Grigory Efimovich Rasputin, Russian peasant, monk and mystic, exercised extraordinary and malign power over the last Tsar and Tsarina of Russia and their haemophiliac son. His drunkenness, sexual excesses and nepotism - not to mention rumours that he was a German agent - led to his murder by a group of noblemen in December 1916.
Mad monk or mystic, sham or shaman, few figures from contemporary history have captured the imagination like Rasputin. The enormous influence that this half-literate priest exerted over Tsarina Alexandra is one of history's great enigmas, an enigma which Russia's leading historian sets out here to unravel.
Radzinsky has gained access to an extraordinary range of hitherto undiscovered material, in particular the proceedings of a Russian government investigation in 1917 which includes a wealth of interviews with people who had dealings with Rasputin. In the Russian historian's words, "For the first time - Rasputin's daily companions will speak. Among them will be some of the women who did not merely witness life with Rasputin, but enjoyed all the experiences of a close relationship with the "holy devil" . . . I will discuss in detail the super-human powers of Rasputin. Did he really have the power to heal the heir apparent? And if so, how?"
And finally Rasputin's murder will be described from a whole new angle, re-examining the various conspiracy theories and describing the moments leading up to the murder against the backdrop of pre-Revolution Bacchanalia in the imperial city.
