Rasputin

A hundred years after his murder, Rasputin continues to excite the popular imagination as the personification of evil. The spectre of the lustful Siberian holy man and peasant still casts its eerie shadow over Russia's bloody twentieth century. Numerous biographies, novels, and films recount his mysterious rise to power as Nicholas and Alexandra's confidant and guardian of the sickly heir to the throne. His debauchery and sinister political influence are the stuff of legend, and the downfall of the Romanov dynasty was laid at his feet. Even during his lifetime Rasputin was shrouded in myth and his true story remains obscure today.
Douglas Smith's Rasputin separates fact from fiction to reveal the true life of one of history's most alluring figures. Rasputin draws on a wealth of forgotten documents from archives in seven countries and is the most thoroughly researched biography ever written. Demolishing the caricature of the holy devil, Smith's account presents Rasputin in all his complexity - man of God, voice of peace, loyal subject, adulterer, drunkard. More than just the story of an extraordinary life, Rasputin offers a fascinating portrait of the twilight of Imperial Russia as it lurched towards catastrophe.

Douglas Smith

- - Section - i: List of Illustrations- Section - ii: Maps- Section - iii: Notes on Dates and Spelling- Unit - Part One: HOLY PILGRIM 1869-1904- Chapter - 1: Origins- Chapter - 2: The Pilgrim- Chapter - 3: Nicholas and Alexandra- Chapter - 4: Monsieur Philippe- Chapter - 5: Alexei- Chapter - 6: The Burning Torch- Chapter - 7: The Mad Monk- Unit - Part Two: OUR FRIEND: 1905-1909- Chapter - 8: To the Throne- Chapter - 9: Rasputin-Novy- Chapter - 10: Sects and Whips- Chapter - 11: Demons of the Silver Age- Chapter - 12: Anna Vyrubova- Chapter - 13: The Eyes- Chapter - 14: ". . . prayers that purify and protect us."- Chapter - 15: The Investigation: Part I- Chapter - 16: The First Test- Chapter - 17: "better ten Rasputins . . ."- Unit - Part Three: SCANDALS: 1910-1911- Chapter - 18: Trouble in the Nursery- Chapter - 19: The Press Discovers Rasputin- Chapter - 20: In Search of Rasputin- Chapter - 21: Prince Yusupov- Chapter - 22: Holy Land- Chapter - 23: Rasputin in His Own Words- Chapter - 24: Iliodor's Triumph- Chapter - 25: Two Murders- Chapter - 26: Confronting the "Antichrist"- Unit - Part Four: A TIME OF MIRACLES: 1912-July 1914- Chapter - 27: Germogen's Fall- Chapter - 28: Iliodor, Apostate- Chapter - 29: Quousque tandem abutere patientia nostra?- Chapter - 30: The Blow to the Alcove- Chapter - 31: The Investigation II: Was Rasputin a Khlyst?- Chapter - 32: The Miracle at Spala- Chapter - 33: War and Celebration- Chapter - 34: Gutter Talk, Name-Glorifiers, and Murder Plots- Chapter - 35: On the Edge of a Precipice- Chapter - 36: The Attack- Chapter - 37: "This time it didn't work . . ."- Chapter - 38: Iliodor's Flight- Unit - Part Five: WAR: July 1914-1915- Chapter - 39: A Menacing Cloud- Chapter - 40: The Incident at the Yar- Chapter - 41: Rasputin's Women- Chapter - 42: Dinner with Rasputin- Chapter - 43: The Religious Faces of Rasputin- Chapter - 44: A Summer of Troubles- Chapter - 45: The Tovarpar- Chapter - 46: Nicholas Takes Command- Chapter - 47: Rasputin, Favorite- Chapter - 48: Fresh Scandal- Chapter - 49: The Troika- Chapter - 50: Gorokhovaya, 64- Chapter - 51: Dark Forces and Mad Chauffeurs- Chapter - 52: Another Miracle- Unit - Part Six: THE FINAL YEAR: 1916- Chapter - 53: Revolution in the Air- Chapter - 54: The Minister Plots Murder- Chapter - 55: Iliodor in America- Chapter - 56: With Us or With Them- Chapter - 57: Rasputin the Spy?- Chapter - 58: Rasputin and the Jews- Chapter - 59: "The sun will shine . . ."- Chapter - 60: Apotheosis- Chapter - 61: Stupidity or Treason- Chapter - 62: "Vanya has arrived."- Chapter - 63: "My hour will soon strike"- Chapter - 64: The Last Day- Chapter - 65: A Cowardly Crime- Chapter - 66: The Investigation- Chapter - 67: The Body in the Water- Chapter - 68: The Romanov Family Drama- Chapter - 69: Orgies, Gay Love, and the Secret Hand of the British- Chapter - 70: The End of the Tobolsk Yoke- Unit - Part Seven: THE AFTERMATH: 1917-1918- Chapter - 71: A Time for Dominoes- Chapter - 72: Here Lies the Dog- Chapter - 73: The Myth- Chapter - 74: Unsettled Business- - Section - iv: Epilogue- Acknowledgements - v: Acknowledgements- Section - vi: Bibliography- Section - vii: Endnotes- Index - viii: Index