The Rasputin File - Historical Biography & Russian History Book - Perfect for History Enthusiasts & Book Clubs

The author claims that a file of interviews with people who knew Rasputin turned up at auction in the 1990s after being missing for nearly 80 years. The files are heavily quoted in the book, allowing the reader to read the actual words of people who survived the Bolshevik revolution and were interviewed by them, including Rasputin's daughter, Tsaritsa Alexandra's dearest friends Yulia Dehn and Anna Vyrubova, Prince Felix Yussopov, Rasputin's housekeeper, and a multitude of other highly placed men and women who made up Rasputin's inner circle at various points in time. Rasputin is portrayed as being even more debauched that in othe books I have read on him. He was worse during his last year because he was quite sure that he was going to be murdered. The manner in which he made high society Petrograd ladies aware of their sinfulness in described by his live in housekeeper. Anna Vyrubova is not the dim witted young woman people thought, but a cunning, power hungry woman who was more than happy to help the tsaritsa set herself up to run the government while Nikolai II was running WWI from the front. Meanwhile, Rasputin was clever enough to figure out what Alexandra wanted, and so when she wrote letters to the tsar saying that Rasputin was in favor of this or that government appointment, it turns out he was only telling her what she wanted to hear. A number of myths surrounding Rasputin's assassination are debunked as well. The book is a transaltion from the original Russian, so some of the grammar and sentence construction are a bit off in some places. The Kindle edition also has numeroud typographical errors. But the book provides a gripping, new perspective on how influential Rasputin and Vyrubova really were. Highly recommended.