The Black Russian
*Starred Review* Born in Mississippi, in 1872,  to former slaves, Frederick Bruce Thomas became rich and famous “against all odds,” but Alexandrov is the first to discover just how high the stakes were. In this magnetically appealing, unforgettable biography, Alexandrov tracks Thomas as he works his way cross-country as a waiter, bellhop, and personal valet, then takes “the extraordinary step” of sailing to Europe in 1894. Thomas thrived in the absence of racism in France, Germany, and Italy, then settled in Russia, a land of nearly no people of African descent, where he achieved international renown as a brilliantly innovative and strategically charming nightclub owner. He married a German woman and started a family, but as the world went to war and the Bolsheviks came to power, questions about Thomas’ citizenship became dangerously complicated. Exiled and destitute in volatile Constantinople, he worked his way up again, bringing the first black jazz musicians to Turkey. But swindlers, an outraged ex-wife, a racist American diplomat, and political unrest landed him in debtors’ prison, where he died at 55 and was promptly forgotten. In his assiduously researched, prodigiously descriptive, fluently analytical, and altogether astonishing work of resurrection, Alexandrov provides uniquely focused accounts of racial struggles in America and decadence and bloodshed in Europe and Russia while insightfully and dynamically portraying a singular man. --Donna Seaman