I had just recently found out that Dracula was a real person. So this is the first historical reading for me. This book contains excellent information on Vlad Tepes (the Impaler). The book not only tells about him but also contains chapters on what was going on in the world during his time. This gave me a better "feel" for his times. Most articles I have read on Dracula are pretty opinionated but the authors really tried to say clear of "pushing" their opinions of Dracula on me. The book also contains Chapters on the Stoker novel and the real Dracula's descendants. Although very little is know about the enigmatic Prince the authors did a great job of researching their topic. A must read for people who love history and/or mystery.

I really love this book,I keep it by my bed at night.This book has more information on Vlad & vampires than most I have read. More than half the vampire books I have just barely graze Vlad (Dracula)& his history.This book contains a real detailed look into Vlad's life & Stoker's monster.

A nice blend of scholarship with fascination, this is the first book to look for the truth behind the fiction. Does a nice job not only of explaining where Bram Stoker got the bits and pieces he picked up to turn Vlad the Impaler into Count Dracula, but also puts the Wallachian Prince in historical perspective. There are more detailed biographies of Vlad out there, but this is really the book that opened the door and its writers are paricularly well suited to the task. If you only want to read one book about the real Dracula and his transformation into one of the major fictional characters of all time, this would be that book.

If you were ever curious as to how and where the vampire stories began and how Bram Stoker conceived the idea for his book this is a must have. It depicts the events in the life of Vlad Teppes (Dracula), the son of Dracul and notorious leader of Transylvania and the bloodthirsty Eizabeth Bathory of a Hungarian aristrocratic family.

Florescu and McNally have exhaustively researched the REAL Count Dracula bringing the historical figure to light. Readers will not be disappointed, as the historical Dracula (aka Vlad Tepis) is every bit as interesting - dare I say bloody - as the better known character of Stoker's novel.

_Dracula:Prince of Many Faces_ shows us the Machievellian politics of East Europe and how Tepis survived - even thrived - in the laybrinth that was 15th century politics. As a fan, historian, or curious on-looker, I recommend this book. You will not be disappointed.

The world over, Vlad the Impaler is considered a ruthless and bloodthirsty tyrant who butchered 100,000 people just for the sick pleasure of watching them die. Sure, this is absolutely true, and in Romania they say it with pride, where he is regarded somewhere on a level between George Washington and Jesus. A huge chunk of Transylvanian land that Vlad gave to a clan of minor nobles was never made subject to communist collectivization 500 years later. Maybe Romanians know something we don't.

Virtually every movie about him has been a blockbuster and every book a top seller (including the ones that came straight off Gutenberg's press!), but this is one of the few biographies about him. It is also the only one that dares to tell the story of the desperate conditions that threatened his sovereignty. This tells not only the most complete story of Dracula's life, but puts it into context by giving accounts of all the players and politics of the 15th century Eruopean theater.

The stories about and around Vlad's life are enough to satisfy anyone's thirst for romance, horror, or history. As he is faced with the incalculable odds against him, one will marvel at Vlad's fast and effective soultions to his multitude of problems. He is, for example, a true pioneer in the fields of chemical and germ warfare on the battlefield. Domestically, the tales concerning government reform, rearmament, Transylvanian justice, and what could be termed as the first "barbecue for the homeless," are both horrific and hilarious. No book about the condition of Dracula's death can ever compare to the story of his life.

Everybody has seen the "Dracula the vampire" movies, everybody does the Hungarian-accented "I vant to suck your blood" shtick, but virtually nobody really knows who the real Vlad Dracula was. I certainly didn't, and I'm kind of a history-geek.

While wordy and heavy reading in a very few places, this book was a fascinating look at the history behind the real Vlad Tepes ("The Impaler"), upon whom Bram Stoker loosely based his Dracula. It also offered an absolutely wonderful look into the trials and tribulations of 15th and 16th century Romania (or, more accurately, the principalities which would later become Romania). This was especially welcome for me, as I am adopting a child from Romania, and it is extremely enlightening to get a peek behind the complex history of this country and its people.

If you're interested in finding out about the "real" Dracula, I highly recommend this book. If you're also a history geek (or "buff," if you're not a proud geek like me!), I would go so far as to call this a must-read.

I wished this book would have had a longer chapter analyzing the natures of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and the impact this short book has had on culture and society. The lists of movies and theatre plays are good, but there are some faults. (Wrong production year of Fredric March movie, storylines of some of the movies are not entirely correct.) A few times, I wondered whether the authors really had seen the movie or not. When you publish a book like this, you must look up your facts closely! The Stevenson biography was interesting and exactly the right length, though the Deacon Brodie chapter could have been considerably shorter. All in all, a good lexicon for Jekyll & Hyde-fans.

Saw Dr. McNally on TV discussing society's fascination with the "evil within". Great book, well-paced yet in-depth enough to satisfy the thoughtful reader. The chapters tracing the common theme of the two sides of humanity through the movies and media were particularly eye-opening for me. Also, the exploration of Robert Louis Stevenson's evolution of the story was fascinating. Great writer- will have to pick up the Dracula books now!!

This book is a great companion piece to the author's earlier studies of the historical Dracula. For anyone who is a student of literature or of Stevenson in particlar, this is a great resource. I had the good fortune to take one of Prof. McNally's classes, and thus be exposed to his work. They provide a well-researched historical context and examination of the origins of these Victorian classics.

If you haven't read any of McNally/Florescu's previous works on Dracula, do so now and pick this one up while you are at it. For anyone who is fan of Dracula or Jeckyll/Hyde, the two Dracula books and the Stevenson study are "must haves". Stop reading my review, and go buy the damn books!

This interesting volume traces diplomatic developments as the Romanian principalities seek to avoid domination by both the Ottoman and Russian empires. The Romanian involvement in the "revolutions" of 1821 and 1848 is described, as are Russia's increasingly heavy-handed attempts to use its hegemony to block economic competition from the Romanian port of Galati. (The time period is a little early, but this volume and a companion volume by Paul Michelson are especially fascinating when read in contrast to the treatment of the "Eastern Question" in Dostoevsky's "Writer's Diary.") The importance of the period is highlighted by the seeds sown for the Crimean War, especially regarding the growing distrust between Britain and Russia.

The author was at a considerable disadvantage when he went in search of Frankenstein - there is no one historical figure who corresponds to Victor Frankenstein the way Vlad Tepes corresponds to Dracula.

He solves this quandry by spending most of the book in search of Mary Shelley's travel itinerary instead, which can be interesting, but also as dreadfully boring and stuffy as any early English travelogue. Celebrity gossip about Percy and Byron is used to fill in extra pages - again interesting, but not what the cover promised.

Overall, this was not the book I'd hoped for, a book that explores the history of the mad scientist concept as thoroughly as the vampire has been covered. It may still be worth reading, but only if you know what you're getting into.