easy to skip over; they usually only cover a paragraph or two. Yet, those descriptions are really limited to the necessary: Craft does not emphasize or exaggerate the gory details. Those passages are definitely worth reading. They give you a fuller understanding of the complexity of this story (and stop you from becoming too sympathetic towards Báthory).There's still quite a bit of controversy regarding Báthory's life and crimes. I love that Craft provides translations of contemporary texts, witness testimony, and letters. Even if the surrounding narrative is interpreted as just one historian's view, these texts included in the book are sufficient to gain a solid understanding of the facts.