Customer Reviews
Somewhat hard going. For history buffs only - By: N. D. Maidment, 14 Sep 2004 
Casual fans of the legendary Bram Stoker villain beware - there will likely be very little to appeal to you.
What we instead have here is a rather dry history of the 'real Dracula' ie the Romanian prince Vlad the Impaler, & his often gruesome historyin the 1400s.
For those looking beyond the blood suckerin the black cape there is much here of interest. Dracula's life was an interesting and, of course, bloody one. Considered,in differing circles, to be a champion of the Christian world, or a devilin human form, the most interesting sections consist of the cruel & unusual punishments meted out by Dracula, sometimes for next to no reason.
Tales are related of how he nailed skull caps to the heads of visiting Italians who did not doff their headwearin his presence, the mutilation of unchaste women & the fascinating tale of how he allowed a monk to condemn him to damnation before personally impaling him.
It was an unbelievable world back then & this sheds valuable light on one of history's darkest characters without ever being particularly enjoyable reading.
What is most interesting is the reveriein which Dracula is still heldin backin his homeland. Here he is considered a hero who saved the nation from Muslim enslavementin ages past. In short, his real history is a million miles from that which Stoker created, although there is a fascinating chapter which points out the accuraciesin Stoker's novel.
For those seeking the true Dracula, this is a decent read at a good price, but it will not appeal to the casual vampire fan.
Appraisal - By: Tracey Hughes, 25 Nov 2003 
For many years I have been a fan of horror & stumbled across this book quite by accident.
Since having read Dracula, Prince Of Many Faces I have gone on to read other works by the same authors, on this legendary ruler & find the subject fascinating.
His life, times & personality springs off the pagein thrilling detail that never becomes tedious or boring.
I would highly recommend anyone with an interestin history or horror to read this book. The only frustration readers are likely to have is when others around them make the same old comment of "Dracula was a vampire count wasn't he?", the urge to put people right is irresistable!
A decent attempt, but there are better - By: J. Kelly, 24 Oct 2002 Florescu & McNally have done a decent job of telling the sotry of Vlad Tepes, or Vlad Dracula,in this book. Unfortunately,in order to get at it, you have to wade through some poor writing. In addition to poor prose, the authors seem content with providing only a storyline. They do not delve too deeply into context, which is essential to gaining a good understanding of why Vlad III Dracula rose to & fell from power so many times.
In my research, there were better accounts of Vlad's life. The best, however, is almost £30, so this is a good start for the beginner, but definitely not the end.
The historical Dracula - By: rene@centroweb.net, 02 Mar 2001 
Florescu is a historian descended from one of Dracula's aristocratic victims. He has done a great deal of research on the subject & has produced the most readable of Vlad III's biographies. The book includes translations of several contemporary documents & an extensive bibliography. I would recommend it to anyone interestedin history, literature (Bram Stoker, Dracula), movies (Nosferatu) & folklore.
