9 best books featuring notorious figures

Thomas Craughwell lists these books as the best myth-busting histories centered on notorious figures. 

7. ‘Rasputin: The Saint Who Sinned,’ by Brian Moynahan

Moynahan’s biography offers a complete portrait of Grigory Efimovich Rasputin, complete with the many salacious rumors that constantly dogged him. Informal at times, this book makes Rasputin’s actual history every bit as entertaining as the numerous caricatures of him which have sprung up over the years. 
 

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Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

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If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

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