Synopsis:
A new (2016) edition of this acclaimed, classic biography, originally published by Jonathan Cape (Random House) in 2004. An additional chapter has been added on the Historical Dracula, based on newly-discovered material in a Dublin library, which radically alters our understanding of the formation of Dracula. In his lifetime, Bram Stoker (1847-1912) lived in the shadow of the man he served, the Victorian actor, Sir Henry Irving. In death, he was overshadowed by the his most famous creation, the undead Count who continues to permeate our consciousness.Yet Stoker was a larger than life individual, one of the most remarkable characters of the Victorian era, an age he both personified and transcended. At Trinity College Dublin Stoker was a contemporary of key Irish literary and political figures and later launched himself on a career as a writer, while juggling the demands of a Civil Service job with journalism.He married the great love of Oscar Wilde's youth, Florence Balcombe, and devoted the best years of his adult life to Irving's Lyceum Theatre in London. In this acclaimed, meticulously researched, ground-breaking biography, prize-winning author, Paul Murray, illuminates a multi-faceted man of extraordinary creativity. Now, for the first time, Dracula is presented in the context of Stoker's life and entire fictional output. Rooted in his upbringing and active engagement with Victorian concerns, his dark masterpiece emerges as an imaginative tour de force which both mirrored and judged his era.
About the Author:
Paul Murray is a writer and former diplomat. His biography, From the Shadow of Dracula: A Life of Bram Stoker, was published (Jonathan Cape: London) in 2004. His previous biography, A Fantastic Journey: The Life and Literature of Lafcadio Hearn (UK, 1993; USA, 1997; Japan (translation, 2000)) won the 1995 Koizumi Yakumo Literary Prize in Japan. He was the recipient of the Gold Medal of the Ireland Japan Association in 1999 for services to Ireland-Japan relations. He selected and introduced Kwaidan, Ghost Stories of Lafcadio Hearn (Dublin, 2015). Murray was Ambassador of Ireland to South Korea (1999-2004) as well as North Korea. He was Ambassador to the OECD and UNESCO in Paris (2006-2012).
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