From the bestselling author of Stalingrad comes a fascinating and deeply insightful historical post-mortem on the mysterious, complex and deeply hated man who won his way into the last Tsar's inner circle and was instrumental in the dramatic downfall of the Romanov dynasty.
How could a barely literate peasant from Siberia determine the fate of the world? Undoubtedly, the so-called 'mad monk' Rasputin bewitched Tsar Nicholas II and his wife, Alexandra. Yet their strange and scandalous relationship conceals a riddle , one that casts an intriguing light on the controversial 'great man' theory of history.
Rasputin was a devoted monarchist, not a revolutionary. He had no official position, no forces at his command. Nevertheless, he contributed more to the fall of the Romanov dynasty than any other individual. So demoralised was the Tsarist officer corps by stories of corruption, to say nothing of the rumours of his debauchery with the Empress - and even her daughters - that when the February Revolution broke out, not a sword was raised in defence of the regime.
Just as Rasputin cast a spell over the Romanovs, his legend has bewitched historians. More than a century later, we still fail to comprehend fully the collapse of the greatest autocracy on Earth. Was there any truth to the wild tales that brought down the empire? Or was his true legacy an unsettling lesson on the potency of myth?
Publisher: Orion
ISBN: 9781399642774
Number of pages: 384
Dimensions: 240 x 156 mm
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Meticulously researched and well balanced, this detailed history of Rasputin and the Romanovs is fascinating. Beevor clearly explains how this mystic was able to ingratiate himself with not only the Tsarina and the... More
Excellent account of rise of Rasputin & his part in the decline of Romanov dynasty. Very readable, stayed up half the night to finish it - it was that engrossing. Wld highly recommend & v likely to read it again
A follow up, of sorts, to his previous book "Russia: Revolution and Civil War 1917-1921", Anthony Beevor turns his attention to the downfall of the Romanov dynasty at a more personal level, from the... More
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