Lost Splendor: The Amazing Memoirs of the Man Who Killed Rasputin

by Felix Yusupov

The fascinating first-person account of the cross-dressing prince who poisoned Rasputin with rose cream cakes laced with cyanide and spiked Madeira is now back in print. Originally published in France in 1952, during the years of Prince Youssoupoff's exile from Russia, Lost Splendor has all the excitement of a thriller. Born to great riches, lord of vast feudal estates and many palaces, Felix Youssoupoff led the life of a grand seigneur in the days before the Russian Revolution. Married to the niece of Czar Nicholas II, he could observe at close range the rampant corruption and intrigues of the imperial court, which culminated in the rise to power of the sinister monk Rasputin. Finally, impelled by patriotism and his love for the Romanoff dynasty, which he felt was in danger of destroying itself and Russia, he killed Rasputin in 1916 with the help of the Grand Duke Dimitri and others. More than any other single event, this deed helped to bring about the cataclysmic upheaval that ended in the advent of the Soviet regime.~The author describes the luxury and glamour of his upbringing, fantastic episodes at nightclubs and with the gypsies in St. Petersburg, grand tours of Europe, dabbling in spiritualism and occultism, and an occasional conscience-stricken attempt to alleviate the lot of the poor.~Prince Youssoupoff was an aristocrat of character. When the moment for action came, when the monk's evil influence over the czar and czarina became unbearable, he and his friends decided that they must get rid of the monster. He tells how Rasputin courted him and tried to hypnotize him, and how finally they decoyed him to the basement of the prince's palace. Prince Youssoupoff...is perfectly objective, remarkably modern and as accurate as human fallibility allows. His book is therefore readable, of historical value and intimately tragic. It is as if Count Fersen had written a detailed account of the last years of Marie Antoinette. --Harold Nicholson, on the first English edition, 1955 By Prince Felix Youssoupoff. Hardcover, 5.25 x 8.25 in./300 pgs / 0 color 14 BW0 duotone 0 ~ Item D20143

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Russia, Biography, Memoir, Historical, Biography Memoir

Paperback

First published January 1, 1952

About the author

Prince Felix Felixovich Yusupov, Count Sumarokov-Elston, was a Russian aristocrat, a prince and count, best known for participating in the assassination of Grigori Rasputin.

Reviews

[Monk The Almighty Mountain]

ترجمه ای که من خوندم، توسط عنایت الله رضا انجام شده بود. کتاب در سال 1368 چاپ شده بود اگر اشتباه نکنم، و زمانی که به دست من رسید (کاملا اتفاقی) کاغذ هاش زرد شده بودن و جلد قرمزش که عکس راسپوتین روش بود، خیلی پارگی داشت. (که خب نشان از خونده شدن بسیار زیاد اون کتاب بود-نه نگهداری بدش، البته تا حدی هم نگهداری بدش در زمان های خوندنش)
عکس روی جلد نسخه انگلیسیش البته، عکس خود شاهزاده فلیکس یوسوفف هستش که در این کتاب، به توضیح شخصیت راسپوتین که مورد علاقه زنان دربار روس هست میپردازه و خب از دید این شاهزاده، راسپوتین مرد منفوری هست و بالاخره بعد از کلی کشمکش و تلاش برای نشون دادن چهره واقعی این مرد منفور به دیگران و عدم موفقیتش، تصمیم میگیره که اون رو به قتل برسونه. ولی، مثل گربه ها، راسپوتین داستان ما نُه تا جون داره و این قضیه کار رو خیلی دشوار میکنه
کتاب خاطرات رو نمیشه زیاد درباره ش توضیح داد، چون اسپویل زیادی توش اتفاق میوفته اما اگر از اون دست افراد هستید که به بایوگرافی و تارخ علاقه دارید، باید بگم، چیزی از یک رمان جنایی کم نداره، به جز اینکه، تمام وقایع و اتفاقات داخل کتاب (از نظر نویسنده) واقعی هست. البته ترجمه عنایت الله رضا هم بسیار خوب بود. و فکر نمی کنم کس دیگه ای اصلا ترجمه کرده باشه کتاب رو. در هر صورت، پیشنهاد می کنم