"Legend portrays Rasputin as the 'Mad Monk' who rampaged through St. Petersburg in an alcoholic haze, making love to scores of women. A symbol of excess and religious extremism, he was believed to hold a mysterious power, emanating from his hypnotic eyes, over Tsar Nicholas II and his family. The fact that he was neither mad nor a monk has not stopped scores of writers from repeating these and other bogus claims. In Rasputin: the untold story, Rasputin scholar Joseph Fuhrmann shares the fruits of this two-decade search for the truth about Rasputin through previously closed Soviet archives. The man he discovers is entirely human and even more fascinating than the Svengali-like caricature imagined by millions. This definitive biography unveils the truth behind Gregory Rasputin's storied life, controversial relationships, and much-discussed death. Furhmann unearths previously unknown details from Rasputin's childhood and his early years as a farmer and itinerant preacher to his decade-long relationship with the Romanovs."--Jacket.