Rating: 
Summary: Revealing insights into influential figure, but too detailed
Review: Having read Radzinsky's THE LAST TSAR and found it difficult to put down, I was eager to dive into his new book on Rasputin. In the earlier book, Radzinsky combined historical insights with the captivating writing style that has made him a popular playwright in Russia. The new book also promised new revelations based on his discovery--through the help of the author's friend, the conductor/cellist Mistislav Rostropovich--of the voluminous, long-lost Kerensky government police files on Rasputin, based on interviews with the people (outside of the tsar's immediate family) who knew him most intimately.All of this said, I found the new book rather disappointing. It lacks the riveting style that characterized THE LAST TSAR. (It is difficult to tell whether the fault lies with the author or the translator.) And the book gets bogged down in details, seeming to dwell endlessly on Rasputin's misdeeds and his intrigues to influence the shape of the Russian imperial government. Of the entire 500 pages of the book, the middle three-fifths seem to be a morass of minute facts and figures. Like one of the most monstrously long Russian novels, this book also seems to get lost in minor characters. This is not to say, however, that this is a book without merit. It offers new insights into Rasputin himself, his incredible power over the imperial court, and his role in bringing down the government of Nicholas II. Radzinsky also does a convincing job of reconciling the seemingly contradictory facets of Rasputin's personality, alternating between the saint and the sinner, the holy man and the orgiast. He also explains Rasputin and his influence in the larger context of Russian religious history, explaining the tradition of sectarianism in Russian orthodoxy as well as the unique influences of "holy fools" in Russian history. And his detective work on how Rasputin actually died is impressive. (That alone almost makes the book worth reading.) In conclusion, I would not discourage people who are intensely interested in Russian history and the pre-revolutionary period from reading this book. But it is not a volume for casual readers, especially those lacking any grounding in this period. And even those who consider themselves Russian history afficionados might be advised to read this book selectively.
Rating: 
Summary: Intriguing topic, difficult read
Review: I am nearing the end of "Rasputin," and it has not been easy getting through it. I read a great deal, and enjoy history, so the problem hasn't been the subject but the way in which the book is written. Not knowing Russian, I am not sure if the original is difficult to follow, or if only the English translation is a mess. As other readers have stated, were the topic not so fascinating, I don't think I'd have bothered to keep reading such a tedious book. That said, the author clearly has done a phenomenal research job. The list of characters, divided by their affiliation - whether Romanovs, part of the political circle, part of Rasputin's clique - is essential, especially to one unfamiliar with Russian names and patronymics. I wish the maps were more detailed, perhaps with current state and country borders included, as well as with a distance scale. While the Romanov family tree was very helpful, the names don't always match the names in the body of the book. One important player is the tsarina's sister Elizaveta, who is listed as Elizabeth (or "Ella") in the family tree - I confess it took me some time to figure out that the two were the same! I feel a time-line from before the beginning of the Romanov dynasty and including the periods of the Russo-Japanese War (mentioned often in the beginning of the book), the first World War, and the Russian Revolution would be helpful. I am not as knowledgeable about Russian History as I perhaps should be, and therefore could have used some more help keeping the events straight. I was glad to see so many photos, but the cartoons (naturally written in Russian) would have made a LOT more sense had they been translated. Also, the photo captions were merely quotations from the book, rather than offering further elucidation on who - or what - was being pictured. I would recommend the book to someone who, aside from being interested in Rasputin and the end of the Romanov dynasty, doesn't give up easily. Otherwise, I'd suggest the reader look elsewhere for information that is easier to read.
Rating: 
Summary: Griska Comes to Light
Review: I picked up this book after seeing the HBO production about Rasputin. It was fascinating most of the time,but the translation into English was horrible- not for the weak of attention span! I saw a very different person than the other reviewers here saw -a holy man who ended up losing his way when he tried to play in the political games of the day. It is just one more reason to keep church and state seperate. The book is not for the light reader but worth the time if one is curious about insight to a troubled time. Make your own call on who was at fault when Griska's world came crashing down around his ears.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating account of what made Rasputin tick
Review: I snatched this book off the shelf as soon as I saw it and I wasn't disappointed. This is the first book on Rasputin that actually makes him a flesh-and-blood human being. The missing piece was his religious beliefs and the Old Believers his teachings originated in. The author had access to the police files on Rasputin and to interviews with some of his followers that add immeasurably to Rasputin's biography. Fascinating.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: I strongly recommend it. After reading Edvard Radzinskii's "The Last Tzar", I bought this book. Glad I did so. Fascinating description of the environment backed with authentic documents.
Rating: 
Summary: Lacking
Review: I was expecting an exciting book, something riveting and well thought out. Rasputin was by all accounts an exciting character, shady, mystical, sexual, aggressively climbing the social ladder. Why then was this book such a disappointment? The time line was hard to follow, the character development was lacking and the sentences poorly structured -- was it botched in translation into English? At any rate, it's going to a garage sale, I can't finish it and I'm not interested to force myself to continue reading.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating book, but oh, the grammar!
Review: I'd give this book five stars if only it was better written. The new information the author has found on Rasputin is extremely interesting and dispels many long-held myths. However, one thing that constantly got on my nerves and interrupted the smoothness of the reading is the awful grammar. Every other sentence starts with "and" or "but" or "so" and is an incomplete sentence. An example from pages 76-77: "And it presumably then that they took him [Rasputin] to the child [Alexei]. Because it was afterwards that the tsar wrote his rapturous letter to Stolypin asking him to allow the peasant to 'bless your injured daughter with the icon.' For in their eyes, evidently, a miracle had taken place. The kind Vyrubova would later recount. And that would take place many times. "In the half-light of Alexei's room illuminated by the lamps in front of the icons, their 'Little One,' their 'Sunbeam,' had not been able to fall asleep, tormented as he was by his latest attack. And the strange peasant went to his crib. And his huge crooked shadow bent over the boy in prayer. And before their eyes the boy grew calmer and quietly fell asleep. To wake up healthy the next morning. (A miracle! A miracle!)" I thought at first the author chose this style to place emphasis on certain thoughts by separating them into smaller sentence fragments, but this awkward style continues through out the entire book! It irritated me to the point where I'd have to put the book aside for awhile. I always went back to it, however, because the story itself is, as mentioned, very interesting. I recommend this book, if the writing style wouldn't hinder your enjoyment of the story itself.
Rating:
Summary: How surprising!!!!
Review: I've read the reviews for this book and I'm very surprised by them! I just finished reading the French translation and I couldn't put it down! At last, here is an insightful and finely shaded description of the life and death of this enigmatic character. I particularly appreciated the way the author had of explaining where Raspoutin came from, his spiritual journey, but, most of all, how and why he came to be as he was in the last years of his life! It's just too bad that the English translation seems to be so lacking...
Rating:
Summary: Excellent, Informative, but Rather Boring
Review: In this book, Edvard Radzinsky does a good job of investigating and dispelling many of the myths and legends that have surrounded Rasputin and the Romanovs for quite some time. The file that provided much of the insight into that period, and which served as the basis for this book, was indeed a priceless find. Indeed, this book is not so much a window into Rasputin's life as it is one into the sad and naive reign of the last of the Romanovs. Within the context of the last days of Tsarist Russia, Rasputin can be understood as being not a demoniac crank/witchdoctor, but a brilliant master of psychology who was able to bend weaker minds along the whims of his own blind faith. His own headstrong, fanatical journey to ultimate destruction parallels that of the Romanovs. Throughout the book, you cannot help but be impacted by the sense of despair that pervades the dawning of Bolshevism and the decline of tsarism - a stage on which Rasputin was only one of many players. Caught in the grips of a social upheaval that threatened their very existence, the Russian nobility was both divided against itself and desperately clueless - seeking to hang on to the last vestiges of gilded power even as it trembled at the coming of Bolshevism. Enter Rasputin, an eccentric peasant whose iron-clad faith in himself and God and his seeming curative powers endeared him to the naïve Tsarina and gave him a place of direct, foremost influence in the tottering monarchy. At first, he seemed to have good intentions. His counsel, although naive, was moral and genuinely sincere. Little by little, however, the power and influence at his command and the self-serving flattery of a court that disliked him went to his head. All too soon, the holy man began to play at politics and engage in less-than-holy activities in his quarters, even as his influence became stronger as the monarchy weakened. With the rumor mill of elite society cranking out lies and half-truths about him, the envy of the court gradually turned to hate. Soon conniving minds, wishing both to purge the monarchy of his predatory influence as well as tear down this prop of the sagging monarchy in order to take power for themselves, began to plot against him. His own death under once-mysterious - but now elucidated - circumstances, heralds not only the end of the Romanovs, but also the end of an era. Satisfyingly biographical and full of detailed descriptions and the minutiae of the everyday life of that period, this book's only down side is that it can sometimes become rather tedious. The translation is rather cumbersome, and were the story not so interesting in and of itself it would be difficult to maintain focus and interest. As it is, it is a treasure trove of information that is worth the diligence needed to assimilate its content. - Benjamin Gene Gardner
Rating:
Summary: The Edvard Radzinsky Show
Review: Like one of the other reviewers, I snatched this book up as soon as I saw it. Sadly, I was very disappointed. Time lines are difficult to follow, the sentences are poorly constructed and Mr. Radzinsky seems more interested in the self aggrandizement of writing the book and having obtained the files, than in forming a cohesive look at Rasputin's life. I anticipated this book to be difficult to put down, when in fact it put me to sleep. I'm sure the book contains much information, but extrapolating it in a cohesive fashion is another task.
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