History channel program on Rasputin

For this weeks blog entry I decided to watch a history channel program focused on the history of Rasputin. The program was incredibly interesting and informative. It discussed how Rasputin went from a syberian peasant and a nobody to a spiritual deity in the Czars palace. The program had biographers, Romanov historians, and more to tell the history of the magic man. They talk about his association with the kliest (couldn't find how to spell that), those who believe sin is purged from the soul by conducting sin with the body. They claim he was a drinker, frequently on drugs, fond of orgy's and prostitutes, and a man who frequently harassed women sexually. All of Russia hated him, all but the Czar and his family. This was because of Rasputin's unique ability to heal Alexandra's son, Alexei. Alexei, the heir to the thrown, had hemophilia and on all accounts Rasputin was the only individual able to heal him, and with such great ease quite frequently over the course of ten years. The program, overall, was very informative and made great use of the "Rasputin file" established by the Czar's palace and Russian secret police during the era. The file was just recently found within the last 10 years. The file was auctioned off at the Sotleby's  auction in London for six thousand dollars and was allowed to be utilized in this program. Much info in this file disproved many rumors about Rasputin. The rumors that were disproved were that Rasputin had an affair with the Russian empress and that he was poisoned, shot, stabbed, and thrown in a river before he died. According to the files he was most likely not poisoned due to the new diet he began, and he was most likely shot by the High Duke of Russia  Nicholas II's nephew, rather than by Prince Yusupov. The only weakness I found in the program was that the file was never shown for what it was on the inside. The knowledge was transmitted through a historian who had the chance to study it. Other than that it was a fascinating program.