A hundred years after his murder, Rasputin continues to excite the popular imagination as the personification of evil. Numerous biographies, novels and films recount his mysterious rise to power as Nicholas and Alexandra's confidant and the guardian of the sickly heir to the Russian throne. His debauchery and sinister political influence are the stuff of legend, and the downfall of the Romanov dynasty was laid at his feet. But as the prize-winning historian Douglas Smith shows, the true story of Rasputin's life and death has remained shrouded in myth. Combining probing scholarship and powerful storytelling, RASPUTIN separates fact from fiction to reveal the real life of one of history's most alluring figures.