How could a barely literate peasant from Siberia help shape the fate of an empire? Antony Beevor reveals how an improbable man did more than any individual to undermine the Romanov dynasty. The so-called 'mad monk' Grigori Rasputin is said to have bewitched Tsar Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra. He had no official position, no forces at his command, yet tales of corruption and rumours of his influence over the imperial family eroded confidence in the regime and helped to pave the way for revolution. 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? There will be a book signing after this event. Get ahead of your Festival reading and visit the Waterstones Cheltenham Literature Festival bookshop and support Cheltenham Festivals with every purchase.

Description supplied by the event organiser.