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
Forever BoyKate Swenson9h 27m$29 · $0.00
You Are Worth ItKyle Carpenter, Don Yaeger8h 53m$29 · $0.00
Frederick Douglass: All 3 Memoirs in One VolumeFrederick Douglass42h 37m$1 · $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
HostageEli Sharabi5h 25m$24 · $0.00
A Narrative of Some of the Lord's Dealings With George Müller (The Complete Four-Volume Edition)George Müller43h 39m$2 · $0.00
Finding MeViola Davis9h 15m5 (1)$29 · $0.00
The Boys and MeMark Miller8h 32m$23
The Dangerous Truth about Today’s MarijuanaLaura Stack CSP, MBA9h 57m$20 · $0.00
Birdie & HarlowTaylor Wolfe7h 50m$26 · $0.00
The Lives of BrianBrian Johnson9h 45m$29 · $0.00
I Am The StormJanice Dean9h$8 · $0.00
Black History CollectionFrederick Douglass, Harriet Ann Jacobs, Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois27h 9m$18 · $0.00
Just as I AmCicely Tyson16h 8m$33 · $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 Red RecordIda B. Wells-Barnett2h 9m$2 · $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
The Fire Next TimeJames Baldwin2h 25m$15
EnduranceAlfred Lansing6h 1m$20
LES MISERABLES (Illustrated Edition)Victor Hugo66h 17m$1 · $0.00
BeyondStephen Walker15h 39m$33 · $0.00
Kings and PawnsHoward Bryant10h 9m$29 · $0.00
No EscapeNury Turkel9h 30m$28 · $0.00
The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (Complete 6 Volume Edition)Edward Gibbon179h 45m$2 · $0.00
Fall and RiseMitchell Zuckoff17h 23m$40 · $0.00
The SurvivorJosef Lewkowicz, Michael Calvin9h 22m$29 · $0.00
A Brief History of IntelligenceMax S. Bennett12h 18m$29 · $0.00
You may also like
Night Ride into Danger: CBCA Notable Book 2022Jackie French4h 50m$20 · $0.00
Tigg and the Bandicoot BushrangerJackie French6h 41m$19 · $0.00
Night Ride into DangerJackie French4h 50m$20 · $0.00
AfricavilleJeffrey Colvin12h 37m$33 · $0.00
Mr. Jervis, Vol. 1 (of 3)B. M. Croker4h 27m$2.40
Dragon TeethMichael Crichton7h 41m$26 · $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
My Father Was Carmen Miranda!Nena Jover Kelty5h 32m$17
The History of the Jewish People in AmericaPeter Wiernik14h 34m$2 · $0.00
90 Miles to HavanaEnrique Flores-Galbis6h 8m$20
Reminiscences of a Canadian Pioneer for the last Fifty Years: An AutobiographySamuel Thompson10h 27m$1 · $0.00
The Sea Girl A Tale Of Nantucket In The Clipper Ship DaysMarguerite Aspinwall5h 25m$2.40
The Only DaughterA.B. Yehoshua4h 7m$20 · $0.00
KalynaPam Clark7h 39m$20
The Complete English TradesmanDaniel Defoe12h 55m$2.30
The Complete Letters of Mark TwainMark Twain27h 29m$2 · $0.00
The Year We Escaped: Winner of the 2025 ARA Historical Novel Prize, Children & Young Adult category, and a 2026 CBCA Notable, this incredible and moving adventure is not to be missedSuzanne Leal6h 16m$24 · $0.00
The Letters Of Mark Twain, CompleteMark Twain29h 43m$2.30
Missionary Work Among the Ojebway IndiansEdward Francis Wilson7h 13m$2 · $0.00