Rasputin: The Downfall of the Romanovs

Wolfson Prize winner Beevor (Russia: Revolution and Civil War, 1917–1921) has written an intriguing biography and study of Grigori Rasputin (1869–1916). He notes that Rasputin was a monarchist, not a revolutionary, and started as an illiterate Siberian peasant. Rasputin held no official government position, yet he contributed more than any other individual to the collapse of one of the world’s greatest aristocracies. Rasputin was seen as a healer and mystic by his followers, but his detractors considered him a charlatan. He was also involved in scandalous behavior toward women. Beevor examines Rasputin’s relationship with Tsar Nicholas and Tsarina Alexandra. Their only son, Tsarevich Alexei, had hemophilia, and Rasputin’s ability to stop the child’s bleeding fostered the couple’s dependence on him. The tsarina listened to Rasputin’s advice, and he became overly influential at court. Beevor also discusses Tsar Nicholas’s ill-preparedness to succeed his father and the tsarina’s unpopularity due to her imperious ways. Beevor also dispels myths, including the claim that Rasputin had an intimate relationship with Tsarina Alexandra. A group of conspirators assassinated Rasputin, who had accurately predicted that if he died or was abandoned, the dynasty would collapse.