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. One of the "Top 10 Biographies: 2013" --Booklist A "Best Book of the Month" in history for March 2013 -- Amazon.com "Non-fiction book of the month," May 2013 -- The Bookbag (UK) "[This book] cries out to be a Russian Moulin Rouge ; it will only be a matter of time before we see Thomas on the big screen. His life was certainly large enough to fill one." -- The Daily Beast "Through prodigious archival research, historical scholarship and painstaking reconstruction of secondhand accounts, [Alexandrov] has drawn a moving and vivid portrait of a remarkable American." San Francisco Chronicle, lead review "It is always a pleasure to discover any tale that grips you from the first page and leads you along the byways of history . . . This biography flows as well as any novel, packed with adventure, romance and drama. The writing and research are exceptional, and the reader will be enthralled . . . Most highly recommended." -- Historical Novel Society Following the true story told in THE BLACK RUSSIAN, Vladimir Alexandrov now continues Frederick Thomas's extraordinary journey in a vivid historical novel of suspense: THE BLACK RUSSIAN AND THE SERPENT'S STING. Following the true story told in THE BLACK RUSSIAN, I found myself imagining what else might have happened to Frederick Thomas. That impulse became the foundation for my new historical novel of suspense, THE BLACK RUSSIAN AND THE SERPENT'S STING. While grounded in the world I researched for the biography, the novel gave me the freedom to explore the dangers, tensions, and hopes that shaped Thomas's extraordinary life in early twentieth-century Moscow. "A spirited tale of boundary-crossing and history-bucking, every bit as colorful as it seems improbable. " Stacy Schiff, Pulitzer Prize winner, author of the New York Times best-seller Cleopatra: A Life "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 miss this masterful work!" Cornel West , public intellectual, author of Race Matters , The Rich and the Rest of Us (with Tavis Smiley) "As a reader, I found myself fascinated by this well-written story. As a writer, I found myself envious of Vladimir Alexandrov for having discovered such a remarkable man whose life, both triumphant and tragic, spans continents, wars and a revolution--and whom no one seems to have noticed before. An extraordinary and gripping book." Adam Hochschild, prize-winning author of the New York Times best-seller To End All Wars: A Story of Loyalty and Rebellion, 1914-1918 "A fascinating tale of culture clash and historical change, researched with energy and written with verve." Anne Applebaum, Pulitzer Prize winning author of the international best-seller Gulag: A History "Hang on for the ride of a lifetime. With the verve of a novelist . . . Alexandrov takes one on an adventure through pre-war Mississippi, London, Paris, Tsarist Russia and the Bolshevik Revolution, ending up in decadent Constantinople." John Bailey, author of The Lost German Slave Girl "In The Black Russian , Vladimir Alexandrov tells the keenly researched and vividly written story of one of the more extraordinary characters in African-American history. Alexandrov deftly brings to life the succession of complex milieus in the United States, France, Russia, and Turkey in which Frederick Bruce Thomas achieved both his improbable successes and his haunting defeats. This is a tale to remember." Arnold Rampersad, award-winning and best-selling biographer of Ralph Ellison, Langston Hughes, and Jackie Robinson "That truth is ever stranger than fiction is underscored by the story of Frederick Bruce Thomas. The highs and lows of Thomas's unlikely life journey are skillfully unfurled by Vladimir Alexandrov." Elizabeth Dowling Taylor, author of the New York Times best-seller A Slave in the White House "