A. N. Wilson

"Jonathan Harker is travelling to Castle Dracula to see the Transylvanian noble, Count Dracula. He is begged by locals not to go there, because on the eve of St. George's Day, when the clock strikes midnight, all the evil things in the world will come full sway. But business must be done, so Jonathan makes his way to the Castle - and then his nightmare begins. His beloved wife Meena and other lost souls have fallen under the Count's horrifying spell....

By the end of the nineteenth century, almost all the great writers, artists, and intellectuals had abandoned Christianity; many had abandoned belief in God altogether. This was in part the result of scientific discovery, particularly the work of Charles Darwin in The Origin of Species and the controversy that followed. But the doubt about religion had many sources. A. N. Wilson demonstrates in this synthesis of biography and intellectual history that...

"Boccaccio, with his unquenchable interest in the lives of great men, was a fervent admirer of Dante, both in terms of his life and his work. As such, he embarked upon writing this short piece as a vindication of the merits of his illustrious fellow-citizen. Yet far from being simply an account of the misfortunes that befell the great Florentine exile, the resulting Life of Dante also gives precious insight into Boccaccio's own ideas on a wide variety...