Rasputin the Holy Devil, by Rene Fulop-Miller (HC, 1929, $4)
"Immediately after the collapse [of Russia], it became necessary to supply the masses as quickly as possible with blood-curdling stories about the Imperial Court, in order to rouse and maintain in them the spirit of rebellion, and, for that reason, this figure of Rasputin was offered to the public as the one authentic portrait. No critical investigation was made... Indeed, in order to give a semblance of historical truth to this false picture, an equally ill-founded life of Rasputin was concocted." Fulop-Miller wrote this book to set the record straight. He sees Rasputin neither as a charlatan nor a saint, but as a man both "complex and contradictory".
Reading about the royal family, one almost feels sorry for them. The Tsaritsa, whom the Tsar loved deeply, was German, and accepted neither by the Russian people nor the Tsar's own family. She produced only daughters, until Alesha, who was chronically ill with a hereditary condition that ran in her family. Distrustful of most people at court, the Tsar and his wife became increasingly isolated.
The Empress, who had been brought up Protestant, became fanatically Russian Orthodox. Later she turned to mysticism, which she, but not others, saw as compatible with the Orthodox faith. Frantically she searched for a mystic who could heal her child. she eventually found the Siberian peasant called Rasputin. Every time Alesha became ill, Rasputin was called and the child became well. Soon Rasputin was not only involved in the family's health, but also as an adviser on State and Church matters. When this was noticed, rumblings that had been present before got even louder, but not only was Rasputin the holy one who healed her child, he was also her link with the Russian masses. The Empress refused to listen to any criticism of "her friend."
Of course we all know how the story ends, both for Rasputin and the Tsar'sfamily. Was Rasputin a divine holy man as the peasants believed, or the devil as the court and the communists believed? We will never know, but at least here we get a kinder description than the usual opinions. Look for this book on the new non-fiction table, avail. 4/13. (L-bio)
