Rasputin And The Downfall Of The Romanovs, Sir Antony Beevor
Of course Antony Beevor is brilliant and a true historian his writing skills put me to shame. This is his latest book and it’s a fascinating subject to explore.
The Russian empire once stretched from the Constantinople in the west to all of Korea in the east, the Romanov density seemed strong and Russia was a power house. At the end of the 19th century things started to change, loosing some of its western territory to other empires and a war with Japan that resulted in more territories lost the power base of the Romanovs is shaken. Their young son and heir has the English disease Haemophilia and there’s one person who has the magic touch to end a crisis in the young prince. Rasputin a poor man from Siberia is seen a a religious icon who can cure the young prince and is given power and influence in the royal household.
The fact the Rasputin is a rapist, womaniser and abuser is overlooked and he becomes an important figure in how Russia develops. When their army is humiliated in the east by Japanese forces the country is ready to revolt and only just comes back under control. The influence of Rasputin on the royal household and the start of the First World War means it’s a time bomb for the Romanov’s and the revolution is near.
This book is brilliant and really worth reading it covers the history of those pre revolutionary days and the build up to the October revolution. Of course it covers how Rasputin goes from a village nobody to the most important person in the Russian royal family household.
It’s well worth a read, perhaps not a summer read as it’s full on and there’s lots to digest. It’s well worth adding to your library and looking at on those cold winter nights when there’s nothing on.
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Have fun stay safe 👍
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