Bonus Ep! Antony Beevor's 'Rasputin'

Summary

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Podcast Summary: History As It Happens

Bonus Episode: Antony Beevor’s "Rasputin"

Host: Martin Di Caro
Guest: Sir Antony Beevor
Date: April 8, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this bonus episode, host Martin Di Caro interviews renowned military historian Sir Antony Beevor about his new biography, Rasputin: The Downfall of the Romanovs. The conversation explores the enigmatic and controversial life of Grigori Rasputin, examining how one Siberian peasant’s ascent to power within the Romanov court profoundly altered Russian—and world—history. The discussion delves into Rasputin’s origins, his influence over the imperial family, the interplay of myth and fact surrounding his legacy, and his role in the collapse of Tsarist Russia.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Why Write a Book About Rasputin?

• Influence Beyond the Individual: Beevor contends that Rasputin is a key to understanding the downfall of the Romanovs and the subsequent trajectory of Russia and the 20th century. ([01:32])
  • Notable Quote:
    “Kerensky, the leader of the Provisional Government after the revolution of February 1917, later said, ‘without Rasputin, there would have been no Lenin.’” — Antony Beevor [01:43]
• Impact of Rumors and ‘Fake News’: Rasputin’s reputation—his rumored affair with the Empress and manipulation of the tsar—undermined the monarchy, exposing the fragility of autocratic power.
  • Notable Quote:
    “It is a case study in how an individual, even a Siberian peasant, can change the course of history.” — Martin Di Caro [01:13]
• Modern Parallels: Beevor notes the resonance with today’s issues of misinformation and rumor, suggesting Rasputin’s story is instructive for our era. ([02:51])

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2. Rasputin and the Fall of the Romanovs

• Responsibility for the First World War: Di Caro probes whether Rasputin’s influence was decisive or simply accelerated an inevitable decline. ([04:02])
  • Beevor argues the war was a “major factor” but emphasizes Rasputin (and the Empress) persuaded Nicholas II to take command of the army, which personally tied the tsar to Russia’s military disasters.
    • Notable Quote:
      “He bore the responsibility for all of those disasters and for, frankly, the horrors of that particular war… He was a major factor in the anger of the ordinary peasant soldiers against the aristocracy.” — Antony Beevor [04:15]
• Counterfactuals and What-Ifs: Speculates about what might have happened had Rasputin never existed. While the war was crucial, Beevor supports Kerensky’s view that Rasputin’s meddling was pivotal. ([05:06])
  • Notable Quote:
    “Without Rasputin there would have been no Lenin.” — Antony Beevor [05:11]

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3. Rasputin’s Rise from Obscurity

• Early Life and Sources: Di Caro asks how Beevor sifted fact from myth given the scant evidence about Rasputin’s early years. ([05:17])
  • Beevor describes Rasputin as a strannik (pilgrim), who wandered from holy site to site, gaining notoriety as a healer and clairvoyant—leading eventually to influential connections in Kazan and St. Petersburg. ([06:07])
  • Notable Quote:
    “We know that he was a wanderer, a strannik... Rasputin even walked as far as Mount Athos in Greece, a very holy place.” — Antony Beevor [06:17]
• Access to Russian Elites: The discussion highlights how the era’s elites believed in mystics and healers, which opened the door for someone like Rasputin. ([07:38])
  • Notable Quote:
    “The elites in those days believed in healers and shamans and clairvoyants and mystics and all these fantastic imaginary abilities that Rasputin claimed for himself.” — Martin Di Caro [07:44]
  • Beevor adds that spiritualist fascination gripped many societies at the turn of the century, but was particularly intense in Russia. ([08:05])
    • Notable Quote:
      “There's a lot of mysticism [in Russian Orthodoxy]... it was enough really to influence many of the sort of grander houses in Petersburg society.” — Antony Beevor [08:35]

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4. Who Was Rasputin—Priest, Con Man, or Mystic?

• Di Caro probes Rasputin’s self-image and motivations, noting he was a “self-appointed man of God” who never had formal religious education ([09:53]).
  • Notable Quote:
    “He was definitely a self-appointed man of God... many of those pilgrims, the straniks, believed themselves [special].” — Antony Beevor [09:53]
• The conversation implies Rasputin’s charisma lay in his ability to exploit contemporary cultural moods—blending mysticism, entertainment, and claims of divine power.

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Memorable Moments & Notable Quotes

• “It reads like a novel. Rasputin was a character so bizarre it is hard to believe he was a real person.” — Martin Di Caro [00:59]
• On rumors of Rasputin’s relationship with the royal family:
  “At the time it was the rumors that Rasputin was sleeping with the Empress, that the Tsar was a cuckold. This completely undermined... the respect that Tsar Nicholas II had.” — Antony Beevor [02:44]
• “This was the link which actually brought him on to Saint Petersburg and an introduction to a bishop there who then introduced him to members of the Romanov family.” — Antony Beevor [07:18]

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Important Timestamps

• 00:00–01:28 — Intro and context of Rasputin’s life and death
• 01:30–03:22 — Beevor on Rasputin’s role in the origins of the Russian Revolution
• 04:02–05:17 — The First World War and Rasputin’s influence on tsarist decisions
• 05:17–06:07 — Rasputin’s early life; assessment of sources
• 06:07–07:38 — Rasputin’s transition from obscure pilgrim to influential healer
• 07:38–09:08 — The cultural climate that facilitated Rasputin’s rise
• 09:08–09:53 — Di Caro reflects on Rasputin’s identity and legacy
• 09:53–10:07 — Beevor on Rasputin as a self-appointed religious figure

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Conclusion

This episode offers a lively and in-depth exploration of the legend and reality of Grigori Rasputin, illuminating his unlikely pathway from Siberian wanderer to a figure who changed the fate of empires. Antony Beevor’s insights challenge listeners to reconsider the role of individuals—and rumor—in shaping historical events, with potent parallels to the misinformation and social upheavals of the modern era. The conversation provides both a rich narrative and thought-provoking historical analysis, making it accessible and compelling for all audiences.

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Transcript

[A]

This is a bonus episode of history as it happens. It is December 1916. A trio of monarchists decides the only way to save the monarchy is to murder Grigori Rasputin, the Siberian peasant, adored by some, despised by others, known for his intense spiritualism and healing powers, but also corruption and criminal debauchery. So we're talking about something a little different on this episode. The fall of Tsarist Russia with one of the preeminent military historians in our world today, Sir Anthony Beaver, whose latest book is a biography, the Downfall of the Romanovs. It reads like a novel. Rasputin was a character so bizarre it is hard to believe he was a real person. Yet he endeared himself to Tsar Nicholas II and the Empress because of his ability to calm their son, the heir to the throne, when he suffered painful, life threatening bouts of hemophilia. If Rasputin had stuck to giving spiritual advice and healing the Tsarevich, history might have turned out differently for the autocracy. But his drunken, carousing, lecherous conduct brought disrepute on the royal family. And his meddling in affairs of state was disastrous. It is a case study in how an individual, even a Siberian peasant, can change the course of history. Antony Beaver, welcome back.

[B]

Great to be back with you, Martin.

[A]

So why a book about Rasputin?

[B]

Well, Rasputin actually is in a way, a key to understanding the origins of how he got to World War II and beyond. Kerensky. Alexander Kerensky, the leader of the Provisional Government after the revolution of February 1917, later said, without Rasputin, there would have been no Lenin. And I've always been intrigued about sort of the process, the sequence of events leading on to the revolution in Russia, because the First World War was the original catastrophe, but it was the Russian Revolution and the Civil War which actually created the pattern for conflict in the 20th century. And even to a certain degree, what we are seeing today, where the autocracies have actually followed on from the communist states. So we really do, I think, need to understand how one single person, and this is a contradiction of the great man theory of history, but we need to understand how one person, basically semi illiterate peasant from Siberia, could have had such a catastrophic effect on the Romanov dynasty and the effect of fake news as well, of the rumors and all the rest of it, which is something we're again seeing today. But at the time it was the rumors that Rasputin was sleeping with the Empress, that the Tsar was a cuckold. This completely undermined the respect in A patriarchal society like tsarist Russia, he completely undermined the influence and the respect that Tsar Nicholas II had.

[A]

So the argument is Rasputin helped undermine the Tsar's authority and therefore he was an integral character in the collapse of the Russian autocracy, which then leads to the Bolshevik revolution and the 20th century proceeds from there. But if Rasputin had never left, lived, or if he had never reached the height of influence, of course, his actual influence versus perceived influence is an issue we can get into. But if Rasputin had never lived, the First World War probably still would have been a catastrophe for the tsarist's autocracy. Correct. And that's really what destroyed his rule, was it not?

[B]

The war certainly was a very large element, but it was also the way that Rasputin and the Empress together persuaded the Tsar to take over as the commander in Chief in 1915. And therefore he bore the responsibility for all of those disasters and for, frankly, the horrors of that particular war. I mean, the conditions for which the Russian peasantry had to fight, often without boots, even in the mud and the snow, were so ghastly that. That he was a major factor, if you like, in the anger of the ordinary peasant soldiers against the aristocracy, against the whole of the Romanov dynasty. But I mean, if he hadn't been born, then who might have persuaded the Tsar to take over as commander in chief, which was one of the key disasters? So, yes, we are into the counterfactual questions, the what ifs in these circumstances. But as things stand, I do think that Kerensky's opinion was correct, that without Rasputin there would have been no Lenin.

[A]

That is quite a claim that there may not have been a Bolshevik Revolution which changed the whole course of the 20th century, had it not been for the meddling of this Siberian peasant? So we'll return to this part of the story, the war, the collapse of the autocracy, the assassination of Rasputin, in a little bit. I want to go back really, to the beginning. I mean, how does a Siberian peasant, of all the peasants who lived during that period of time, who remembers any of them, except for this one individual, Grigori Rasputin, who from a very early stage in his life seemed to believe that he didn't belong, you know, in Siberia, that he had a calling? How do you, as a historian, deal with the sources in this early part of Rasputin's life to sort fact from fiction? I mean, how much documentary evidence was

[B]

there on the whole, not very much covering that particular period up until he became of public interest. So therefore up until really 1905. And one has to be very careful of the different sources, particularly when they come from Rasputin himself. So we know that he was a wanderer, a Stranik, as they were called, a pilgrim, like about another million or so Russians literally wandering on these roads from one holy place to another, one monastery to another. And Rasputin even walked as far as Mount Athos in Greece, Again, a very holy place. And it wasn't really until just before this period when he arrived in St. Petersburg. So it was around 1904 when he moved to Kazan on the Volga, and this was an ancient Tatar city. But he was invited there by a rich widow who'd met him and who had been very impressed by this self appointed man of God. He then started to acquire a bit of a reputation as a healer as well, as well as a clairvoyant. To what degree it's justified is really a matter of debate. Yes, this was the link which actually brought him on to Saint Petersburg and an introduction to a bishop there who then introduced him to members of the Romanov family.

[A]

Yeah. Something that was fascinating about your book was how this person was able to even get access to the elites in Russian society. But as you put it, the elites in those days believed in healers and shamans and clairvoyants and mystics and all these fantastic imaginary abilities that Rasputin claimed for himself. Well, a charlatan, really, to a certain degree.

[B]

There is an element of this sort of fantasiette fascination at the end of the 19th century, beginning of the 20th century, and not just in Russia, in other places too, it had been taking place in France that people were sort of fascinated by spiritualist table turning all of these particular forms of spiritualism. And Russia was no different. In fact, in Russia it was probably even more intense. There's an element, I think, in the Russian Orthodox Church, the incense, the icons. There's a lot of mysticism there which you don't find quite so much in Protestantism or Catholicism, but you do find very much in the Orthodox Church. And I think that this was something which appealed to people and fascinated them. Some of them took it seriously, others, you know, almost sort of regarded it as a form of entertainment. But it was enough really to influence many of the sort of grander houses in Petersburg society.

[A]

I have to say, I really enjoyed reading your book. It was a page turner. It reads like a novel. Because you have to ask yourself, how is this possible? How is someone like Rasputin real. So let's talk a little bit about who he was. Personally, I had to ask myself, I mean, who is this guy? A priest, a con man? I mentioned before that from an early age he believed he had a calling. And as you mentioned, he was a traveler. He would range wide and far across Russia, even to Greece. And then finally in the early 20th century, he makes his entree, if you will, into Russian high society. How would you answer that question? What was Rasputin? I mean, he certainly wasn't a priest who went to theological school. I mean, where did he come from as far as his ideas go?

[B]

Well, he was definitely a self appointed man of God. And many of those pilgrims, the straniks, the million or so who are wandering around Russia at that particular time from one place to another, believed themselves.

[A]

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