Tuesday, April 12, 2016

In Search of Dracula (McNally & Florescu)


You're probably familiar with Bram Stoker's 1897 masterpiece Dracula.  What you may not realize is that Stoker's vampire was based on a historical figure: Vlad Tepes, or "The Impaler," a Wallachian* prince who lived from 1431-1467.  He was also known as . . . Vlad Dracula.  In Search of Dracula is a short (180 page) history of both the historical and legendary (in folklore/pop culture) figures.

Though I enjoyed the subject matter a good deal, this book has many shortcomings.  It's a meandering account, with information presented in an unstructured, confusing manner.  The authors claim to be the first to connect the fictional vampire with the historical figure; I found that hard to believe, as Stoker must have done the same over a century ago, based on similarities between his count and Vlad (the authors mention this very fact later in the book . . . which seems self-contradictory).  As both authors are professors and have jointly penned several books on this subject, I don't doubt their authority- but they could work on their content/consistency/delivery.  As a final ding, I was surprised by their historical investigative methods, which seemed amateurish in places (when the facts are cloudy, they tend to believe the folklore as fact- seems to me an odd way of approaching historical research).  Despite these issues, though, the book does have a lot of good resources- almost half of the pages are appendices with useful information (to include a chronology, bibliography, filmography, and travel guide)- so I'll keep this until I find something better.

Rating: B-

*Wallachia is a region in modern Romania; on its north border you'll find Transylvania (also in modern Romania)

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