Rasputin

Faith, Power, and the Twilight of the Romanovs

By: Douglas Smith

Narrated by: PJ Ochlan

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Slooooow narrator

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