Customer Reviews:
Most Elaborately Annotated Edition. Artwork by Sätty........2004-11-09
Leonard Wolf may be the world's most revered "Dracula" scholar. A native of Transylvania who left "the land beyond the forest" as a child, Wolf has taught and written about Bram Stoker's immortal novel for decades. In 1975, Wolf published "The Annotated Dracula", which remains to this day the most elaborately annotated edition of the novel.
"The Annotated Dracula" is a large book whose many illustrations and interesting notes are a pleasure to peruse. The text of the novel, itself, is taken from the second printing of the first edition, with typos in tact. The annotations include over 100 illustrations -drawings and photographs. 15 full-page drawings by artist Sätty (Wilfried Podreich) are featured. These are captivating expressionist interpretations of scenes from "Dracula", not to be missed. All illustrations are black-and-white.
In his introduction to "The Annotated Dracula", Leonard Wolf takes the reader on a tour of the traditions and circumstances from which "Dracula" eventually emerged at the hand of Bram Stoker. He discusses Gothic Romance literature, the vampire literature that preceded "Dracula", Eastern European vampire folklore, Vlad "Dracula" Tepes -the 15th century Wallachian Prince from whom the Count Dracula takes his name, and, finally, the life of the novel's enigmatic author, Bram Stoker.
Annotations in the form of margin notes are found on most pages of the novel. Wolf has included explanations for every imaginable allusion in the text, as well as interesting personal comments. The reader gets quite a history lesson just reading the notes. Some of the most intriguing notes include: recipes for the Romanian dishes on which Jonathan Harker dines, population demographics for Transylvania in the late 19th century, translations of old Mr. Swales' dialect, explanations of Victorian figures of speech, and the particulars of Victorian typewriters that Mina employs so frequently. I find that reading straight through the abundant notes is a bit much. Reading them with the novel is distracting. They are ideal for fans and students concentrating on one chapter or passage at a time and add to the enjoyment of the novel when absorbed in small doses.
The Appendixes contain some useful information and interesting trivia, as well. Maps of Transylvania, Europe, England & Wales, Whitby, London, and the Zoological Gardens in London are provided, with places from the novel marked. A Calendar of Events charts the events of the novel from May to November 1887 (the supposed year "Dracula" takes place) in coherent form. Students and aficionados may appreciate "Dracula Onstage", a chart of Count Dracula's appearances in the novel, with page numbers. There is a Selected Filmography that includes notable Dracula films, 1922-1974, including films featuring the Dracula character, not necessarily based on Stoker's novel. British, American, and Foreign-language editions of "Dracula" from 1897 to 1973 are listed. There is an Index for the novel that is helpful but not comprehensive.
"The Annotated Dracula" has been out of print for some time. Its latest incarnation is "The Essential Dracula", a handsome softcover edition released in 2004. "The Essential Dracula" retains and, in some cases, augments the footnotes found in "The Annotated Dracula", but dispenses with most of its illustrations, all of the Sätty drawings, and the Appendixes. If you simply want the information contained in the notes, "The Essential Dracula" is excellent -although the notes border on microscopic and can be trying to read. "The Annotated Dracula", with its maps, charts, and abundant illustrations, is a more elaborate edition.
Great edition with blood-thirsty details.......1999-06-21
First read this when I was in college. Great illustrztions and liner notes. Even on page one, as Jonathan HRKER STOPS FOR DINNER IN THE HOTEL BEFORE GOING ON TO DRACULA'S CASTLE, HE DINES ON CHICKEN PAPRIKOSH. In the margin, they have THE RECIPE!!!! for this dish! Awesome. Hope it returns.
Best Dracula resource available.......1998-07-24
Excellent information. Background information details nearly line by line the orginal novel. Get your hands on a copy of this book if you can.
The original novel with copious marginal notes.......1998-01-18
Vampire stories have been told and retold with fascination. However, there are few that match the power of the novel by Bram Stoker. This book contains the original version with thick margins filled with footnotes, anecdotes, vampire lore, and insight into every aspect of this fascinating story.
Book Description
Most of the vast audience attracted to the subject of Dracula know him only in his fictional, one-dimensional form: vampire! Yet the truth behind the historical character--voevode, warlord--of 15th C. Romania is at least as equally fascinating as any contrived account of his supernatural persona.
Vlad Dracula faithfully follows his life story as hostage, fugitive, prince, and prisoner. His principality of Wallachia was caught between two voracious predators: the kingdom of Hungary and the Ottoman empire. They tried to break Dracula with overwhelming force and terror. But Dracula turned their own tactics against them, and against criminals and factions in his own land, earning the name Tepes-The Impaler-in the process.
He was a strange mix of husband, father, soldier, statesman, and berserker. He annihilated 50,000 people--one-tenth of his own population. Cursed by his native Orthodox Christian Church, he indeed evolved into a legend. But even today he is Romania's Robin Hood.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent.......2007-01-10
Vlad Dracula is a very misunderstood character. At a time when Islam was threatening all of Europe, Vlad, was one of a few who dared to stand up to the evil threat. Was he a tyrant or National hero? That will be decided by each individual who studies the facts. This historical novel is a good way for those who want to learn more about the real Dracula to begin.
Perfect book.......2006-11-20
Dracula is one of my favorites and this book is outstanding. Very readable and helps fill in the history. The book arrived in perfect shape.
the dragon prince a novel.......2006-03-31
This book is very entertaining and informative, especially about the politics surrounding Wallachia during the middles 1400's. Easy to read and hard to put down.
Historical fiction done very well.......2005-10-08
The author did a very good job of taking the bare historic facts that are available regarding the life of Vlad "Dracula" of Wallachia, from sources both favorable and unfavorable, and turned them into an appealing novel which gives the reader a real sense of what the man must have been like. The reader gets a picture of who "Dracula" was and why he committed acts which have made him a legend to the people of modern Romania, and an infamous monster in the eyes of much of the globe. Having read accounts of the historic Vlad Tepes previously, I was surprised to find myself somewhat in awe of the man. In this novel we see "Dracula" in the context of his times and not just as some "monster" who committed atrocities against his enemies, as well as his own people. I found the book difficult to put down and read it cover to cover over the course of a few evenings. It truly gives one a much more balanced perspective on this infamous historical figure and the violent and dangerous times he lived through. I highly recommend it.
A readable historical novel about Dracula.......2004-09-26
Having no endurance for novels with endless historical facts, this story engaged my imagination without overdoing the research, which was just enough and not too much and didn't interfere with the story movement. Michael Augustyn writes smoothly and well, and I enjoyed meeting all of his characters, including Prasha, but what stays with me the most, long after having finished reading the book, is the ending and the deft manner in which Augustyn blended the historical Dracula with the fantastical Dracula. I also enjoyed the colorful settings, including the battle scenes, and the tense relationship between Vlad and his brother Radu, the latter living in the Ottoman empire, effectively sleeping with the enemy. I recommend this book to anyone who wants a different, more realistic view of the 15th Century world of Vlad Dracula, the harshness of that world and his determination to bring order and justice to it, which caused him to become known as the "Impaler."
Book Description
Based on Edward Gorey's set and costume designs for his award-winning Broadway production of Dracula, these die-cut, scored, and perforated foldups and foldouts include:
3 pop-up 16 x 12" stage sets
Cast of 8 (15 figures in all)
Stage Furniture
4-page booklet with exceptionally simple assembly instructions, a synopsis of Gorey's Broadway adaptation of Dracula, and notes on Edward Gorey (1925-2000) and his many magical creations.
Cigar-box style packaging, approximately 8 1/2 X 12 1/2 X 1"
Customer Reviews:
Creatures of the night what music THEY make!.......2007-07-12
A must for any Edward Gorey fan. Easy to assemble well presented and nicely printed this toy theatre is a great representation of Gorey's design for the 1977 revival of "Dracula".
Average customer rating:
- A Classic
- "For the dead travel fast"
- 4 1/2 Stars...A Muted Masterpiece
- The Vampire Masterpiece
- "This night our feet must tread in thorny paths or later and forever the feet you love must walk in flame."
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Dracula (Signet Classics)
Bram Stoker
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 Stoker, Bram
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ASIN: 0451523377 |
Book Description
Dracula is perhaps almost as interesting regarded historically as the product of a specific time as it is engaging to continuing generations of readers in a 'timeless' fashion. In her introduction Byron first discusses the famous novel as an expression not of universal fears and desires but of specifically late nineteenth-century concerns. At the same time she is entirely attuned to the ways in which, however much Dracula is a Victorian text, Dracula is a very twentieth-century character, a representative of modernity and of the future.
Download Description
A popular bestseller in Victorian England, Stoker's hypnotic tale of the bloodthirsty Count Dracula, whose nocturnal atrocities are symbolic of an evil ages old yet forever new, endures as the quintessential story of suspense and horror. The unbridled lusts and desires, the diabolical cravings that Stoker dramatized with such mythical force, render Dracula resonant and unsettling a century later.
Customer Reviews:
A Classic.......2007-09-21
This is an all time classic with vampire films still being made today, though light years away from the Bela Lugosi version. Someone travels to a castle to do business only to get more than he bargained for as the owner of the estate is Count Dracula, a bloodthirsty vampire hungry for Jonathan Harker's blood. The source novel is not the first vampire novel, that would be Lafenu's Carmilla who had a lesbian female vampire. Francis Ford Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula is the closest film adaption to the novel, though in the film his motivation was love and not blood lust. The piece of cheese just about says it all, stay away from this unless you're into gothic novels and are on Welfare. The price is a bargain for such a lush portrayal of 1890s Irish gothic culture. Though many have heard of vampires in society and E, few have actually read the novel. This will be my third time reading it straight through. I guess I dress kind of men's gothic, turn of last century style but I don't let it influence me; gothic has always been a part of white European and American culture from the pilgrims landing on the flower to peasants in Europe. God bless.
"For the dead travel fast".......2007-09-06
Surprisingly "Denn die Toten reiten schnell" or "For the dead travel fast" is more than an opening line to this tale of love in the dangerous moon light. After watching several Drac movies and a few Nosferatu's, I pretty much though I had a handle on the genera. Little did I know what a wonderful world of mystery and suspense that Bram Stoker opened up for me.
The story is told mostly third party though the papers, diaries, and phonograph recordings (on wax calendars) of those people involve in a tale so bizarre that it almost defies belief. The general story line is that of a Count that plans to move to a more urban setting (from Borgo Pass to London) where there is a richer diet. There he finds succulent women; something he can sing his teeth in. Unfortunately for him a gang of ruffians (including a real-estate agent, asylum director, Texas cowboy and an Old Dutch abnormal psychologist) is out to detour his nocturnal munching. They think they have Drac on the run but with a wing and a prayer he is always one step ahead.
Of more value to the reader is the rich prose chosen by Stoker as he describes the morals and technology of the time. We have to come to grips with or decide if we can perform the rituals that are required to eliminate vampires verses the impropriety of opening graves and staking loved ones. The powers in the book differ from the movie versions in that they are more of persuasion and capabilities to manipulate the local weather. At one point the Dutch Dr. Van Helsing, is so overwhelmed by a beautiful vampire laying in the grave that he almost for gets why he is there and may become vamp chow.
All in all the story is more in the cunning chase. And the question as to will they succeed or will Dracula triumph. Remember "For the dead travel fast."
4 1/2 Stars...A Muted Masterpiece.......2007-07-26
I've always been a fan of stories in which good and evil are pitted against each other, with humans caught in between. This theme is universal, though often repetitive, even preachy, in nature. In reading Stoker's "Dracula," I was surprised to find one of the modern forerunners for this type of gothic struggle. Sure, it has blo od-sucking and violence. Sure, it carries slightly ero tic undertones. But the story is first and foremost a spiritual battle, with humans as victims and/or heroes of war.
Jonathan Harker is a London solicitor sent on business to Transylvania. He is a guest of his client, Count Dracula. Soon, though, Harker realizes he is a prisoner. And the battle begins.
Back in England, a ship arrives in grim style on the waves of a storm. A sweet young woman becomes a victim of Dracula's schemes. And Harker's fiancee finds herself caught up in an epic struggle for the lives of those around her. Drawn into the struggle as the standard-bearer, Professor Van Helsing leads a band of intrepid humans against this otherworldy evil.
Stoker's book is tame by today's standards, even quaint, but his attention to dark and gloomy atmosphere, provides a perfect counterpoint for the shining, valiant hearts of his band of heroes. In his day, Stoker's story must've been fast-paced, nail-biting, and horrific. Today, it stands as a muted masterpiece of horror, showing that we don't need lots of blo od-and-guts to keep us intrigued. Using religious references and decisions of personal integrity, "Dracula" shows us a battle against evil that still wages. In that sense, it's as current and apropos as ever.
The Vampire Masterpiece.......2007-07-23
Now that vampire stories are popular again (and thank God for that), it's easy to forget what they were like before Anne Rice got her hands on them. That's not to say anything bad about Rice, incidentally--she's the reigning contemporary vampire queen, and many vampire writers follow her lead these days (or try to). But when Bram Stoker invented this genre with this iconic novel, the vampire was a thing of pure dread and pure evil. There's precious little reader seduction here (which is the characterizing difference of Anne Rice's creations); no, in Dracula, when the characters are seduced, the reader cringes, turns on another light, and drinks more heavily into the succeeding chapters ...
Some who have reviewed this book have called it slow, boring, Victorian in the extreme ... well, they say there's no arguing taste, but I think I'll have a try, anyway. The fact is, most of what passes for "scary" these days has to do with instant fright gratification (which, by the way, I'm all in favor of), splashing gore, vividly-described mutilations. Stoker works his flame of fear up from the embers, burning slowly, until by the time you hear the rising scream, you've scarcely realized it's your own. There's a lot that happens "off camera", you might say, hinted at in the journal writings. The reader must infer for full effect; the terror is not served up on an easily handled tray, like cafeteria food. Dracula is literature, enjoyed at several levels, but it is also an excellent pulp horror story, told in the traditions of its time. It's lack of universal appeal in this modern age simply shows that it has not ... aged well, I suppose. But I loved it.
For myself, when I write, I'm a creature of this age, an unapologetic purveyor of in-you-face, vividly described scary stories. But the classics have, for me, a distinct and pleasing flavor virtually unimitable by the modern writer. And keeping in touch with your roots is, I think, a good thing.
(This review has been posted by Marcus Damanda, author of the vampire book "Teeth: a Horror Fantasy".)
"This night our feet must tread in thorny paths or later and forever the feet you love must walk in flame.".......2007-03-18
Written in 1897, Stoker's Dracula is a classic of British fiction, fascinating for its subject matter and still the subject of films a hundred years later. Count Dracula, the epitome of evil, is exotic enough to keep even the most jaded reader of his exploits interested in their outcome, and grounded enough in the reality of evil to make even doubters wonder whether evil can be transmitted from one person to another against one's will.
The novel begins with the arrival of Jonathan Harker, a lawyer representing a London real estate agency, at the Transylvanian castle of Count Dracula to clinch the deal by which the count will move to a British estate. Details about Harker's arrival by coach, his greeting at the castle, which has no doors except the front door, his reception by the count (who has hair on the palms of his hands), and his instructions regarding where he may go or not go within the castle set the tone and establish the mysterious background of the count and a sense of dread regarding the outcome for Harker.
By the time that Harker recovers from a long and mysterious illness and returns home, the count, already in London, has turned Lucy, a lovely ingenue, into a vampire. Dr. Van Helsing, a German expert on vampires hired by her family, saves her several times from what appears to be severe anemia and recommends ringing her room with garlic and making sure that she has crucifixes around her. When Dracula then turns his blood-thirsty attention to Mina, fiancée of Jonathan Harker and friend of the unfortunate Lucy, the scene is set for a showdown regarding Dracula's power vs. the power of goodness and traditional religion.
Stoker takes his story beyond sheer melodrama, eliciting sympathy for the afflicted victims of Dracula while also recreating the religious atmosphere of the period and the beliefs and doubts of average citizens. The novel is far more compelling than I expected, creating suspense at the same time that it develops the character of the count with his supernatural powers. The climax in which the forces of good are ranged against the forces of evil in the shape of the count, whose long history is detailed in the novel, is truly a conflict between traditional religion and evil in the form of Satan personified. Fun to read and surprisingly affecting. Mary Whipple
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- Insight into Bram Stoker & His Life at the Lyceum.
- Best Book I ever read!
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Bram Stoker: A Biography of the Author of Dracula
Barbara Belford
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Bram Stoker and the Man Who Was Dracula
ASIN: 0679418326
Release Date: 1996-04-09 |
Amazon.com
"I am here to do Your bidding, Master. I am Your slave, and You will reward me, for I shall be faithful." These words spoken by Renfield to Dracula might have been said by Bram Stoker to his boss, the mesmerizing, domineering actor Henry Irving. Stoker was such a mild-mannered, secretive man that the real subject of this acclaimed biography turns out to be the genesis of his novel Dracula, and Irving--the man who, according to Barbara Belford, inspired its famous monster. Other fascinating characters who appear in Stoker's life are Florence Stoker (courted by Oscar Wilde before Bram married her), Ellen Terry (Irving's leading lady), Walt Whitman, the aging Lord Tennyson, W. S. Gilbert, William Gladstone, Lady Speranza Wilde, her son Oscar, Queen Victoria (who knights Irving, the first actor so honored), George Bernard Shaw, and Mark Twain. As Margot Peters writes in the New York Times Book Review, "Stoker himself is pretty much swamped in these heavy seas. But as Ms. Belford's intelligent, well-written and always interesting book makes clear, Stoker lived to serve. His revenge for lifelong self-effacement was Dracula."
Book Description
The first full-scale biography of the complex man known today as the author of Dracula, but who was famous in his own time as the innovative manager of London's Lyceum Theatre, home of the greatest English actors of the day, Henry Irving and Ellen Terry.
Barbara Belford tells the story of Stoker the hidden man. On the surface: the very model of Victorian modesty, reserve, and duty, the devoted husband and father. In actuality: a man whose emotional and working energies were in large part expended on the care and cultivation of the flamboyant, mesmerizing genius of the stage, Henry Irving.
We see Stoker the writer of novels and stories that were imbued with sexuality, violence, and the celebration of death -- works at opposite poles from the decorum he presented in society. And Barbara Belford shows us in Dracula a mirror of the undercurrents of Stoker's own life, as well as a masked exploration of subjects utterly forbidden in his time -- seduction, rape, necrophilia, incest, voyeurism -- universal taboos dramatized with such a myth-making edge that the novel remains resonant and unsettling almost one hundred years later.
We follow Stoker from his sickly childhood -entertained by his mother's twice-told tales of Irish hobgoblins and banshees -- to his years as a Dublin undergraduate and newspaperman, when he first wrote to his idol Wait Whitman, spilling out his innermost thoughts and beginning a lifelong correspondence that culminated in their meeting when Stoker traveled to America on tour with Irving and Ellen Terry. We see Stoker's childhood friendship with Oscar Wilde, and watch as the two young men compete for the hand of the beautiful Florence Balcombe, who became Stoker's wife. And we see Stoker in the literary and theatrical circles of Victorian London among such figures as Mark Twain, Arthur Conan Doyle, James Whistler, Lord Tennyson, and George Bernard Shaw.
Belford gives us a vivid picture of the man, his time, his London -- the domestic and theatrical worlds he lived in -- and the dark imaginary realms that were the wellspring of all his writings, especially of his enduring and enduringly fascinating Dracula.
Customer Reviews:
Insight into Bram Stoker & His Life at the Lyceum........2005-05-17
Barbara Belford's "Bram Stoker: A Biography of the Author of Dracula" is considered to be the most scholarly and thorough of the 3 Bram Stoker biographies that have been published. But Mr. Stoker was a reticent person about whose personal life, opinions, and character there is precious little known. Whether out of humility or caution, he usually took care not to reveal himself. So what we know of Stoker comes primarily from his public life, which was thankfully shared with several grander, more loquacious personalities. Perhaps due to the scarcity of information about her subject, Barbara Belford gives Stoker's friends, colleagues, and the London theater community a lot of attention, especially Henry Irving, the great actor whose fame was dwarfed only by his ego, and whom Bram Stoker dedicated 27 years of his life to serving. Indeed, this biography of Stoker would serve well as a history of Irving's famous Lyceum Theatre for the decades that Stoker served as its acting manager.
The book starts by describing Stoker's childhood in Dublin, the third child born to a middle class Anglo-Irish family in 1847 during the potato famine, and his apparent debilitation until the age of 7. He grew up to be a civil servant like his father, and pursued personal interests as an unpaid drama critic for the "Evening Mail", through which Stoker met Henry Irving. After marrying the lovely Florence Balcombe, whom Oscar Wilde also courted, the Stokers moved to London where Bram's efficient management would help make the 1500-seat Lyceum Theatre fashionable and profitable. Since the Lyceum dominated Stoker's life, it dominates his biography, but Belford also discusses his trips to America on tour with the Lyceum company, his effusive admiration for Walt Whitman and Abraham Lincoln, and his novels and stories.
The upshot of "Bram Stoker: A Biography of the Man Who Wrote Dracula" is that Bram Stoker was a modest, hardworking man, exceedingly courteous even by Victorian standards, whose tireless work for Henry Irving was acknowledged by many but unappreciated and unrewarded by Irving himself. Stoker's genial but reserved manner harbored passionate, worshipful emotions toward his heroes, invariably men of power with larger-than-life personalities. Belford draws an occasional parallel between persons in Bram Stoker's own life and characters in "Dracula". Most notably, she sees a "sinister caricature" of Henry Irving in the vampire Count. Actress Ellen Terry seems to be reflected in Mina, and Stoker's wife Florence may have lent some of her character to Lucy. None of this is a stretch as long as one recognizes that "Dracula"'s characters don't have a single source, but many.
This biography includes a lot of good information for fans of Bram Stoker's work, but a couple of stylistic problems nagged at me. One is Belford's confusing tendency to refer to people by first or last name only, at the beginning of a chapter, instead of starting off with a full name. Another is the repeated use of the phrase "Unholy Trinity" to describe the business partnership between Henry Irving, Bram Stoker, and stage manager H.J. Loveday, which I found melodramatic. But Belford's book succeeds in creating a picture of Bram Stoker's personality without reading too much into his actions or words.
Best Book I ever read!.......1998-04-16
The main caracters in the story are Jonathan Harker, Mina Murry/Harker, and Lucy Westenras. There are several different settings, so I won,t list them specifically. Most of the book, they are in Europe in the 1800's. The plot of the books is Jonathan is a solicitor and meets the "Count". Sopposably the Count is friendly and turns evil. My opinion of the book is it is great it has some diffficult words so I recommend it to 8th grade and above. It is very interesting and fun. I liked the way that the author set up the book and the way he used everybodys point of view.
Book Description
With the phenomenal success of Elizabeth Kostovas critically acclaimed, #1 New York Times bestseller, The Historian, there is a renewed interest in the true story of Dracula. Originally published in 1990, Dracula, Prince of Many Faces still stands as the definitive biography of Vlad Dracula of Romania. Dracula, Prince of Many Faces reveals the extraordinary life and times of the infamous Vlad Dracula of Romania (1431-1476), nicknamed the Impaler. Dreaded by his enemies, emulated by later rulers like Ivan the Terrible, honored by his countrymen even today, Vlad Dracula was surely one of the most intriguing figures to have stalked the corridors of European and Asian capitals in the fifteenth century. In this definitive biography covering Vlad Draculas life and subsequent legend, readers will discover that life can truly be more terrifying than fiction.
Customer Reviews:
National Hero??? Right!.......2007-05-23
For those who lack historical knowledge of Central European history in the 14th and 15th Century, this book is an interesting book to read, as long as they do not fall into the trap the authors conceived in their false national grandeur. Due to that, I can only give this book, ONE star.
This book has several flaws big enough to drive a Dacia through it and would take a lot of pages, if not another book to correct all of them. A Dacia, for those who do not know, is a Romanian built automobile, based upon an out-dated Renault design that was manufactured in the 1970's.
Fascinating how historical facts intermixed with obvious bias, envious bitterness and with written with, in my opinion, a chip on their shoulder, includes inadequacies lacking a national historical identity towards the true owners and rulers of the Erdély, the region known in Latin as Transylvania, "beyond the forest," can portray a Wallachian despot, a Prince wannabe named Vlad III, better know as Dracula, as a national hero! No wonder the same people who call Dracula their national hero in the 20th century, who've uprooted 1000 year old villages, bulldozed down every house and all monuments, justifying their actions in the name of ethnic cleansing; then, resettled tens of thousands of persons from Hungarian speaking areas in Transylvania into harsh regions of modern Romania, Yes, that would make Dracula proud!
While there is a lot of history portrayed in this book, it is done with much envy and distortion towards Hungarians in general. Right from the beginning of the book "...Transylvanian place names that have Romanian, German, and Hungarian equivalents, we shall use the modern Romanian names..." This only makes sense one would assume, however even such simple statements reflect the falseness that is displayed throughout the book. It is implying that the Hungarian names held the least or were of no significance in the history of Transylvania, where as, the truth is factually the opposite. In Dracula's era, there was no such country as Romania, nor was Romanian an official language in Transylvania. The official language was Hungarian, Latin used for general administration, German in the Saxon cities, while Romanian was spoken by the minority in the western counties or duchies, increasing towards majority near the bordering counties or duchies that were near the regions of Wallachia and Moldavia. Romanian names in Transylvania only became dominant after 1918. Since the events portrayed in this book took place mostly in the 1400's to be historically accurate, and unbiased, one should use the proper names perhaps with the modern names in brackets for reference to their location in modern Romania. The method used in the book is just an extension of the eradication and continued denial of the significant Hungarian culture, history or presence in the region.
Transylvanian history goes back to time of the Roman Empire, as it was an outpost region bordered within the western slopes of the Carpathian mountain range known as Dacia. In brief, as the Roman Empire broke up and separated into separate two Empires: Western and Eastern, ethic tribes from the East started to migrate into areas formerly occupied by the Romans. These invaders such as the Huns, Avars, Lombards, Gepids, Slavs, and later the Magyar tribes, they moved into the Carpathian basin and the surrounding areas just west of the Byzantine Empire. Some have left and moved on. These eastern invaders conquered, subjugated the native population, some who intermarried with descendants of the original Roman Legionaries who decided to stay behind once the empire fell apart, thus forming the native population for the next generations. The Carpathian basin including the regions of Pannonia and Dacia of the former Roman Empire were settled by the Ten Magyar, (Hungarian) tribes. Thus, the Magyar (Hungarian) State was established in 896 AD. Note at this time, and for almost 1000 years after the establishment of Hungary, there was no Romania. The modern state of Romania was formed by the merging of the Danubian Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia in 1859 and in 1918 Hungarian Transylvania was annexed by the victors of WWI, as punishment for the Hungarian participation in WWI. When the pagan Hungarian King Vajk, converted to Christianity and adopted the Christian name István, (Stephen, who later was named a Saint), and by force converted the rest of the Magyar pagans, he was rewarded by the Pope in Rome and by Byzantine Emperor with crowns to symbolize his sovereignty over the lands under his command including Transylvania. The two crows were assembled into one as the Holly Crown of Hungary. As the Hungarian kingdom congealed, and needed additional populous at the eastern borders (Transylvania) to shore up the defences against any further invasions from the East, such as the Hordes of Genghis Khan, and the Ottoman Turks, Székely (Szeklers descendants of the Huns, who left after the death of Attila) from the East and Saxon (German) settlers from western Europe were encouraged to move in, along with the Teutonic Knights (who were expelled later on), and were granted lands and independent city statues, but were subject to the Crown of Hungary.
Wallachia east and Moldavia to the north of Transylvania were autonomous regions ruled by Princes, or pretenders to the throne. These regions were populated in majority by Romanian speaking inhabitants.
Thus, what these so called historians scholars have cooked up about a petty Wallachian despot named Dracula, as the founding father of Romania, is a laughable! "Dracula became a national hero par excellence, one who defended the nation's independence against overwhelming odds - kind of George Washington of the Romanian people..." I do not believe George Washington had people impaled while he ate his dinner, nor had tens of thousands (if not over a hundred thousand) killed by boiling, skinning people alive, sawing off their limbs, who'd disagreed or challenged his political ambitions. Nor was Dracula like Robin Hood, giving to the poor from the rich!
Throughout the book, and at every opportunity, the Hungarians are perceived as corrupt, unreliable, who had betrayed Vlad III, spreading false propaganda unjustly, undeservingly about this Christian Knight, who wore the Order of the Dragon. From John Hunyadi, (being described as: from a humble Wallachian stock, a turncoat Hungarian wannabe), he actually was a true Christian Crusader at the time and whose victory over the Turks in 1456 at Belgrade is still celebrated to date: every day at noon, church bells are rung. Hunyadi was the Regent of Hungary and the Governor of Transylvania to King Matthias Corvinus, was described as "...King Matthias evidently liked to think of himself as a true patron of learning and the arts." Matthias didn't have to think of it, he was! Matthias established the flowering culture of the Hungarian Renaissance, by modernizing and building. His treasures were ransacked by the Turks later on, but some of the surviving books that were published upon his orders and were housed in the King's Library the Corvinus Codex's are worth millions and are now treasured by Museums world wide. In fact, the only painting of Dracula that existed was done by the King's artist while Dracula was in his imprisonment, when the King had no choice but to put Dracula in "prison" for his alleged autocracies after Vlad III, was overthrown the second time by his rivals. However, the prison was far from a real prison, it was more like a house arrest and at the King's palace. I do not of many prisoners in history who were allowed to marry the cousin of the King, while being incarcerated by the same King. The fact is that Vlad III, aka Dracula, married Ilona Szilágyi, a cousin of the King, while he was in, so called "imprisoned". Later on with the King's army, Dracula was put back in power for the third time to help with the continued fight and gain a psychological advantage against the invading Ottomans. Dracula's fierce reputation against the Turks gained by his prior autocracies against them and excellent knowledge of their tactics was something that the King did not ignore.
These two bright scholarly historians overwhelmed with debasing anything that had to do with Hungarians, could not even get the small facts straight about the Hunyadi coat of arms and the family symbol of King Matthias. For example, the black bird is a raven holding a gold ring in his beak and not a "crow." There is a significant difference between the two. Both John Hunyadi and King Matthias, among many other Hungarians in power in Transylvania, were actual benefactors of Vlad III.
The real Dracula, Vlad III, was not a forthright Christian or a nationalist hero. At the very best, he was a warlord with many ambitions. He was power hungry, cruel, sadistic, evil, revengeful, and treacherous yet, a very savvy individual who made the right connections with powerful benefactors, looking out for his own true interests in being or trying to be the ruler of Wallachia. Ambitions supported by using all his talents and available methods: torture, intimidations, bribery, and psychological warfare against not just his enemies but his own subjects. While Dracula did fight the Ottoman Turks, it was based upon his childhood hate towards the Turks (for that Dracula cannot be blamed) and own self interests in manifestation of power to rule independently over Wallachia against Ottoman expansionism, than being a Christian Crusader. Dracula was in many ways just like many of his contemporarily power hungry despots and tyrants in the 14th to the 15th centuries who made deals and alliances with more powerful benefactors. What made him different was that he was a lot more cruel and bloody in his methods. By constructing monasteries he thought he could seek salvation from eternal damnation and from hell.
Ironically in 1476, when Dracula was assassinated, his head was cut off and taken to Constantinople to the Sultan to be displayed on a pole, just like he had done to so many of his enemies. If not for Bram Stoker, Dracula would have been forgotten in history, like so many petty tyrants of the era.
Dracula, Prince of Many Faces: His Life and His Times.......2007-02-27
The most objective write up on Dracula! It is about history and not fiction. It is about Romanians and their culture as part of the Europe's XV century. It is about a leader that was loved, feared and hated both at home and outside the Romanian territory. With simple examples, Mr. Florescu brings forward Dracula's leadership skills and characteristics that have no time bound and can also be found and applied today by successful leaders.
Count Alacard.......2006-11-20
Love the book. Vlad was a great history character. A great addition to my library. Great service and it arrived in perfect shape.
Eye Opening.......2006-11-04
This book is one of the very few written in the English language to portray the historical figure of Dracula whose nickname was used by Bram Stocker. It is a work that was indeed needed in order to correct many wrong impressions about the historical figure of Dracula.
Vlad "The Impaler" lived in a harsh world, an unforgiving one, full of strifes, intrigues from within his country and from outside. Written with a wide readership in mind this book succeedes to convey the sense of the age and the personality of the elusive prince.
dracula ,barbaric murderer.......2006-10-03
Prince Dracula was a very unkind prince. He would impale anyone whom he thought was insulting him or going against him. Everyone hated him and feared him. it is a really good book to read. It describes the barbaric tortures and execution methods enjoyed by prince dracula.
A.H, Australia
Customer Reviews:
DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK.......2007-02-28
BBC NEWS says it all:
Last Updated: Tuesday, 27 February 2007, 17:03 GMT
Paedophile freed for Dracula book
Kurt Treptow served nearly five years in jail (pic: PRO IMAGE)
An American historian jailed in Romania for paedophile offences has been released more than two years early because he wrote a book about Dracula.
According to the law, Kurt Treptow was entitled to early release because his writing counted as work in prison.
He published a book about Vlad III Dracul, the Romanian prince who inspired the Dracula legend.
Mr Treptow had served nearly five years of his seven-year sentence for "sexual relations with minors".
His lawyer, Liviu Bran, denied that he wrote the book to get out of prison, saying that a board of historians had reviewed it and concluded it was an "original scientific piece of work".
Political connections
In 2002 Mr Treptow was convicted of having sex with two underage girls and possession of child pornography. A Romanian woman accomplice, Tatiana Popovici, is still in jail.
At the time of his arrest in 2002, Mr Treptow was director of the Centre for Romanian Studies in Iasi.
It was housed in a building belonging to the Romanian Foreign Intelligence Service (SIE).
Mr Treptow had been a Fulbright scholar in Romania before 1989, during the communist regime.
He wrote a book on the Romanian dictator, Ion Antonescu, who had been an ally of the Nazis during World War II.
After 1990 he was close to the left-wing government of former President Ion Iliescu and especially to Ioan Talpes, a former head of the SIE and chief presidential adviser.
Not bad but less pricey books can be found.......2003-11-14
This is a nice scholarly book just teeming with footnotes and it made me feel like I was in college again. It could have contained a little more info and a little less footnote. It very well might have some snippets that the other books don't, but McNally and Florescu books have a wealth of information for much less money. For example "In Search of Dracula" is about $10 to $15 with shipping vs. this book at $40.00 or so. It is a good book, but not worth the price for the information that it contains.
Vlad III Dracula: The Life and Times of the Historical.......2003-09-29
Buy it! If you're a serious student (casual readers may be intimidated by the massive amount of footnotes), get this one. If one could own four books on Dracula they should be the Florescu-McNally books and this one.
This volume is well-written and heavily footnoted, with an extensive bibliography; one does wish certain chapters (such as the chapter on Dracula's relations with the church,) were a bit longer, however the only real drwaback is that many of the works cited in the footnotes and bibliography are by Romanian authors, hence, not available to the majority of nonspecialist readers, however, most Romanian quotations are also rendered in English.
This volume represents the latest in Dracula scholarship. Author Treptow attempts to portary Vlad as objectively as possible, divorced from the Stoker/vampire connection.
The book itself is very handsome; black hardback cover with imitation gold leaf; color dust jacket; and an attached cloth bookmark. And the illustrations by artist Octavian Ion Penda in the style of medieval/renaissance woodcuts, in imitation of Holbein's work, add to the book's overall attractiveness. The price can't be beat, either. All-in-all, a worthy addition to Dracula studies.
A scholarly biography.......2001-01-13
I'm a history professor who's teaching a course on Dracula next semester. I've already ordered Florescu's Prince of Many Faces and McNally's In Search of Dracula as required reading. I've attempted to read everything in English on Dracula.
I then found Treptow. From the very first page he avoids the tendency to sensionalize Vlad III. He avoids using documents that are suspicious, like other historians. He tells us how he came to the conclusion that they are not trustworthy. He attemps to set Vlad's action within their proper context. When I finished the book, I knew that I had read the best biography on Dracula now in existence.
The best of the Dracula biographies.......2000-11-03
Having acquired a passing interest with the "real" Dracula, it was nice to find a detailed historical account more in the vein of academics than popular culture. If you have a causal interest in Vlad then this book will be more than you want to handle. But if you are ready to deal with an in-depth consideration of the Impaler, you cannot do better than this volume.
Average customer rating:
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Hollywood gothic: The tangled web of Dracula from novel to stage to screen
David J Skal
Manufacturer: Norton
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0393029042 |
Amazon.com
Dracula is one of the few horror books to be honored by inclusion in the Norton Critical Edition series. (The others are Frankenstein, The Turn of the Screw, Heart of Darkness, The Picture of Dorian Gray, and The Metamorphosis.) This 100th-anniversary edition includes not only the complete authoritative text of the novel with illuminating footnotes, but also four contextual essays, five reviews from the time of publication, five articles on dramatic and film variations, and seven selections from literary and academic criticism. Nina Auerbach of the University of Pennsylvania (author of Our Vampires, Ourselves) and horror scholar David J. Skal (author of Hollywood Gothic, The Monster Show, and Screams of Reason) are the editors of the volume. Especially fascinating are excerpts from materials that Bram Stoker consulted in his research for the book, and his working papers over the several years he was composing it. The selection of criticism includes essays on how Dracula deals with female sexuality, gender inversion, homoerotic elements, and Victorian fears of "reverse colonization" by politically turbulent Transylvania.
Customer Reviews:
Dracula rocks .......2007-08-26
Bram Stocker is still a classic read. It was very scary from time to time.
Good Book, Atrocious Editor.......2007-06-20
I love Norton Critical Editions, but the footnotes in this volume are maddening. I'm puzzled that no one seems to have mentioned this. Example, a passage where Dracula appears in disguise and Bram Stoker obviously doesn't mean for the reader to have this bit of information yet. The footnote? "Here we see Dracula in disguise speaking wonderful German." I'm exaggerating, but you get the point. Another example: a passage describing Dracula's map of England (footnote: Here we see that Dracula has circled the city of X, where later in the story he will....and....and....until later....). Finally, there are even footnotes that engage the reader in conversation. Something like: "What do you think Dracula meant by that, curious comment, don't you think?" As with all Norton editions, there are some wonderful footnotes, commentary, etc. included, but still I would choose a different version.
Great critical edition.......2006-11-17
If you want lots of in-depth footnotes and many critical essays, than this is your book.
Simply the Best.......2006-07-10
I've listened to Dracula from Audible.com. I downloaded it last month. It's the best of all the Dracula books I've read. Definitely worth the investment of time. It's incredibly suspenseful, full of well-drawn, unbelievably real characters. I wish the movies could capture the characters as well as the book.
I was surprised at the narrative style, which has no actual "scenes", because it's a collection of journals, letters, newspaper articles, etc. But Bram Stoker does an amazing job of pulling all of it together into one very scary, very exciting read. Don't miss this one.
Still the best.......2005-12-30
This is still the best vamp book around, bar none. I was always upset with Coppola's movie because he used Stoker's name, and made the count into this loving anti-hero. THIS is Dracula. Pure evil.
Amazon.com
"Little did the coauthors realize at the time they embarked upon this project over a glass of plum brandy in Bucharest more than twenty-five years ago, that their work would result in the discovery of the authentic, bloodthirsty prototype for Bram Stoker's famous novel Dracula." This pioneering study, first published in 1972, became a collector's item, so this fully updated edition is welcome indeed. The authors' pursuit of the notion that Vlad the Impaler (1431-76) was the original Dracula--through treks both antiquarian (in old libraries and museums) and geographic (in areas of Romania that were once Transylvania and Walachia)--has the thrill of an adventure story. In Search of Dracula is also an entertaining introduction to vampire lore and to people's obsession with Dracula. It has a delightful cover by Edward Gorey and numerous illustrations, including antique woodcuts of Vlad's impaled victims and photos from the authors' trips to Romania.
Book Description
The true story behind the legend of Dracula - a biography of Prince Vlad of Transylvania, better known as Vlad the Impaler. This revised edition now includes entries from Bram Stoker's recently discovered diaries, the amazing tale of Nicolae Ceausescu's attempt to make Vlad a national hero, and an examination of recent adaptations in fiction, stage and screen.
Customer Reviews:
Bit of a let down...........2007-03-10
I was disappointed with this book. I have read the authors' biography of Dracula, and found little new or worthwhile presented here. Moreover, the title is deceptive. Very little of this book is devoted to the history of vampires, and too much of it deals with modern popular culture. Given that the authors are serious scholars, I was hoping for a detailed look at popular culture roughly at the time of Vlad Tepes. I highly recommend the authors' other book, "Dracula: Prince of Many Faces," but find little merit in this volume. I think this book might have more appeal to a general audience. So, if you are looking for some basic background on the "real" Dracula (Vlad Tepes), and the basics of how he fits into folklore and popular culture, then this book may very well be for you. It is well written, and draws on the authors' considerable knowledge. It just was not what I expected or hoped for.
The "real" dracula.......2005-12-15
If given the choice I would prefer to split this book down the middle, the first half being given fours stars and the second 1. I would have to say that the title of the books says this is a history of vampires as well as dracula. I think this is incorrect; there is one chapter on vampiric folklore which to be blunt is very vague and doesn't really tell you anything.
However, whilst I have doubts about there use of some evidence (the authors repeatedly seem very trusting of peasant folklore) the chapters on Dracula (Vlad Tepes), which constitute the bulk of the book, are very good and the book is worth buying for that alone.
I do have the feeling that once this was done the authors needed to padd the book out and hence add three chapters on vampire fiction to the present day. It is only because I have an obsessive need to finish any book I start that I finished this, otherwise I would have given up contented once they had finished with Dracula.
However, I am in agreement with the previous reviewer who stated that the score was recued by the appendixes. By bringing such resources in one place it is a very useful aid to the reader's further research and hence am happy to recommend.
AN ESSENCIAL GUIDE OF VAMPIRES.......2005-09-13
I THINK THIS BOOK IS VERY NECCESSARY IF YOU WANT TO KNOW EVERY THING ABOUT THE HISTORY OF DRACULA AND VAMPIRES, AS TO KNOW THE TRADICIONAL FOLK OF THE PEOPLE FROM ROMANIA.
THE BOOK IS VERY EASY TO READ, AND YOU CAN HAVE A GOOD TIME IF YOU LOVE VAMPIRE STORIES.
interesting read.......2005-06-06
i enjoyed this book very much. it was an insightful read into the actual history of vlad the impaler and the legend of dracula. if you like history and vampires, then this is the book for you.
GOOD HISTORY BUT A LITTLE DRY.......2005-05-18
Now I had seen Radu Florescu and Raymond McNally numerous times on TV as they were interviewed for various historical programs on Dracula and vampires which is what inspired me to search out this book. I would somewhat disagree with the spotlight reviewer who said it was not scholarly enough. I found it to be quite concise and complete, having read a great deal about Vlad Tepes previously. There was much more detail about this Machavellian-era ruler than I ever knew about before. My main problem with the first half of the book that deals with Vlad Dracul is that it is a little bland. One wouldn't that relating tales of impalings and hats being nailed to heads could be dry but it was. I was hoping for something a little more lively, no pun intended.
We next move into a look at Vampire folklore throughout the world but mainly eastern european lore where the legends of vampires are so ingrained into the culture of those peoples. Finally we move on to Bram Stoker using Vlad as his basis for Dracula although it's certain that this was not the only influence. To be sure the gruesome tales of Elizabeth Bathory and other legends played a part in Stoker's tales as well. It's a short read but fairly complete, a tad dull in spots, particularly those battles against the turks, but an interesting history still.
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