Empire Odyssey

Yul Brynner, the mysterious and exotic Hollywood star, was one of four generations in his family to bear that name. His Swiss-born grandfather, Jules, arrived in Shanghai almost by accident about 1865, but within twenty years had become a leading industrialist in the Far East. His business association with Tsar Nicholas II built Vladivostok and the Trans-Siberian Railway, then triggered the Russo-Japanese War, contributing to the fall of the Romanoffs. Jules' s son Boris regained control of the family's mines, but his experiences in China, Manchuria, and North Korea rivaled the ordeals of Dr. Zhivago. Yul's childhood took him to China and then to France, where, as a teenager, he performed in nightclubs with Russian Gypsies while becoming a trapeze acrobat in the circus. He moved to America before he spoke English and within five years was starring on Broadway. His son, with a colorful life of his own, has written the family's history.--From publisher description.