Author: Andrew Cook
Publisher: Roli Books
Year: 2008
Language: English
Pages: 287
ISBN/UPC (if available): 9788174366559
Description
The murder of Rasputin on the night of 16-17 December 1916 has always seemed extraordinary: first he was poisoned, then shot and finally drowned in a frozen river by Russian aristocrats fearful of his influence on Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra.
Dramatic new evidence from previously unpublished documents, diaries, forensic reports and intelligence records now means the plot takes a remarkable twist.
Grigori Rasputin is probably one of the best known but least understood figures in the events that ultimately led to the downfall of the Russian Tsars some nine decades ago. His political role as the power behind the throne is obscured today, as it was then, by the fascination with his morality and private life. Andrew Cook’s re-investigation of Rasputin’s death reveals the real masterminds behind the murder of the ‘mad monk.’
Why does the story of a distant Siberian village becoming the all powerful favourite of the last Russian Tsar excite us more than almost any other episode in Russian history? Why are there more lies and concealment than truth in the story of his murder? Was this extraordinary man an evil demon who brought down the Royal Family, or somebody who could have been its saviour. To Kill Rasputin finally provides the answers to many mysteries surrounding this pivotal moment in Russian history.
Contents
Acknowledgements
Note on Dates
Preface
Principal Characters
Manhunt
Finger of Suspicion
Body of evidence
The Spies Who Came into the Cold
Dark Forces
On the Brink
War Games
Cards on the Table
A Room in the Basement
Once Upon a Time
End of the Road
Aftermath
Appendices
Abbreviations Used in Notes and Bibliography
Notes
Bibliography
List of Illustrations
Index