Length10h 22m
About this audiobook
The Black Russian is the incredible story of Frederick Bruce Thomas, born in 1872 to former slaves who became prosperous farmers in Mississippi.
A rich white planter's attempt to steal their land forced them to flee to Memphis, where Frederick's father was brutally murdered. After leaving the South and working as a waiter and valet in Chicago and Brooklyn, Frederick sought greater freedom in London, then crisscrossed Europe, and—in a highly unusual choice for a Black American at the time—went to Russia in 1899.
Because he found no color line there, Frederick made Moscow his home. He renamed himself Fyodor Fyodorovich Tomas, married twice, acquired a mistress, and took Russian citizenship. Through his hard work, charm, and guile he became one of the city's richest and most famous owners of variety theaters and restaurants.
But the Bolshevik Revolution ruined him, and he barely escaped with his life and family to Constantinople in 1919. Starting from scratch, he made a second fortune by opening celebrated nightclubs that introduced jazz to Turkey.
However, the long arm of American racism, the xenophobia of the new Turkish Republic, and Frederick's own extravagance landed him in debtors' prison. He died in Constantinople in 1928.
Audiobook details
GenreBiography and Memoir, History
Length10 hrs 22 mins
Narrated byPeter Marinker
FormatAudiobook
Publish dateAug 15, 2013
LanguageEnglish
The Way of RoninTu Lam12h 9m$29 · $0.00
Why Not Me? A Feeling of Millions (Hinglish)Unknown Author4h 8m5.0 (1)$20 · $0.00
Matters of the HeartJacinta Nampijinpa Price9h 35m$29 · $0.00
How to Test Negative for StupidJohn Kennedy8h 13m$28 · $0.00
Defying JihadEsther Ahmad8h 50m$20
Bad Fat Black GirlSesali Bowen6h 32m$24 · $0.00
Frederick Douglass: All 3 Memoirs in One VolumeFrederick Douglass42h 36m$1 · $0.00
Send MeMarty Skovlund, Joe Kent8h 10m$26 · $0.00
Ulysses S. Grant: Life of the Fearless General & Commander-in-Chief (Complete Edition - Volumes 1&2)Ulysses S. Grant30h 34m$2 · $0.00
Left for DeadEbony Canion5h 34m$17
Invisible StormJason Kander6h 48m$24 · $0.00
Forever BoyKate Swenson9h 27m$29 · $0.00
You Are Worth ItKyle Carpenter, Don Yaeger8h 53m$29 · $0.00
The Happiest Man on EarthEddie Jaku3h 48m$7 · $0.00
MotherlandJulia Ioffe17h 52m$40 · $0.00
Evidence Not SeenDarlene Deibler Rose11h 11m$29 · $0.00
A Bridge Not Too FarDeepak Ohri4h 55m$15
Where Cowards Go to DieBenjamin Sledge8h 42m$20 · $0.00
Will You Love Me?Cathy Glass9h 5m$29 · $0.00
Designing Terry Pratchett’s DiscworldPaul Kidby3h 52m$20 · $0.00
The Civil War: A Narrative, Vol. 3Shelby Foote58h 18m$30
The Two Swords of ChristRaymond Ibrahim15h 55m$30
Black AF HistoryMichael Harriot15h 43m5.0 (1)$33 · $0.00
The Gulag Archipelago Volume 3Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn21h 56m$46 · $0.00
The Redeemer’s ReturnArthur W. Pink13h 18m$20
The Happiest Man on EarthEddie Jaku3h 48m$7 · $0.00
MotherlandJulia Ioffe17h 52m$40 · $0.00
Where Cowards Go to DieBenjamin Sledge8h 42m$20 · $0.00
Frederick Douglass: All 3 Memoirs in One VolumeFrederick Douglass44h 9m$2 · $0.00
The Bark Canoes and Skin Boats of North America (Annotated)Howard Irving Chapelle, Tappan Adney13h 10m$2 · $0.00
I've Been to the MountaintopMartin Luther King48m5.0 (1)$11 · $0.00
RevolutionariesSanjeev Sanyal11h 23m$29 · $0.00
We Crossed a Bridge and It TrembledWendy Pearlman6h$24 · $0.00
Unbroken Bonds of BattleJohnny Joey Jones8h 31m$8 · $0.00
The Daughter of AuschwitzTova Friedman, Malcolm Brabant7h 54m$26 · $0.00
Lily's PromiseLily Ebert, Dov Forman8h 54m$29 · $0.00
Saving My EnemyBob Welch9h 11m$20
On Democracies and Death CultsDouglas Murray10h 38m$29 · $0.00
Across the RiverKent Babb11h 40m$29 · $0.00
Balcony Over Jerusalem: A Middle East Memoir - Israel, Palestine and BeyondJohn Lyons12h 37m$33 · $0.00
You may also like
The ProspectorsAriel Djanikian13h 49m$33 · $0.00
Night Ride into Danger: CBCA Notable Book 2022Jackie French4h 50m$20 · $0.00
China to MeEmily Hahn21h 59m$30
Tigg and the Bandicoot BushrangerJackie French6h 41m$19 · $0.00
Night Ride into DangerJackie French4h 50m$20 · $0.00
Rambles on the EdgeWendy Maitland13h 42m$6 · $0.00
Children of the Ghetto: A Study of a Peculiar People (Summarized Edition)Israel Zangwill4h 49m$2
By Her HandMarion Taffe14h 46m$33 · $0.00
AfricavilleJeffrey Colvin12h 37m$33 · $0.00
Play Their Hearts OutGeorge Dohrmann15h 7m$25
Nobody's Girl (En Famille)Hector Malot8h 49m$2 · $0.00
Mr. Jervis, Vol. 1 (of 3)B. M. Croker4h 27m$2.40
Dragon TeethMichael Crichton7h 41m$26 · $0.00
MarleneC. W. Gortner14h 31m$33 · $0.00
The Flower of the ChapdelainesGeorge Washington Cable5h 29m$2 · $0.00
Washington BlackEsi Edugyan12h 19m$29 · $0.00
The Strange Adventures of Captain Dangerous (Vol. 1-3) (Annotated)George Augustus Sala17h 50m$2 · $0.00
Spreading JoyJoy Alukkas, Thomas Scaria, Nidhi Jain, Thomas Scaria, Nidhi Jain7h 32m$26 · $0.00
Coal Dust in My BloodBill Johnstone6h 40m$15 · $0.00
Mademoiselle ChanelC. W. Gortner14h 57m$33 · $0.00