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Dracula's Bloodline

A Florescu Family Saga

Radu R. Florescu and Matei Cazacu

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through the centuries since the 1400s, they used many sources: the Brasov archives in Transylvania, select letters, unpublished diaries, and extensive family documents that have been scattered from Europe to the United States.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.
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  • Author
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Hamilton Books
Pages: 326 • Trim: 6¼ x 9
978-0-7618-6157-7 • Paperback • August 2013 • $53.99 • (£42.00)
978-0-7618-6158-4 • eBook • August 2013 • $51.00 • (£39.00)
Subjects: Biography & Autobiography / Historical, Biography & Autobiography / Criminals & Outlaws, History / Europe / Eastern, History / Historiography, History / Europe / Scandinavia, History / Oral History
Radu R. Florescu was born in Bucharest, Romania and is an indirect descendant of Prince Dracula. He received both BA and MA degrees from Christ Church, Oxford University and a PhD from Indiana University. He is professor emeritus of history at Boston College and is author of The Struggle Against Russia in the Romanian Principalities and co-author of a half dozen books on the story of Vlad Tepes, the historical Dracula. With almost a dozen books to his name, his academic work has been the subject of documentaries by The History Channel, Discovery, Canadian Broadcasting, and other international networks.

Matei Cazacu received his BA and MA from the University of Bucharest and his PhD from the Sorbonne in Paris. He served as a senior researcher at the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) in Paris. Professor Cazacu is the author of a few dozen books including Dracula (Tallandier, Paris, 2004), Gilles de Rais, or Blue Beard, (Tallandier, Paris, 2005), and Frankenstein (with Professor Florescu, Tallandier, 2011). A medievalist, Professor Cazacu lectures throughout Europe and has appeared in documentaries on The History Channel and Romanian television.
Preface
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Romanian Court Dignitaries and Terms in English
Chapter 1 My Name is Florea
Chapter 2 The Wolfman Serves Vlad Dracul
Chapter 3 A Florescu-Dracula Marriage
Chapter 4 Maria the Old Saves the Florescu Name
Chapter 5 The Tragic Death of Two Half-Brothers: Michael the Brave and Radu Florescu
Chapter 6 The Florescus During the Seventeenth Century: Manners Maketh Man
Chapter 7 Florescu Survival Under Greek Rule
Chapter 8 The Revolutionary Household in Bucharest — 1848
Chapter 9 A Conservative General and a Liberal Musician Reunite
Chapter 10 A Patriot of Greater Romania
Chapter 11 Radu Florescu: An Undiplomatic Diplomat
Chapter 12 Radu Florescu: The Absent-Minded Professor
Chapter 13 The Search for Dracula
Chapter 14 Uncle George and Aunt Elza Florescu Milescu Survive Fascism and Battle Communism
Epilogue The Post-Communist Generation: Quest for New Frontiers and Reclaiming the Values of Old
Genealogy
Florescu Land and Property Holdings (Fourteenth-Nineteenth Centuries)
Index
[T]he book is lively and engaging. The Dracula Professor has had a full and interesting life, bracketed by his colorful Romanian ancestors and by his successful children, some of whom returned to post-Communist Romania as entrepreneurs. Dracula’s Bloodline is a good read.
— Journal of Folklore Research


Dracula's Bloodline

A Florescu Family Saga

Cover Image
Paperback
eBook
Summary
Summary
  • 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.
Details
Details
  • Hamilton Books
    Pages: 326 • Trim: 6¼ x 9
    978-0-7618-6157-7 • Paperback • August 2013 • $53.99 • (£42.00)
    978-0-7618-6158-4 • eBook • August 2013 • $51.00 • (£39.00)
    Subjects: Biography & Autobiography / Historical, Biography & Autobiography / Criminals & Outlaws, History / Europe / Eastern, History / Historiography, History / Europe / Scandinavia, History / Oral History
Author
Author
  • Radu R. Florescu was born in Bucharest, Romania and is an indirect descendant of Prince Dracula. He received both BA and MA degrees from Christ Church, Oxford University and a PhD from Indiana University. He is professor emeritus of history at Boston College and is author of The Struggle Against Russia in the Romanian Principalities and co-author of a half dozen books on the story of Vlad Tepes, the historical Dracula. With almost a dozen books to his name, his academic work has been the subject of documentaries by The History Channel, Discovery, Canadian Broadcasting, and other international networks.

    Matei Cazacu received his BA and MA from the University of Bucharest and his PhD from the Sorbonne in Paris. He served as a senior researcher at the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) in Paris. Professor Cazacu is the author of a few dozen books including Dracula (Tallandier, Paris, 2004), Gilles de Rais, or Blue Beard, (Tallandier, Paris, 2005), and Frankenstein (with Professor Florescu, Tallandier, 2011). A medievalist, Professor Cazacu lectures throughout Europe and has appeared in documentaries on The History Channel and Romanian television.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
  • Preface
    Acknowledgements
    Introduction
    Romanian Court Dignitaries and Terms in English
    Chapter 1 My Name is Florea
    Chapter 2 The Wolfman Serves Vlad Dracul
    Chapter 3 A Florescu-Dracula Marriage
    Chapter 4 Maria the Old Saves the Florescu Name
    Chapter 5 The Tragic Death of Two Half-Brothers: Michael the Brave and Radu Florescu
    Chapter 6 The Florescus During the Seventeenth Century: Manners Maketh Man
    Chapter 7 Florescu Survival Under Greek Rule
    Chapter 8 The Revolutionary Household in Bucharest — 1848
    Chapter 9 A Conservative General and a Liberal Musician Reunite
    Chapter 10 A Patriot of Greater Romania
    Chapter 11 Radu Florescu: An Undiplomatic Diplomat
    Chapter 12 Radu Florescu: The Absent-Minded Professor
    Chapter 13 The Search for Dracula
    Chapter 14 Uncle George and Aunt Elza Florescu Milescu Survive Fascism and Battle Communism
    Epilogue The Post-Communist Generation: Quest for New Frontiers and Reclaiming the Values of Old
    Genealogy
    Florescu Land and Property Holdings (Fourteenth-Nineteenth Centuries)
    Index
Reviews
Reviews
  • [T]he book is lively and engaging. The Dracula Professor has had a full and interesting life, bracketed by his colorful Romanian ancestors and by his successful children, some of whom returned to post-Communist Romania as entrepreneurs. Dracula’s Bloodline is a good read.
    — Journal of Folklore Research


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