Professor Dennis Deletant Launches His Page-turner Memoirs in the U.S.

Encounters with a great storyteller

Time & Location

Professor Dennis Deletant, the celebrated scholar of Romanian communism, once considered by Nicolae Ceaușescu an enemy of the state, returns to America for a launching tour of his recently published book of memoirs, entitled In Search of Romania (Hurst, 2022), a hugely informative and entertaining account of a life full of extraordinary adventures in a country in and out a harsh dictatorship. The events will take place in New York, Washington, D.C., Chicago, and Phoenix, AR and are jointly organized by the Embassy of Romania to the U.S., the Romanian Cultural Institute in New York, Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies - Georgetown University, Romanian Studies / School of International Letters and Cultures and The Central European Cultural Collaborative - Arizona State University, and ROCO Chicago.

About The Author

DENNIS DELETANT is Emeritus Professor of Romanian Studies at University College London (UCL), where he taught at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies between 1969 and 2011, and was Professor of Romanian Studies at the University of Amsterdam between 2003 and 2010 and Visiting Ratiu Professor of Romanian Studies at Georgetown University between 2011 and 2020. Dennis Deletant was appointed to the board of the British Government’s Know-How Fund for Central and Eastern Europe in 1990 and was actively involved in its work in Romania and in the Republic of Moldova until 1999. For this service he was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1995. In 2016, he was awarded the National Order of the Star of Romania for his contribution to Romanian studies. He is the author of several monographs on Romanian history, among them Ceauşescu and the Securitate: Coercion and Dissent in Romania, 1965-89 (London, 1995; New York, 1995), Romania under Communist Rule (Bucharest, 1998), Communist Terror in Romania: Gheorghiu-Dej and the Police State, 1948-1965 (London, New York, 1999), Hitler’s Forgotten Ally. Ion Antonescu and his Regime, Romania, 1940-1944 (London, 2006), and British Clandestine Activities in Romania during the Second World War (London, 2016). His study Romania under Communism: Paradox and Degeneration was published by Routlegde (Oxford, New York) in January 2019.

Highlights about "In search of Romania"

"Deletant approaches his decades-long relationship with the country with the precision of a scholar… In Search of Romania is a tribute to the individuals who were brave enough to stand up to the communist regime." — Times Literary Supplement

"In Search of Romania invites readers to ponder life under Ceaușescu’s dictatorship, with all the challenges individuals had to face, the role of oppressive institutions like the political police Securitate, and the legacy of that era in the country’s transition to democracy." — Romania Insider

"Deletant has been perhaps the leading academic expert on Romania since the dark days of Nicolae Ceaușescu, when he showed remarkable courage in standing up against the dictatorship. He has watched with affection and deep insight as the country has changed and developed since. His relationship with Romania is fascinating, and this book is essential reading for everyone who wants to understand it." — John Simpson CBE, World Affairs Editor, BBC News

"No foreign academic in recent decades has pursued the horrors and riches of twentieth-century Romanian history to the degree of Deletant. Romania is truly his subject, one that he has researched with great exactitude." — Robert D. Kaplan, author of In Europe’s Shadow: Two Cold Wars and a Thirty-Year Journey Through Romania and Beyond

"With the mastery of a storyteller and a historian’s sense for precision, Deletant gives an enthralling account of communist and post-communist Romania. By evoking dissidents, writers, communist leaders and their opponents, the book reminds us of the moral obligation to condemn totalitarianism and defend freedom and democracy–for it is hard to heal the scars of a repressive regime." — Professor Andrei Muraru, historian, Ambassador of Romania to the United States of America

"Deletant has long been recognised as a leading authority on the history of Romania, decorated by both the British and Romanian governments. This long-awaited memoir does not disappoint, covering a lifetime of engagement with this fascinating country, from run-ins with the Securitate to his work in helping to realise the moving Sighet memorial to the victims of Communism. An informative and delightful read." — Paul Brummell, British Ambassador to Romania, 2014–2018

"An extraordinary book by an outstanding historian who understands Romania better than many Romanians. Analytical yet never dry, rich with captivating autobiographical details and humorous in tone, this will undoubtedly captivate readers." — Radu Ioanid, Ambassador of Romania to Israel, Holocaust historian, and former director of United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

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