First published 2026
Emanuel Nobel commanded one of the world's largest oil companies in early twentieth century Russia. After his father Ludwig rescued the family from bankruptcy, Emanuel inherited control at age twenty nine and expanded their petroleum empire to rival John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil. The Nobels pioneered refining technology, invented the oil tanker, and built schools and homes for workers while amassing enormous wealth. Emanuel earned Tsar Alexander III's approval and Russian citizenship during a royal visit to their operations. But revolution was brewing. A young Georgian named Joseph Stalin, working in nearby oil fields, embraced Marxist ideology and targeted Emanuel as the embodiment of capitalist excess. When the Bolsheviks seized power, Stalin made Emanuel Nobel his primary enemy after the Tsar himself. Douglas Brunt traces this forgotten rivalry across more than a century, from the Crimean War through World War I and the Russian Revolution, revealing how one family's industrial success became entangled with the violent birth of the Soviet Union.
Genres: historical-fiction, 20th-century, 21st-century, russian-literature, russian-revolution
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, historical-figures
Setting: Russia, Crimea, Soviet Union
Period: Early 20th Century
368 pages · Hardcover · Atria Books