The Black Russian - by Vladimir Alexandrov (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

The Black Russian is the incredible true story of Frederick Bruce Thomas, born in 1872 to former slaves who became prosperous farmers in Mississippi. After his father was brutally murdered, Frederick left the South and worked as a waiter in Chicago and Brooklyn. Seeking greater freedom, he traveled to London, then crisscrossed Europe, and--in a highly unusual choice for a black American at the time--went to Russia.

Because he found no color line there, Frederick settled in Moscow, becoming a rich and famous owner of variety theaters and restaurants. When the Bolshevik Revolution ruined him, he barely escaped to Constantinople, where he made another fortune by opening celebrated nightclubs as the "Sultan of Jazz." However, the long arm of American racism, the xenophobia of the new Turkish Republic, and Frederick's own extravagance landed him in debtor's prison. He died in Constantinople in 1928.

Review Quotes

One of San Francisco Chronicle's Top Ten Nonfiction Books of 2013

"Magnetizing and unforgettable . . . In his assiduously researched, prodigiously descriptive, fluently analytical, and altogether astonishing work of resurrection, Alexandrov provides uniquely focused accounts of racial struggles in America and decadence and bloodshed in Europe and Russia while insightfully and dynamically portraying a singular man." --Booklist (starred review)

"A wild life of intrigue, deception and beating the odds . . . [Frederick] Thomas' story is certainly interesting, particularly since he was able to thrive in Europe in a way most African-American men of his generation couldn't dream of. . . . [The Black Russian is] a good choice for those who enjoy reading about life's underdogs." --Kirkus Reviews

"The Black Russian transported me across 25 different locales . . . It also filled me with wonder and sadness. . . . Alexandrov has done a remarkable job of piecing together the puzzle of [Frederick] Thomas' life . . . his story staggered me." --Henry Louis Gates, Jr., The Root

"[A] gracefully written feat of historical sleuthing. . . . Through prodigious archival research, historical scholarship and painstaking reconstruction of secondhand accounts, [Alexandrov] has drawn a moving and vivid portrait of a remarkable American life." --San Francisco Chronicle

"With so much focus on the black experience in America in the 19th century, we might never consider the black experience in Europe at the same time. Vladimir Alexandrov's The Black Russian rectifies this oversight, and does so with panache. His tale is the biography of an individual who is wholly remarkable, regardless of race, and whose vitality, guile, and charm led him from Mississippi to Moscow, with plenty of adventures along the way. . . . Alexandrov transports the reader to an exotic era. Some of the most memorable parts of Thomas's life story lie in the incidental grace notes that add color to the lands through which he traveled." --The Daily Beast

"It is a testament to Thomas's unlikely success in Moscow, but also to Alexandrov's frisson-inducing account of myriad adventures along the way, that The Black Russian emerges as deeply satisfying despite its subject's woebegone end. . . . By its very nature, the victory of an underdog has a restorative effect on flagging enthusiasm in life's opportunities. And what triumph against the odds could prove more rousing than that of Frederick Bruce Thomas . . . [who] becomes the king of nightlife?" --Brooklyn Rail

"A compelling narrative of [a] powerful and complex man." --Shelf Awareness

"Although Alexandrov constructed this vessel with sturdy timbers of historical research, it sails lightly on a swift narrative current that transports us from Reconstruction Mississippi to Memphis, New York City, London, Paris, Moscow and, finally, Constantinople. . . . Alexandrov excels at recreating the various worlds Thomas inhabited--from his restricted existence during Reconstruction to his glittering fast-lane life on the Continent. . . . What [Thomas's] life illustrates, as Alexandrov skillfully and gracefully shows, is that when people are unshackled from slaveries--of whatever sort--freedom's buoyancy can lift them to surprising heights, can offer miraculous views." --Cleveland Plain Dealer

"A remarkable story about a formidable man. A story Alexandrov has uncovered, and masterfully told." --Winnipeg Free Press

"This well-written book is about one of the most fascinating black men of modern times. Like Jack Johnson, Frederick Thomas was a brilliant, proud and ambitious black man who experienced the heights of success and the depths of failure--in a foreign land. Don't mi

About the Author

Vladimir Alexandrov received a Ph. D. in comparative literature from Princeton. He taught Russian literature and culture at Harvard before moving to Yale, where he is B.E. Bensinger Professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures. He is the author of books on Bely, Nabokov, and Tolstoy, and has published numerous articles on various other Russian writers and topics.