{"product_id":"9781804549865-the-black-russian","title":"The Black Russian","description":"\u003cmeta content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\" http-equiv=\"Content-Type\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe extraordinary story of Frederick Bruce Thomas, the son of former slaves who fled America to build a life in Tsarist Russia.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'A fascinating tale' \u003cb\u003eAnne Applebaum\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Thoroughly enjoyable' \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eSpectator\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Extraordinary and gripping' \u003cb\u003eAdam Hochschild\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAfter 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWith evocative backdrops in Moscow and later in Odessa and Constantinople, where Thomas rebuilt his life after the revolution, \u003ci\u003eThe Black Russian\u003c\/i\u003e is an inspiring story of personal reinvention set in one of history's richest periods.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rarewaves","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":40886102818913,"sku":"9781804549865","price":9.58,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0092\/7504\/8033\/files\/stand_31296463.jpg?v=1731573320","url":"https:\/\/www.rarewaves.com\/products\/9781804549865-the-black-russian","provider":"Rarewaves.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}