{"product_id":"rasputin-trade-paperback","title":"Rasputin (Trade Paperback)","description":"\u003cp\u003eHow could a barely literate peasant from Siberia determine the fate of the world?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eUndoubtedly, the so-called 'mad monk' Rasputin bewitched Tsar Nicholas II and his wife, Alexandra.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYet their strange and scandalous relationship conceals a riddle , one that casts an intriguing light on the controversial 'great man' theory of history. Rasputin was a devoted monarchist, not a revolutionary.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHe had no official position, no forces at his command.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNevertheless, he contributed more to the fall of the Romanov dynasty than any other individual.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSo demoralised was the Tsarist officer corps by stories of corruption, to say nothing of the rumours of his debauchery with the Empress - and even her daughters - that when the February Revolution broke out, not a sword was raised in defence of the regime. Just as Rasputin cast a spell over the Romanovs, his legend has bewitched historians.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMore than a century later, we still fail to comprehend fully the collapse of the greatest autocracy on Earth.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWas there any truth to the wild tales that brought down the empire? Or was his true legacy an unsettling lesson on the potency of myth?\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Antony Beevor","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46999106945202,"sku":"9781399633376","price":485.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0562\/9191\/8002\/files\/Unconfirmed425760_1.jpg?v=1772695361","url":"https:\/\/www.wordsworth.co.za\/products\/rasputin-trade-paperback","provider":"Wordsworth Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}