Rasputin and his Russian Queen The True Story of Grigory and Alexandra by Mickey Mayhew

 I found this book a bit weird, and full of speculation, although written in a lively and fast-paced way. Mayhew tries to be sympathetic to both Rasputin and Alexandra, and restore the Empress's reputation. Where this book falls down is his attempting to be understanding about Rasputin, and Alexandra's blindness towards his faults, which was pretty stupid, no matter how you look at it. He excuses Rasputin's sexual escapades to a large extent, and even writes that his visits to prostitutes were mainly platonic! What evidence is there for that?

He analyses Empress Alexandra and the Tsar's personalities well. They were desperate to help their son, the heir to the throne, and Rasputin was the only one whose 'healing' worked. However, in the face of investigations by the newspapers, and warnings by relatives and Ministers, they continued to seek the assistance of this 'mad monk', and even listened to his advice about the government! 

It's one thing to be understanding about the royal couple, but quite another to try to sympathise with Rasputin, a completely evil man who did nothing out of the goodness of his heart, and apparently had countless affairs with women in the upper-classes. His influence drove everyone around the Tsar and his wife mad, and it was no wonder that he was murdered in an especially nasty fashion!

I received this free ebook from NetGalley in return for an honest review.