Jane Austen's Transatlantic Sister: The Life and Letters of Fanny Palmer Austen
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In 1807 genteel, Bermuda-born Fanny Palmer (1789-1814) married Jane Austen's youngest brother,...
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The 'People's Joan of Arc': Mary Elizabeth Lease, Gendered Politics and Populist Party Politics in Gilded-Age America
Book
The 'People's Joan of Arc': Mary Elizabeth Lease, Gendered Politics and Populist Party Politics in...
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The General: Charles de Gaulle and the France He Saved
Book
No leader of modern times was more unique and more uniquely national than Charles de Gaulle. As...
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Lure of the Mountains: The Life of Bentley Beetham, 1924 Everest Expedition Mountaineer
Michael D. Lowes and Graham Ratcliffe
Book
Lure of the Mountains is the first published biography of accomplished photographer, ornithologist,...
The Antagonist Principle: John Henry Newman and the Paradox of Personality
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The Antagonist Principle is a critical examination of the works and sometimes controversial public...
This is a prequel to Bram Stokers Dracula, and is the story of Bram himself. It postulates that Dracula and vampires really do exist, Bram and his family had an intimate relationship with one (not like THAT!), and Dracula was written as a warning about the Undead. Well, I clearly don't know what to believe now!
The language used in this novel is a little more up to date than Bram Stokers original: it's written for the modern reader (as Bram's was at the time, I suppose), and is consequently much easier to read. This book is supposedly based on notes that Bram left behind - whether they were ideas for another book, or they were 'actual occurrences', we'll never really know.
Bram and his family are followed from Bram's early childhood, up until well after their encounter with Dracul. It's exciting, there's loads of action, and I had some serious worries about Bram's siblings! There's loads of historical detail (potato famine in Ireland, disease, poverty) which I rather enjoyed. But it's the encounters with the vampires that I really loved. There's always going to be someone that makes the comparison to 'that' vampire series, and so I'll be the one. There IS NO comparison. These aren't nicey-nicey vampires who sparkle. These are largely speaking, evil, dark-magic-using, killing machines. Much more fun.
I think this is probably going to be a series. Which I will obviously be reading. Obviously.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy of this book.
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Putty: From Tel-El-Kebir to Cambrai: the Life and Letters of Lieutenant General Sir William Pulteney 1861-1941
Book
Once described by a subordinate as "the most completely ignorant general I served during the war",...
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Right or Wrong: The Memoirs of Lord Bell
Tim Bell, Charles Vallance and David Hopper
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Tim Bell is the original 'spin doctor'; the Chairman of Bell Pottinger public relations, and one of...
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Judge Sewall's Apology: The Salem Witch Trials and the Forming of a Conscience
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The most evocative and richly contextualised account of the Salem Witch trials in print. The Salem...
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Marshall Hall: A Law Unto Himself
Sally Smith and Clive Anderson
Book
Sir Edward Marshall Hall KC saved more people from the hangman's noose than any other known...
Ross (3282 KP) Dec 11, 2018
ClareR (5589 KP) Dec 11, 2018