Rating: 
Summary: Great work, but ...
Review: I really enjoyed the in-depth scathing that Rasputin got in this book. It just felt so odd to encounter obscenities. It took an otherwise scholarly work and debased it.
Rating:
Summary: Great work, but ...
Review: I really enjoyed the in-depth scathing that Rasputin got in this book. It just felt so odd to encounter obscenities. It took an otherwise scholarly work and debased it.
Rating:
Summary: Rasputin: what a guy
Review: Moynahan's work transports the reader into the very world of Russia of the early 20th century. It was a contrasting time of modern industry, growing revolution, incompetant monarchy, decadent society into which Rasputin came. Moynahan paints an accurate and vivid picture of who Rasputin was: a family man (who would've thunk it), lazy worker, pilgrim, drunkard, self-made khylst, seeker of power, charitable, and loved a good bath, and was not: a monk, sober, money-seeker, or penitent. As for that NY Times Book Reader tart--good for you taking a Community College degree would land you at the Times.
Rating:
Summary: Rasputin: what a guy
Review: Moynahan's work transports the reader into the very world of Russia of the early 20th century. It was a contrasting time of modern industry, growing revolution, incompetant monarchy, decadent society into which Rasputin came. Moynahan paints an accurate and vivid picture of who Rasputin was: a family man (who would've thunk it), lazy worker, pilgrim, drunkard, self-made khylst, seeker of power, charitable, and loved a good bath, and was not: a monk, sober, money-seeker, or penitent. As for that NY Times Book Reader tart--good for you taking a Community College degree would land you at the Times.
Rating: 
Summary: A gripping and sobering read
Review: Rasputin is a figure pretty well everybody has heard of. The popular mind thinks of him as a drunken rake who got into the confidence of the Russian imperial family by a mixture of his guile and their predilection for religious fervour, coupled to their concern for their hemophiliac son and obsession with preserving the autocracy. As this gripping book tells us, that image is not wrong, but it is incomplete. Rasputin was also a devoted family man and did much to help a lot of people. Brian Moynahan makes a good job of showing us this in a steady narrative which only occasionally loses its footing and takes care to put this bizarre figure in context. There are weaknesses. The conclusions are crushed into a couple of pages and I would have liked more on what happened after Rasputin's death and the revolution which followed. But this is an excellent piece of work for anyone interested in Russia at the time. And if the book is sensationalist, well, Rasputin was sensational figure. He was instrumental, albeit possibly unwittingly, in bringing down one of Europe's grand old dynasties. You don't get much more sensational than that.
Rating: 
Summary: amateur sensationalism at its worst
Review: Suzanne Massie hit the nail right on the head. This is cheap and shoddy attempt at historical biography. Many other current books offer a far more accurate and entertaining view of Rasputin.
Rating:
Summary: Not just about Rasputin
Review: The biography also ties in the who, what and why for the dissolution of Tsarist Russia. Before this book, I never understood why the communists were so adamant about dismantling the Russian Orthodox Church.
Rating:
Summary: Not just about Rasputin
Review: The biography also ties in the who, what and why for the dissolution of Tsarist Russia. Before this book, I never understood why the communists were so adamant about dismantling the Russian Orthodox Church.
Rating:
Summary: Worth reading!
Review: The book has a few dead spots but Brian Moynahan does a great job of describing the life and times of Rasputin. He capably tells the history surrounding the czarina's close confidante and teases the reader with bits of "gossip" (read the book and you'll see!) I found the book to be very thorough and well written. Rasputin is one of the most mysterious characters in the history of the world and this book does him justice. For any person who enjoys reading about mythical figures like Rasputin should pick this book.
Rating: 
Summary: A sensationalised read
Review: The book started out mimicking the marvelous book by Massie, Nicholas and Alexandra, with Moynahan creating the atmosphere that Rasputin walked into. Right off the bat, it became clear that this book was based on the sources that include a more sensationalised account of Rasputin's life, and having read Edvard Radzinsky's book first, that made some things in this book a bit contradictory for me. I think what threw me was in the middle of this book, Moynahan suddenly turned absolutely vitriolic and was shockingly scathing about Rasputin - and I really felt the obsenities were a bit over the top. There is no doubt Rasputin was just a wee bit manipulating and destructive in the actions he took to preserve his position as the Tsarina's right hand man, but I felt Moynahan drifted a bit there! A beautiful narration is one thing, obsenities are another and all rather lacked the nice professional tone that the book opened with. However, towards the end of the book, Moynahan settled down again and got somewhere more polite about the whole tragic death. For all Rasputin did, he was just a focus of the frustration the people felt at the hardships being imposed upon them by a Tsar who seemed to be disconnected from his people. Moynahan did convey ratehr well that the prevailing atmosphere in which Rasputin was assisinated was one where you could tell it wasn't going to make any difference to the Russian Empire. Its up to you whether you read this book - if you believe Radzinsky's sources for his book, then possibly his book is more accurate, however for a largely well-written book about Rasputin based on what the world knew for 70-odd years, this is a pretty good book (apart from the bit in the middle!)
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