How could a barely literate peasant from Siberia determine the fate of the world? Undoubtedly the so-called 'mad monk' Rasputin bewitched Tsar Nicholas II and his wife Alexandra. Yet 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. He had no official position no forces at his command. Nevertheless he contributed more to the fall of the Romanov dynasty than any other individual. So 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. More than a century later we still fail to comprehend fully the collapse of the greatest autocracy on Earth. Was 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?
