This engrossing book tells the story of the Florescu family, from its feudal blood ties, to the notorious 15th century figure Vlad Tepes (Count Dracula), right up to present day, touching on such diverse personalities as the Kennedys, Bill Clinton, and Michael Jackson. In the tradition of Alex Haley’s Roots, Dracula’s Bloodline relates a multi-generational saga through the prism of one family’s narrative, from medieval Eastern Europe to the post-Communist era. The book provides an inside look at Romania’s bloody and turbulent history—a mostly untold narrative that embraces the cruel Ottoman invasions, vying boyars seeking to change the political order at home, and the toppling of the Ceausescu regime. The story of each century is told through the eyes of one Florescu (or more) who had a unique perch from which to view his or her contemporary society. Florescu and Cazacu drew on research that had mostly been kept in family hands. To track the Florescu footprint down through the centuries since the 1400s, they used many sources: the Brasov archives in Transylvania, select letters, unpublished diaries, and extensive family documents that have been scattered from Europe to the United States. This fully indexed book offers many photographs from family archives, as well as a glossary of terms and titles, and a full genealogy showing the Florescu’s family links to Vlad Tepes.
Essays on Romanian History brings together a lifetime of studies on Romanian history and culture by one of the leading American scholars on the history of Romania, Radu R. Florescu. While each chapter is a separate study, in their totality, they form a vision of Romanian history, dealing with issues from ancient times to the present day. Among the studies included in this volume: The Formation of a Nation from the Earliest Times to Burebista; The Struggle between Decebal and Trajan; Prince Negru — Founder of the First Romanian Principality; The Search for Dracula; Vlad Dracul II (1436-1442, 1443-1447); Vlad III The Impaler (or Dracula) (1448, 1456-1462, 1476) — Tactician of Terror or National Hero; The Origins of the Dragon Symbol; Dracula in the Romanian Literature; The Dracula Image in Folklore; Captain John Smith and Romania (1580-1631); Michael the Brave (1593-1601); Dimitrie Cantemir and the Battle of Stanile?ti (1710-1711); The Uniate Church; The Phanariot Regime; Horea, Clo?ca, and Cri?an: Peasants in Arms: 1784-1785; General Ion Emanoil Florescu: Father of the Romanian Army 1817-1893; Elena Cuza: Neglected Woman and Wife (1825-1909); Dumitru Florescu: A Forgotten Pioneer in the History of Romanian Music (1827-1875); Diplomatic and Military Preparation for the War of 1877-1878; An Intimate View; King Carol and Lupescu; and Mircea Eliade’s Contribution to History. The author, Radu R. Florescu, was a professor of history at Boston College. He is the author of The Struggle against Russia in the Romanian Principalities, Dracula: Prince of Many Faces, and In Search of Dracula.
Known principally for his bestselling In Search of Dracula, Frankenstein, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dr. Radu Florescu now takes us on a magical tour of the origins of the legend of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, exploring both the myth and the history that has captivated so many since the Middle Ages, and has been immortalized in Browning's famous poem. There are intriguing insights and speculations on the genuine history on which the poet relied and an explanation for his choice of Transylvania as the end of the child exodus from Hamelin town. Most plausible is the author's adoption of the history of a German military leader, leading the youths on a colonizing expedition to the Baltic lands where they all perished in a shipwreck. The author also links the story of a genuine rat infestation in Hamelin with the child exodus - a good opportunity to examine that pest's nuisance value from the time of the great plague to the German siege of Stalingrad in World War II. All in all a thoroughly intriguing and well-written book. Dr. Florescu, Professor of History emeritus at Boston College, Consul emeritus of Romania for New England. He received his BA, MA and B.Lit. degrees from Oxford University (Christ Church College) and his Ph.D. in History from Indiana University. He is currently Director of the East European Research Center at Boston College and the author of numerous works on East European and Romanian history.
The period leading up to the unification of the Romanian principalities is one of the most dynamic periods in modern Romanian history. It was a time of effervescence, which witnessed the birth of new ideas and the struggle between revolution and reaction. With the expansion of Russia in the Balkans, amidst the decline of the Ottoman Empire, the struggle against Russia in the Romanian principalities, supported by Anglo-Turkish diplomacy, took on international significance. Written by one of the leading specialists on Romanian history in the United States, The Struggle Against Russia in the Romanian Principalities is a significant contribution to nineteenth-century European diplomatic history. The author, Radu R. Florescu, was a professor of history at Boston College. He received his B.A. and M.A. degrees from Christ Church, Oxford University in Great Britain, before moving to the United States where he completed his Ph.D. at Indiana University. Professor Florescu was a distinguished scholar and the author of numerous books and articles on Romanian and East European history.
A newly revised edition of the classic account of Vlad the Impaler--just in time for Halloween--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. 70 b&w illustrations.
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.
Frankenstein : la littérature lui a donné vie, le cinéma l’a pourvu d’un visage. Personnage éponyme du roman de Mary Shelley paru en 1818, il est entré dans l’imaginaire collectif où se confondent parfois créateur et créature. L’histoire de ce mythe devenu aussi effrayant qu’incontournable demeure pourtant méconnue. Villa Diodati, Cologny, 1816. Il était une fois un poète qui, lors d’une nuit sombre et pluvieuse sur les rives du Lac Léman, met au défi ses hôtes d’écrire la meilleure et la plus abominable histoire de fantôme. Ce poète n’est autre que Lord Byron, et parmi ses amis Mary Shelley. Pour bâtir son récit, la jeune femme puise dans la vie de Johann Conrad Dippel, un alchimiste et théologien allemand qui exerçait la médecine de manière excentrique. La rumeur court que l’homme, demeurant dans le château de Frankenstein, pratiquait autopsies et expériences médicales en tout genre : l’histoire peut commencer. Réalité et fiction s’unissent pour donner vie à Victor Frankenstein ! Dans un récit savamment orchestré, Matei Cazacu et Radu Florescu reviennent sur ce mythe ô combien célèbre et tentent de démêler le vrai du faux en perçant le mystère des origines du monstre.
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.
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