Rasputin may be the most recognized name in Russian history, says author Douglas Smith, but there would be “no Rasputin without the stories about Rasputin.” In the 832 pages of “Rasputin ...

Smith acknowledges that this ground has been plowed many times, but he argues that the mystery of Rasputin remains. Smith does not pretend to have produced a definitive portrait; nevertheless, he ...

Sponsor Message But historian Douglas Smith, in his magnificently researched new book, Rasputin: Faith, Power and the Twilight of the Romanovs, attempts to do precisely that. It's a herculean task ...

“Rasputin: Faith, Power, and the Twilight of the Romanovs” by Douglas Smith; Farrar, Straus and Giroux , 817 pages, $35 Douglas Smith is a respected American historian who has written ...