Wednesday, May 30, 2012

A REVIEW OF RASPUTIN AND THE JEWS: A REVERSAL OF HISTORY

By Ruby Johnson
Disclaimer: I was not paid to give a positive review of this book. I was, however, given a free book.
Fifteen years in the making, from research, to writing, to editing and finally publishing, RASPUTIN AND THE JEWS- A Reversal of History, is so filled with information, that each sentence is important in this compact tome.
One of the dangers of writing a book such as this is getting the balance right. Not only does the author have to make it readable, believable and not overly complex, she has to remain impartial throughout the work. She must lay out the facts and not thrust her opinions on the reader. In this regard, Ms. Colon succeeds by allowing readers to make their own decisions about the importance of Rasputin and this time in history.
Delin Colon is a great researcher who clearly put in a lot of legwork before she even started typing.
This book is about misconceptions, and their impact on future generations of an ethnic group. In order to understand Rasputin’s role in history, it’s important to understand his relationship with Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra. The way it is written gives both perspectives of a government in decay, complete with the political circumstances of the time.
From the days at the Alexander Palace, Colon brought us up close to not only the Tsaravich's struggle with hemophilia, but also the struggle of a mother, Alexandra, whom had to bare it all, beside her son. Into this came the, mystic and advisor known as Rasputin. He had the ear of both Nicholas and Alexandra who listened to his counsel in political, health, and religious matters. While Rasputin may have had influence on Tsar Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra, as well as the government, the collapse of Imperial Russia was thought to be the ineptitude of their leadership, not Rasputin’s advice.
What Colon makes clear is the persecution of the Russian Jews and the role Rasputin played in preaching against such persecution. The love-hate relationship and oppression by the government to the Jews is shown in almost every aspect of their life. While the government loved the fact that the Jews were great merchants, they punished them by trying to keep them out of cities.
The breathtaking account of Russia’s Imperial Rule and the Role of Rasputin gives the reader a detailed study of the life of the Russian Jews and their oppression. Colon manages to uncover a more sympathetic side to the much maligned Rasputin. This book is a great resource for one that has just become interested in this tragic episode of Russian History, or simply for one who wishes to learn more of what government with too much power can do to its people.
This book may be purchased at Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, and other bookstores.

Delin Colón did her undergraduate work in French at the University of Maryland, College Park, and her graduate work in Clinical Psychology at California State University at Los Angeles.

Delin has lived in Roosevelt,NJ, Baltimore, D.C., Tallahassee, Montreal, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Eureka and Washington state.

She has worked as a technical writer for Sociological Abstracts and started a company which matched technical and creative writers with writing jobs. Intrigued by the memoirs of her great-great uncle, who was secretary to Rasputin, she's spent the last dozen years researching his claims that Rasputin was maligned primarily due to his support of the Russian Jewish community
.

Colón is retired and lives with her photographer husband in the Pacific Northwest, where she continues to write. 

6 comments:

J. A. Bennett said...

Great review Ruby. This looks really interesting!

Caroline Clemmons said...

Thank you for the review. I love history, and it is nice to discover books which involve accurate research.

Ruby Johnson said...

Jennifer and Caroline:
Thank you for commenting. It's rare that I read a book like this where every word is important. I don't read history very often unless I want to know about a certain time period, but this book made me want to read more.

Delin Colón said...

Thank you so much for the kind review, Ruby. I'm so pleased you enjoyed my book.

Delin

Laine said...

I don't read much history but this sounds like a great book have in my library when writing a historical novel. Nice review.

George said...

Solid take on a piece of literary work. Thank you, Ruby.

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