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The Black Russian

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What to expect

Bloomsbury presents The Black Russian by Vladimir Alexandrov, read by Ben Onwukwe.

The extraordinary story of Frederick Bruce Thomas, the son of former slaves who fled America to build a life in Tsarist Russia.
'A fascinating tale' Anne Applebaum

'Thoroughly enjoyable' Spectator

'Extraordinary and gripping' Adam Hochschild

After the brutal death of his father when he was a teenager, Frederick Thomas fled the stifling racism of the American South and headed for New York City, where he worked as a valet and trained as a singer. Through charisma and cunning, Thomas emigrated to Europe, where his acquired skills as a multilingual maitre d'hôtel allowed him to travel from London to Monte Carlo before settling in Moscow in the glorious days before the 1917 Revolution. There Thomas became a rich and respected nightclub impresario, opening a lavish nightclub called Maxim.

With evocative backdrops in Moscow and later in Odessa and Constantinople, where Thomas rebuilt his life after the revolution, The Black Russian is an inspiring story of personal reinvention set in one of history's richest periods.

Critics Review

A fascinating tale of culture clash and historical change
Anne Applebaum
Like Thomas's midnight cabarets, it provides a thoroughly enjoyable display
Spectator
Vladimir Alexandrov manages his narrative superbly
TLS
Enthralling... The author is to be congratulated for shining a light on this extremely interested, sometimes inspiring and sometimes tragic life
Bookbag
An extraordinary and gripping book
Adam Hochschild
The ride of a lifetime
John Bailey
An extraordinary story interpreted with great sensitivity
New York Review of Books
Vaults breathlessly from set-piece to set-piece. Evocative, compelling, throughly enjoyable
Spectator
A tale so colourful it reads more like a novel than biography. Endlessly fascinating
Literary Review

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