Rasputin
The Downfall of the Romanovs
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- $18.99
Publisher Description
“This story of credulous, out-of-touch monarchs steering their country into disaster never loses its sinister appeal.”—The New York Times
"A beautifully written, clear-eyed biography of a very Russian tragedy.”—The Sunday Times
From one of our most acclaimed historians, a major new biography of one of history’s most disturbing, dubious masterminds, showing how a Siberian peasant, through his seduction of the imperial household, contributed to the collapse of the greatest autocracy in the world
When Russia's Dowager Empress was pregnant with the future Tsar, she dreamed that a peasant would one day kill her son. The idea terrified her, and for the rest of her days she 'lived under the pressure of the prophecy'. Did the prophecy come true with the arrival at court of a mysterious, barely literate moujhik from Siberia, Grigori Rasputin?
In this extraordinary portrait of an enigmatic character, Antony Beevor brings readers closer than ever before to Rasputin’s scandalous life and death. Though he had no official position at court, Rasputin’s hold over the Romanovs became the stuff of legend. Exaggerated accounts of political and financial corruption swirled around him, to say nothing of the stories of his debauchery with the Empress and even her daughters. The consequences of the rumor and conspiracy theories were devastating—when the February revolution broke out in 1917, hardly a sword was raised in the Tsar’s defense.
Through extensive use of previously unpublished reports, interviews, and interrogations, Beevor shows the truth of Rasputin’s rampant lust and opportunism, victimization of poor and vulnerable women, and deep hypocrisy and corruption. Part political thriller, part gothic mystery, Rasputin is a fascinating story of human perversity.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
This provocative biography ponders how one power-hungry peasant brought the Russian empire to its knees. Historian Antony Beevor details the life of the peasant turned monk, Grigori Rasputin, whose Machiavellian scheming and bizarre charisma enthralled many Russian elites and earned him a place close to the Tsar. And yet, all the while, Rasputin’s drinking, so-called prophecies, and lecherous behaviour wrought havoc throughout elegant Saint Petersburg. Beevor spares no salacious details, highlighting Rasputin’s highly questionable claims about possessing healing powers, as well as his knack for shamelessly using sex to access power. This luridly compelling portrait is all meticulously grounded in field research, drawing on everything from the Russian press to secret police files and intimate correspondence—including previously unpublished sources. If you’re fascinated by historical villains who have magnetic powers of deception, Rasputin will dazzle you.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The infamous holy man did more than any revolutionary to bring down the Russian monarchy, according to this captivating biography from historian Beevor (Stalingrad). Siberian peasant-turned-religious guru Rasputin came to St. Petersburg in 1905 and amassed a large following that included Empress Alexandra. She, like many women, was transfixed by Rasputin's burning gaze, rustic authenticity, and sonorous voice, as well as his uncanny capacity for emotional rapport, which felt to many like mind reading. But Rasputin had a lecherous side, as attested by secret police reports and eyewitness accounts: he propositioned female admirers (he told them that to genuinely repent they must first sin greatly), trolled ceaselessly for prostitutes, and was even accused of improprieties with the czar's daughters by their governess. During WWI, Alexandra pressured her husband, Emperor Nicholas, into installing incompetent ministers loyal to Rasputin, who instituted a reign of sexualized corruption (including receiving sexual favors from women trying to keep male relatives out of the army). It was this corruption, and the sense that the czar had lost control and let Russia fall prey to sinister weirdos, that Beevor asserts led the monarchy to be easily overthrown. Calling it "a lesson no less relevant today," Beevor slyly concludes that "stories of... Dionysian orgies in high places proved far more devastating than anyone imagined at the time." It's an arresting portrait of a regime rotting from the top.
