The Rasputin File

The author claims that a file of interviews with people who knew Rasputin turned up at auction in the 1990s after being missing for nearly 80 years. The files are heavily quoted in the book, allowing the reader to read the actual words of people who survived the Bolshevik revolution and were interviewed by them, including Rasputin's daughter, Tsaritsa Alexandra's dearest friends Yulia Dehn and Anna Vyrubova, Prince Felix Yussopov, Rasputin's housekeeper, and a multitude of other highly placed men and women who made up Rasputin's inner circle at various points in time. Rasputin is portrayed as being even more debauched that in othe books I have read on him. He was worse during his last year because he was quite sure that he was going to be murdered. The manner in which he made high society Petrograd ladies aware of their sinfulness in described by his live in housekeeper. Anna Vyrubova is not the dim witted young woman people thought, but a cunning, power hungry woman who was more than happy to help the tsaritsa set herself up to run the government while Nikolai II was running WWI from the front. Meanwhile, Rasputin was clever enough to figure out what Alexandra wanted, and so when she wrote letters to the tsar saying that Rasputin was in favor of this or that government appointment, it turns out he was only telling her what she wanted to hear. A number of myths surrounding Rasputin's assassination are debunked as well. The book is a transaltion from the original Russian, so some of the grammar and sentence construction are a bit off in some places. The Kindle edition also has numeroud typographical errors. But the book provides a gripping, new perspective on how influential Rasputin and Vyrubova really were. Highly recommended.

This product's existence came to my attention while I was watching a documentary on Rasputin's life on YouTube. There were many complaints about its lack of detail and complaints about most of the documentary's information being just propaganda and lies. Then, I read one comment that said that a book called The Rasputin File was much more detailed and much more truthful than the documentary. I looked it up and Amazon and bought a copy. I have not gotten very far into it yet but I would like to say that every time I pick it up and read it, I am always enticed to know a little more about this mysterious man whose life and death are both equally strange. I recommend this for all who are interested in learning a little Russian history or would like to expand their knowledge on it.

Almost anyone knowledgeable of Russian history, especially around the beginning of the twentieth century, has heard stories about Rasputin and his "control" of the last Tsar of Russia. However, Radzinsky, who has meticulously (at least it seems so) researched Rasputin, challenges and refutes a number of tales about that supposedly powerful supernatural amorous peasant who ran the Russian government through the Tsar and particularly the Tsarina.In many ways, "The Rasputin File" is like a narrative based on a police report and some reviewers have criticized the book for being a long police report, but I believe Radzinsky tells a compelling and interesting story based on the investigation's file. While little is known about Rasputin's life prior to his arrival in Petrograd, but like a good investigator, Radzinsky pieces together what is known and presents the evidence.Most importantly the evidence seems to be presented evenhandedly and fairly, drawing upon the testimony of admirers and opponents who often had agendas when they wrote and talked about Rasputin. The story also seems to make sense ... would the "classist" nobility (Tsar and Tsarina) listen to a peasant unless he was telling them what they wanted to hear? Could one peasant visit so many prostitutes in one day? And, what really happened the night of Rasputin's death? What were the murderers motives and were they lying? These are some of the questions Radzinsky addresses. Rasputin was not the devil and his murderers were not all that noble.Excellent book about an interesting man and time. I believe I understand Rasputin and the Tsars a lot better! However, there are a number of mistakes noticeably after 70% through the Kindle version, such as "a" instead of "at" or "an." Some dates are written as "924" instead of "1924." No glaring mistakes, but they are there ... bottom line, I still very much enjoyed the book and the photographs at the end.

TOO LONG AND TOO TEDIOUS OF A READ

I finished reading this a little while ago. I really didnt know anything about him only that he was the bad guy in the Disney film Anastasia. I saw this book in borders and a read a few pages of it and I bought from Amazon used for a couple bucks. It took me a while to read this book because it was orignally written in Russian and the translated version which I obviously read came out funny. Nevertheless, I was surprised at who he was and how far his reach into the affairs of the Russian Government and military was. Rasputin also cast a spell over most who met, save the few who murdered him., especially over the Tsarina. This book is like reading a soap opera with its sex, money, murder plots. But when I stop and think about it, lives of millions of Russians, Serbs and possibly World War I were all affected by this Russian peasant. So if you ever wanted to know anything about Rasputin and Russia right in the period culminating with WW I and the Revolution, this is definitely where you get the best glimpse, from the testimonies of people who lived it.

This was a very interesting and thorough biography of one of the most legendary and mysterious character in recent history. The power he held over the Russian throne was unbelievable. I enjoyed this book, but it was very hard to get through! The translation was rough, so there was not a great flow. However, I would highly recommend it to anyone interesting in the subject.

Written in a crystal clear and very readable way, it gives a wealth of details (some would argue 'way too many') about all the characters that played an important part in the rise and the fall of this charismatic figure of Russian history, in between the two revolutions and the disappearance of the Romanov dynasty. As another reviewer mentioned, it can be a bit irritating when the author uses of diminutives to describe some of the characters, including the royals, but if you turn a blind eye on this the books makes an excellent read.

Synopsis: In 1995 a file written by the 1917 Russian Provisional Government Extraordinary Commision turned up detailing thoroughly Rasputins life from police monitoring and people around him. Edvard Radzinsky, who is the Russian equivilent of David Starkey, reviews this file to gain insight into this mysterious characterReview: By reviewing this file, the author explains Rasputin very effectively.Through the book you will discover how his religion excused his controversial behaviour and who really murdered Rasputin, arguably causing the fall of the Tsar's. You may also learn how a primitive version of the Atkins diet nearly foiled Rasputins murderers!In addition to all this, the book also shows how strange the Russian imperial court was (e.g. Rasputin's suspected murderer, Prince Yusupov, was a known transvestite). It also teaches a lot about the relationships in the Romanov dynasty before its fall in 1917 and how rotten the structure was.Annoyingly, the book does not provide much of a conclusion to Rasputin and is written more in the way of a book of sources rather than a subjective analysis. It would be nice to have a summary opinion from the author who in the end leaves a load of untied threads.Despite this, it is a great book and anyone wanting to know Rasputin better or even write a book on him should read this as it is a thorough and enjoyable account.

Excellent book. You really get in the thick of things. Rasputin was a very interesting guy and this book really tells it all

I had previously read this book, but did not own a copy of it. In my first reading, I found it to be a definitive biography of Rasputin, the best of any I have read. For that reason, I wanted my own copy for reference.

I like it