This is an exciting tale from the turn of the twentieth century of an eccentric man of the world who encountered directly some of the most important global events of that era. It is a biography of Frederick Bruce Thomas or Fyodor Fyodorovich Tomas. He was born to former plantation slaves in Mississippi, USA in 1872. His parents overcame prejudice and in an age of abolition became successful farmers until ultimately the still underlying racial inequalities and injustice drove them away and led to the murder of Frederick’s father. Frederick sought pastures new and headed for the cities of Chicago and New York before ultimately setting out on an Atlantic voyage across to European waters where he disembarked and settled in London. From there he quick-footed it around the continent and seeking ever more exotic locations finally made his way to Moscow. Initially his career had been as a highly mannered waiter in top restaurants or in hotels or a a domestic aid to wealthy businessmen. In Moscow he learnt the Russian language although he never perfected it but his entrepreneurial adventure allowed him to set up successful nightclub / theatre businesses across the city in some of its most exclusive locations. He toured Europe bringing in successful stage acts and entertainers from all over, including many early Black Jazz musicians from his homeland. The nightclubs he ran often appealed to the Russian and foreign elites and were widely recognised as being some of the most successful venues in the city. Often they had manicured gardens and served high class food in fancy restaurant spaces although sometimes they could be quite seedy with many of the female entertainers expected to provide additional private services in private rooms to paying clients a symbol perhaps of the age and the lack of women’s rights. Frederick married twice and had several children. For many years he was attached to the nanny of his children with his first wife who had died. In Moscow Frederick, most probably as a business incentive, adopted Russian citizenship. He had ongoing disputes with jumped up US Embassy employees who were always chasing him over bad debts and went out of their way to disrupt his application for a new USA passport most probably down to their underlying racial attitudes. Business swung to and fro between success and failure but by the time of the Russian Revolution in 1917, Frederick had built a successful theatre empire and was a famous celebrity due to his public work. The Rise of the Bolsheviks ultimately made it dangerous for him to remain in the city and eventually he luckily fled down to Odessa on the Black Sea where he also had some businesses. White Russians failures and the advance of the Soviets made him flee again to the relative safety of Istanbul (Constantinople). The fall of the Ottoman Empire in the post World War 1 period had left the French military protecting the city. It was a cultural hive of creativity and Frederick rebuilt from scratch another nightclub / theatre / restaurant empire. The rise of Ataturk and the return of Istanbul to the new Turkish state led to problems for Westerners and disrupted Frederick’s businesses. Ultimately he ran up some serious debts and ended up fleeing and dying in a debtor’s jail.
This book challenges many of the racist stereotypes from that period. Frederick felt much less prejudice on European shores and suffered no discrimination in Moscow. The Bolsheviks were fighting a class war unlike the anti-abolitionists in America. There is much entertainment and the story is a blistering read, an adventure of a brave and joyful character at a time and in exotic places during which many significant interesting major historical events occurred. Well-researched and well written.