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Can a Siberian peasant influence the course of history? In the case of Grigori Rasputin, the answer was yes. A wanderer, mystic, and spiritual healer, Rasputin was also corrupt and lecherous — and his meddling in the affairs of state helped bring down the Tsarist autocracy in the crucible of war and revolution. In this episode, Antony Beevor, the renowned military historian, talks about his new biography, 'Rasputin: The Downfall of the Romanovs.'

Further reading:

Russia: Revolution and Civil War, 1917-1921 by Antony Beevor