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Dracula, Prince of Many Faces His Life and His Times

Dracula, Prince of Many Faces His Life and His Times

List Price: $16.95
Your Price: $11.53
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Vlad the Impaler in all his historically researched glory
Review: Off of their original research "In Search of Dracula," the authors have given Vlad the Impaler a more detailed historical assessment without losing their initial sense of fascination with their subject. They do not give in to the sensationalism of their infamous subject, which is a pretty neat trick. It is hard to think that even without Stoker's novel this is a character who would have been forgotten by history. After all, you can make the argument that Vlad does in Eastern Europe what El Cid accomplishes in Spain: stops the Muslim invasion of Europe.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Okay.
Review: The authors are abit long winded and I got bogged down by all of the names and dates. But is it interesting. I wish that there were more pictures.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Better than fiction
Review: The historical Dracula is vastly more interesting than all subsequent fictional versions. Forget you've ever heard the word "vampire," & this book could be even more rewarding. Florescu & McNally are fine scholars, & their approach in this book is much more historical & in-depth (& less sensationalistic) than in "In Search of Dracula." They even take a few stabs at psychological analysis. There is probably no better book for serious study of this sick but sharp-minded tyrant, & it should also appeal to anyone interested in the history of warfare, Eastern European political history, Machiavellian political philosophy, & execution/torture techniques.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Hero, or villian!
Review: The title may sound flippant, but make no mistake, this is a very deep & studious history of the character. Thrill seekers should be more than satisfied by the vivid descriptions of Dracula's divers forms of despatching those poor individuals who incurred his wrath. The authors deal both thoroughly & entertainingly with all the characters, wars, international intrigues, & give a chilling idea of what life was about in those violent & dangerous times. Dracula in particular is described in a most non-judgemental manner. Whilst it is impossible to defend his awful behaviour, study of his early life leads one to easily understand how his baser instincts might be brought to the surface. The book abounds with ironies & contrasts. Depending on the country of origin, there are totally different historical treatments of his deeds. He was brave, cruel, ambitious, devious, loyal, unreliable, resourceful & vain. A clever, or honest response to his interrogation could result in impalement, or dinner & a pot of gold, depending on Dracula's violent & unpredictable mood swings. Anyone however, remotely interested in seriously knowing more about Dracula's "life & times" can't fail to be impressed by this book.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: "Stand not between the Dragon and his wrath!"
Review: 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.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Dracula Book
Review: This book was very good in my opinion because it gave more insight than most books about the time period of the famous Wallachian Prince Vlad III Dracula. In order to get the full effect of the book, one must understand the values of the people at that time. Prince Vlad III Dracula was a brilliant tactical warrior and understood the psychology of the invading Turks, which is where he gets his more infamous exploits. Many books tend to leave out how many rulers and conquerers did vicious and terrible things to secure order and maintain the peace. Prince Vlad III Dracula was no different than Richard the Lionheart, El Cid, or Atilla the Hun. This book dispels more of the myth and reveals the man in the times that changed him.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Excellent summary of Dracula's life
Review: This is a fairly concise and accurate summary of the real Dracula's life and times. Florescu and McNally are just about the only Western writers to have concentrated on this subject matter and have done a great favor by translating the original German, Romanian, Russian, and other sources into English. This is certainly an enlightning book however I missed having a summary of the various fictional incarnations of Dracula that were described in the authors' previous book, "In Search of Dracula" which provided an excellent tie in to most Westerner's perceptions of "Dracula" from the movies.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: In depth biography, too many details for me.
Review: Very detail biography of the prince who lived in Romanian. Sentence by sentence filled with dates and facts, not very entertaining for me. The same author writes another book that is much easier to read: "In Search of Dracula". It has all the disgusting things Dracula did plus some other infamous people.

Stay away from this book unless you're a real history buff.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great read
Review: When I picked this book up I had little idea of who Vlad the Impaler was, save for the Dracula movie a few years ago and a computer game. And of course, various web searches, but safe to say, I didn't know much about the man. But, I must say this was a very good read. The reading is a little tough, I will say that. Some things don't seem to go well together, and some things don't make total sense, but overall, you can piece together enough information to get the general picture.

The real Dracula is definitely more scary than the movie dracula. This man was a real scourge, a real monster in the form of a human. He apparently idoled Attila the Hun and one can see why, for he seems to have tried to be Attila, in fact, I think from reading this book, one can say he went beyond Attila.

Still, from reading this book, it made me think of Saddam Hussein. And here's why. Vlad the Impaler, as much of a monster as he was, was the last line of defense for the Christians in the east against the Turks. And because of this, his atrocities were pushed under the carpet because of his position. In some ways, he is a great military leader, in others a horrible scourge. In the end though, he is a man who basically had a purpose, to hold the line against the spread of Islam in the East, and he did so very effectively.

I would recommend this to anyone not only interested in Dracula but also to others interested in Medieval military history. Considering his resources were poor and he was facing a sultan who had a greatly advanced military, Vlad made such amazing moves to strike fear and terror into his opponents heart, that he could not be forced to submit on the battlefield.


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