Books like Rasputin by Douglas Smith undifferentiated

The reign of Tsar Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra, the final chapter of the Romanov dynasty, and the influence of Rasputin, told through rich narrative and rare photographs.

Douglas Smith’s biography draws on newly discovered archival material from seven countries to separate myth from history, revealing Rasputin as a complex spiritual guide, political actor, and controversial figure who shaped the final years of the Romanov dynasty.

Grigory Efimovich Rasputin came to St. Petersburg from his Siberian cabin in 1903 like a projectile from the medieval past, tattered, black-clad, muttering. By the time he was murdered thirteen years later, the peasant was the "beloved Friend" of Tsar Nicholas and Empress Alexandra and the sponsor of the most powerful officials in Russia. He had become, a society lady wrote, "a dusk enveloping all our world, eclipsing the sun. How could so pitiful a wretch throw so vast a shadow? It was inexplicable, maddening, almost incredible.". Rasputin's name has become synonymous with evil, but his legend has obscured the facts of his life. In this evocative biography, Brian Moynahan presents us with a flesh-and-blood Rasputin, more fascinating than the myth - a man in whom debauchery coexisted beside a real (if erratic) spiritual sense, a man whose coarseness hid a savvy awareness of human psychology. Drawing on confidential police reports, cabinet meeting memos, and other documents, some available only since the fall of the Soviet Union, Moynahan sheds new light on Rasputin's life and disputes some of the widely held details of his death.

Mikhail Zygar’s biography of Vladimir Putin traces the evolution of the Russian statesman and the political struggles that shaped his rise.