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!)
Rating: 
Summary: Biased, foul-mouthed trashy biography
Review: There used to be (or still is if you are a conspiracist) a lot of mystery surrounding Rasputin and the collapse of the Russian Empire during WWI. I became intrigied after seeing the HBO version of Rasputin and swept away by the magic of Rasputin in Edvard Radzinsky's account (be it true or false...). I felt compelled to find out more and this book came highly recmmended at Amazon so... Moynahan starts off with the clear, descriptive and simple writing style of the brilliant book on the last Romanov's by Robert K. Massie. Then somewhere in the middle of the book, he descends abruptly into a vitrilic foul-mouthed tirade at Rasputin - which is in shocking contrast to the start of the book. As the chapters kept on unfurling with this pure vitriol, my respect for the biographer and patience with the book deteriorated. Then suddenly, towards the end, Moynahan suddenly finds compassion for Rasputin in his (sensationalised) theory for Rasputin's death. However, Moynahan had lost my respect by then and the book was thrown into the bin - I couldn't bring myself to even subject it to the people at my local library where I usually donate books. ... If you want to read a masterpiece on a good biographer turned bad - this is the book for you. If you want to learn about Rasputin, there are other books on the market which are infinetely more informative!
Rating: 
Summary: Brilliant account of that era Russia
Review: This book is very good because of Moynahan's account of all things happening to and around Rasputin at the time. It is a wonderful story - outrageous and compelling. Moynahan did an excellent job in his portrayal of early 20th century Russia. The vivid accounts of the Romonov family is the true reason the novel commands so much attetion from the reader. At parts it seems to become redundant, possibly because of Rasputin's tireless exploits. This book is a revealing, and fascinating look at Russia during that period. For that reason alone it is well worth the time.
Rating:
Summary: Suggestive insights, provocative psycho-biography
Review: This is a fabulous read if you are fairly well versed in, and tired of, readily available recitations of events. Are you still wondering how a Siberian peasant could become the confidante of an empress, the marvel of society, the object of multiple homicide attempts, and the hated scourge of a proud church? Get ready to think. Moynahan's work restores the "why" and even some of the "how" to the story. Rasputin became what he was because Russian society needed him. (Every turning point of Russian monarchal history is marked by the emergence of false czars and powerful archimandrites. Russia, like other countries historical susceptible to invasion, is peculiarly sensitive to power vacuums.) In many respects Russia's historical moment at the time of Rasputin's power resembles the French ancien regieme's uppermost social structure. Stifled by the queen's nature, paralyzed by the king's ineptitude, whipsawed by economic swings, Russia was dry tinder for the matches struck by the French philosophes in the 18th century. It may be that the fall of a capable economic minister (France's Necker, Russia's Stolypin) was the key to the chain of events that followed. A creation of the times and the culture, Rasputin's individual contribution to history is revealed best by the author's willingness to entertain an Augustinian paradox: that saints, then and now, struggle desperately to resolve the problem of sin. It's easy to name Rasputin devilish. Exploring how he may have gotten that way is a useful exercise. Moynahan's work would have been greatly strengthened by a similar resolve to maintain the saint/sinner paradox. Helpful background to get the most from this book: some background about political issues within Queen Victoria's family and the issues of Hesse-Darmstadt; the possible stage-setting influence of Catherine the Great's friendship with Voltaire; a reading of "The Russian Syndrome," a review of the role of political murder throughout Russian history.
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