000			01694nam a22001937a 4500
003			OSt
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008			260804b |||||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d
020			_a9781399633376
040			_cAACR-II
082			_a947.083 BEE
100			_aBeevor, Antony _921298
245			_aRasputin: and the downfall of the Romanovs
260			_aLondon _bWeidenfeld & Nicolson _c2026
300			_a361p.
520			_a'THE GOLD STANDARD OF NARRATIVE HISTORY' - DAN SNOW How could a barely literate peasant from Siberia determine the fate of the world? Undoubtedly, the so-called 'mad monk' Rasputin bewitched Tsar Nicholas II and his wife, Alexandra. Yet their strange and scandalous relationship conceals a riddle , one that casts an intriguing light on the controversial 'great man' theory of history. Rasputin was a devoted monarchist, not a revolutionary. He had no official position, no forces at his command. Nevertheless, he contributed more to the fall of the Romanov dynasty than any other individual. So demoralised was the Tsarist officer corps by stories of corruption, to say nothing of the rumours of his debauchery with the Empress - and even her daughters - that when the February Revolution broke out, not a sword was raised in defence of the regime. Just as Rasputin cast a spell over the Romanovs, his legend has bewitched historians. More than a century later, we still fail to comprehend fully the collapse of the greatest autocracy on Earth. Was there any truth to the wild tales that brought down the empire? Or was his true legacy an unsettling lesson on the potency of myth?
650			_aHistory of Eastern Europe and Russia _921299
942			_2ddc _cB
999			_c361818 _d361818