The Immortal Count: The Life and Films of Bela Lugosi - Softcover

"A moving, lively, witty, sad book that revives once more the long dead Count Dracula." -- Kirkus "One comes away from Lennig's book with a deep respect for both Lugosi and the author himself." -- Scary Monsters Magazine "Lennig's lifelong worship of his subject adds an intensely personal flavor to this biography of the complex horror king, which shines in its ability to respect Lugosi's talent, regardless of personality flaws." -- Publisher's Weekly "This book is long overdue and is highly recommended as biography, film history and pop culture. It is the last word on Lugosi." -- National Board of Review "The definitive account of Lugosi's tragic life and times." -- Turner Classic Movies "Remains passionately personal in its outlook, but thanks to new research and greater availability of films it also offers a more comprehensive and richly detailed study of Bela Lugosi's complex personality." -- Paul M. Jensen "In this intelligent biography, Lennig details the talented Hungarian-born actor's five marriages, drug addictions, feuds with Boris Karloff, and appearances in Ed Wood's humiliating movies, drawing on firsthand information, archives, interviews, and years of research." -- Library Journal "Will stand for a long time as the definitive book about the man who incarnated Dracula, to the great detriment of his career." -- Lexington Herald-Leader

After more than two hundred years in the shadows of Washington and Jefferson, John Adams enjoys fame as one of our top presidents. Of unprepossessing appearance and feisty temperament, he expressed his personal feelings in copious correspondence and public documents along with two unfinished autobiographies. Paul M. Zall draws from Adams's own letters, diaries, notes and autobiographies to create a fresh portrait. Adams's writings, both public and private, trace his rise from country lawyer to the nation's highest office by the sheer force of his personality. Lacking the advantages of money, connections, class, or patronage, Adams used "the severest and most incessant labor" to promote American independence. Zall's commentary illuminates Adams's words, focusing on how Adams's inner strengths -- in conflict with a sense of inferiority and an obsession with fame -- helped win government under law at home and national respect abroad. Borne along by an irresistible sense of Spartan duty and refusing to compromise high principles for cheap popularity, he sacrificed family, fortune, and even fame. In Adams on Adams we are at last able to hear Adams describe his extraordinary journey in his own words.