The King of Vodka: The Story of Pyotr Smirnov and the Upheaval of an Empire

In this sweeping history of vodka scion Pyotr Smirnov and his family, distinguished journalist Linda Himelstein plumbs a great riddle of Russian history through the story of a humble serf who rose to create one of the most celebrated business empires the world has ever known. At the center of this vivid narrative, Pyotr Smirnov comes to life as a hero of wonderful complexity—a man of intense ambition and uncanny business sense, a patriarch of a family that would help define Russian society and suffer from the Revolution's aftermath, and a loyalist to a nation that would one day honor him as a treasure of the state.

Born in a small village in 1831, Smirnov relied on vodka—a commodity that in many ways defines Russia—to turn a life of scarcity and anonymity into one of immense wealth and international recognition. Starting from the backrooms and side streets of 19th century Moscow, Smirnov exploited a golden age of emancipation and brilliant grassroots marketing strategies to popularize his products and ensconce his brand within the thirsts and imaginations of drinkers around the world. His vodka would be gulped in the taverns of Russia and Europe, praised with accolades at World Fairs, and become a staple on the tables of Tsars. His improbable ascent—set against a sobriety crusade supported by Chekhov and Tolstoy, mounting political uprisings and labor strikes, the eventual monopolization of the vodka trade by the state—would crumble amidst the chaos of the Bolshevik revolution. Only a set of bizarre coincidences—including an incredible prison escape by one of Smirnov's sons in 1919—would prevent Smirnov's legacy from fading into oblivion.

Set against a backdrop of political and ideological currents that would determine the course of global history—from the fall of the Tsars to the rise of Communism, from vodka's popularization by none other than James Bond to Smirnoff's emergence as a multi-billion dollar brand—Smirnov's story of triumph and tragedy is a captivating historical touchstone. The King of Vodka is much more than a biography of an extraordinary man. It is a work of narrative history on an epic scale.

Smirnoff Vodka was originally founded by Pyotr Smirnov, a former serf who rose to be vodka maker to the czar; shortly after his death, his empire crumbled, thanks to a czarist vodka nationalization, incompetent leadership by his callow children and the Bolshevik revolution. The brand name re-emerged years later (with the "v" changed to "ff") after being sold to the West — possibly illegally — by... Washington Post Book Review (read the entire Washington Post review) one of Smirnoff's sons, who was nearly penniless after having fled the Soviet Union.

It's a good story told poorly. Himelstein is a business journalist, but she sheds little light on either the brand or the man. The documentary evidence (much of which was destroyed by communists) has frequent gaps, the atonal prose offers little analysis, and she has nothing but praise for Smirnov himself, reckoning him blameless for the destructive behavior of his children, who drove the business into the ground.

The brand's American success at the height of the Cold War (with ad slogans like "Smirnoff White Whiskey — No Smell, No Taste") would be a fascinating story in itself, but feels anticlimactic here, occurring as it does long after the death of the protagonist.

Reviewed by Alexander F. Remington, Washington Post Book World (Copyright 2006 Washington Post Book World Service/Washington Post Writers Group)
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Linda Himelstein began her career in the Washington bureau of The Wall Street Journal before working at The San Francisco Recorder and Legal Times. In 1993 she joined BusinessWeek as legal affairs editor, writing about a wide array of topics, including the tobacco industry and Wall Street. One of her cover stories helped BusinessWeek win the National Magazine Award. Later, as the magazine's Silicon Valley bureau chief, she wrote about the infancies of eBay, Yahoo!, and other companies. She lives with her family in Northern California.