description: Gregory Rasputin is notorious in Russian history as a malign and destructive force, a man with unhealthy influence on the Empress Alexandra and undue power in Russian politics. Yet his purposes were ostensibly beneficent. An uneducated peasant, he left Siberia to become a wandering "holy man", soon acquiring a reputation as a healer. The Empress was desperate to find a cure for the hemophilia from which her son suffered, and in 1905 Rasputin was presented at court. His positive effect on the heir's health made him indispensable. But his religious teachings were unorthodox, and his charismatic presence aroused in many lady aristocrats a response which he exploited sexually. Shady financial dealings added to the atmosphere of debauchery and scandal, and he was also seen as a political threat. He was assassinated in 1916.
language: English
title: Rasputin
titlecomplete: Rasputin
genres: Biography, History, Russia, Nonfiction, Russian History
ratings_count: 123
publisher: ISIS Audio Books