The Legend of Rasputin (In person)
Visionary, mystic, seducer, abuser, mystery, legend; Grigori Rasputin was the Siberian peasant who brought down the most powerful autocracy on earth.
Sir Antony Beevor, one of our greatest masters of narrative history, joins us to discuss his extraordinary new book, Rasputin and the Downfall of the Romanovs, in conversation with Marcel Theroux. Together, they will unpick the enduring myths surrounding the mad monk monarchist and investigate the truth of this unique historical figure, who inexplicably rose from barely literate obscurity to be instrumental in the destruction of the Imperial Romanov dynasty, laid the ground for the Russian Revolution and whose impact still reverberates today.
Sir Antony Beevor is the author of thirteen works of non-fiction, including Crete (1991), which was awarded a Runciman Prize; Stalingrad (1998), which won the first Samuel Johnson Prize, the Wolfson Prize for History and the Hawthornden Prize for Literature; D-Day (2009), which received the Prix Henry Malherbe in France and the Westminster Medal; and the 2022 Sunday Times bestseller Russia: Revolution and Civil War 1917-1921. He has received honorary doctorates and fellowships from five universities and was knighted in 2017.
Marcel Theroux is a writer and broadcaster. He has published seven novels to critical acclaim. His second novel, The Paperchase, won the Somerset Maugham Award. His fourth novel, Far North was a finalist for the US National Book Award, the Arthur C Clarke Award, and was awarded the Prix de l’Inaperçu in 2011. His most recent novels are The Secret Books and The Sorceror of Pyongyang. He is a regular presenter of Unreported World on Channel 4.
Books by all the speakers will be available to buy at the event and online from our partner bookshop Hatchards.
This event will take place in person at The London Library. Doors (and the bar) will open at 6.30pm for a 7pm start. Please see our Event Access Guidelines before you arrive.
