Preview
  • Rasputin

  • Faith, Power, and the Twilight of the Romanovs
  • By: Douglas Smith
  • Narrated by: PJ Ochlan
  • Length: 33 hrs and 3 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (358 ratings)

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Rasputin

By: Douglas Smith
Narrated by: PJ Ochlan
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $37.49

Buy for $37.49

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

On the centenary of the death of Rasputin comes a definitive biography that will dramatically change our understanding of this fascinating figure.

A hundred years after his murder, Rasputin continues to excite the popular imagination as the personification of evil. Numerous biographies, novels, and films recount his mysterious rise to power as Nicholas and Alexandra's confidant and the guardian of the sickly heir to the Russian throne. His debauchery and sinister political influence are the stuff of legend, and the downfall of the Romanov dynasty was laid at his feet.

But as the prizewinning historian Douglas Smith shows, the true story of Rasputin's life and death has remained shrouded in myth. A major new work that combines probing scholarship and powerful storytelling, Rasputin separates fact from fiction to reveal the real life of one of history's most alluring figures. Drawing on a wealth of forgotten documents from archives in seven countries, Smith presents Rasputin in all his complexity - man of God, voice of peace, loyal subject, adulterer, drunkard. Rasputin is not just a definitive biography of an extraordinary and legendary man, but a fascinating portrait of the twilight of imperial Russia as it lurched toward catastrophe.

©2016 Douglas Smith (P)2016 Macmillan Audio
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

What listeners say about Rasputin

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    181
  • 4 Stars
    107
  • 3 Stars
    42
  • 2 Stars
    16
  • 1 Stars
    12
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    161
  • 4 Stars
    92
  • 3 Stars
    38
  • 2 Stars
    15
  • 1 Stars
    16
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    183
  • 4 Stars
    79
  • 3 Stars
    34
  • 2 Stars
    12
  • 1 Stars
    16

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Important work, but unreflected

The endeavor of adjusting historical records after the release of new data is of great value and in itself historic. I appreciated the book, although on some occasions the lack of introspection and reflection of the author's own biases became very annoying and almost prevented me from listening on. Likewise and probably fueled by the unreflected nature of the author, source criticism is missing sometimes entirely. Perhaps the research and the writing of the book constituted a journey for the author himself, as he appears very critical of his subject in the beginning, whereas in the end he is heralding the image of the real Rasputin. Because the book is important in what it attempts to do the lack of reflection on the part of the author hurts the value of the entire book as it makes it easy for critics to dismiss the entire work.

For the narrator, who appears to be familiar with the Russian pronunciation for each and every name, but for Rasputin, which he pronounces in the American way. Some of the arrogance and expressions of unreflectedness especially in the beginning of the book may have been emphasized by how the narrator is reading.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Good, but longer than it needed to be.

This is a very well researched and explained book, but there are about 35 chapters in the middle that get repetitive to the point of exhaustion. The author used his source material well, and didn't let any of it go unmentioned. I really appreciated the way he cut through the myth, and explained the man.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

The Rascal Rasputin

This is a very intense and emotional story about one of the most dubious characters in history. A deluded person this Rasputin and who was able to mislead so many others.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

very good read/listen but.....

overall it was a great read, something I've listened to numerous times, however, as remarked previously from other reviews, you can get lost with all the references to Russian names.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Well documented life of Rasputin.

This is the story of Rasputin base on historic testimonies and documents. Many aspects of his life are unveiled and full of unknown anecdotes displayed along his life. Is the most interesting version I known about the life of this very strange and opportunist personage.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Lots of information!

This is a very long book. It could be very confusing because there are so characters and situations.

I had learned about Rasputin while on a trip to St. Petersburg, Russia. It really intrigued me.

Perseverance paid off. I found things falling into place and enjoyed the experience very much.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Comprehensive!

The great amount of detail and how the mythology of Rasputin was created, used and manipulated by his enemies and followers.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

A story that deserves a better narrator.

Pity poor Douglas Smith, he has written a master work of Revisionist History and Revisionist Biography only to have it gainsaid by one of the worst readings ever inflicted on a book.

The actual book is solid, a retelling of the Rasputin narrative using newly found and sometimes ignored sources. Forget the Mad Monk and meet the real man, a symptom of the collapse of the Tsarist Autocracy, but not its cause. Forget the tawdry stories of aristocratic lasciviousness and see the more tawdry exploits with ladies for hire. Explore the rot at the very top of the Russian nation and abject failure of the monarchy to adjust to modernity. It's a great story... ruined.

And the man who ruined it is right between your ears. It's not just the flat, uninspired monotone of the delivery, it's also the actual voice as well. It's high, poorly modulated, yet droning. The pacing is bad, really bad, almost unbearable.

I can not tally the times I had to rewind the performance because my mind drifted off, or worse--fell asleep. Part of the issue here was the complexity of the personalities, and their Russian names, but most of problem is directly related to the presentation.

That presentation rarely rises to level of mediocrity, and mostly plumbs the depths of poor to God-awful. The voice when not grating, is stultifying and sing-song. There is not emotional moment in the narrative, or a heart-rending quote from a participant that is not totally flubbed. It's as if the production was rushed, or telephoned in. The presenter is an alien presence in the narrative. To call it a robotic performance is an insult to both Alexa and Siri would might have done a better job of it.

For the TL;DR crowd, buy the print book, skip the audiobook. Audible needs to pink-slip this particular reader; pronto.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

19 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Mesmerizing

I remember being fascinated by this wild monk from Siberia in school. The book was well researched and riveting - particularly hearing accounts of Rasputin's eyes/hypnotic persona.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Slooooow narrator

Ran it at 1.5x to achieve a relatively normal pace. I have never heard a narrator this slow.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful