Rating: 
Summary: Disturbing Portrait of Modern Russia
Review: Andrew Meier spent much of the past decade in Russia, and is as familiar as any Western writer with the goings on in that tragic land. In "Black Earth," Meier follows the tradition of the best travel writers, journeying beyond Moscow for a first hand account of the country itself. His travels take him to Chechnya, Norilsk, Sakahlin Island and St. Petersburg. In each place he documents what he sees and what has gone wrong as Russia attempts to awake from its Soviet nightmare."Black Earth" is, perhaps, best thought of as a follow up to writer David Remnick's twin classics "Lennin's Tomb" and Resurrection," which covered Russian life in the first half of the 1990s. Meier paints with broad rhetorical strokes, weaving in elements of history, literature and statistics with his observations. Though a bit long winded at times, "Black Earth" is vital reading for anyone interested in modern Russia.
Rating:
Summary: Disturbing Portrait of Modern Russia
Review: Andrew Meier spent much of the past decade in Russia, and is as familiar as any Western writer with the goings on in that tragic land. In "Black Earth," Meier follows the tradition of the best travel writers, journeying beyond Moscow for a first hand account of the country itself. His travels take him to Chechnya, Norilsk, Sakahlin Island and St. Petersburg. In each place he documents what he sees and what has gone wrong as Russia attempts to awake from its Soviet nightmare. "Black Earth" is, perhaps, best thought of as a follow up to writer David Remnick's twin classics "Lennin's Tomb" and Resurrection," which covered Russian life in the first half of the 1990s. Meier paints with broad rhetorical strokes, weaving in elements of history, literature and statistics with his observations. Though a bit long winded at times, "Black Earth" is vital reading for anyone interested in modern Russia.
Rating: 
Summary: A stunning journal of humanity called Russia.
Review: BLACK EARTH is captivating. In no small way, this book opens your chest and reaches deep into your heart. With passages reminiscent of John McPhee and even Steinbeck where writers' passions nearly cause the subjects to jump off the page - Meier lyrically weaves stories of both journalist and witness. The result is a tribute to the people who walk the land which is Russia today.
Meier is on an extraordinary adventure which he shares unselfishly with the reader. Undaunted by the scale of the landscape, his book maps a living portrait of today's revolution of the Russian society with remarkable stories underscored by poignant photographs to bring it home. Whether read cover to cover or story to story, BLACK EARTH reads true.
Rating:
Summary: Seeing through the eyes of the author
Review: Brave, well-informed, empathetic are words I use to describe this author and yet he himself is almost invisible. One can sense his empathy for all those he meets -- even those he doesn't like very much. He draws no conclusions; he draws only the picture of life in Russia as it is and as it reels from the impact of 80 years of over-regulation and under-governance. And the only hope he offers is the innate strong character of Russian people that has allowed them to survive these many centuries. Don't read this book unless you are prepared to be moved to prayer for them.
Rating:
Summary: Very insightful
Review: I read this book while I was on vacation in Russia and the Ukraine. I thought it was quite good, although I thought the section on Chechnya rambled slightly. As far as this book being an example of too much bad news, my response is this is Russia, for God's sake. There is no shortage of bad news there. How could you write an upbeat book about Chechnya, the history of the Gulag, Sakhalin Island (the section about that actually does have some "good" news), or the mafia state that has emerged in post-Soviet Russia? Face it. You can't. As for this book's merits, all I can say is that reading it made me far more informed about current affairs in Russia (something my Russia tour guides remarked about frequently). If you want "cheerful," don't read books about countries with these kinds of problems.
Rating: 
Summary: Black Earth
Review: If your down, out and chronically depressed this book is for you. The book was written from an extremely negative point of view. The author is a reporter following the same format as the first few minutes of the evening news. One sad story or tragedy after the other. I don't recall even one positve or optimistic comment.
The way the author writes is annoying. He starts talking about a particular subject, then with out warning starts on a different subject. Eventually half way through the chapter he gets back to discussing the origin topic. With all the authors travels and research this book had great potential. I do not recommend this book at all.
Rating:
Summary: PASSIONATE, ENLIGHTENING, POWERFUL-- MEIER'S BLACK EARTH
Review: Passionately written, this intricately woven tale of Russia --from the war zone of Chechnya to the gulags of Norilsk and beyond, to the Far East and to inside the psyche of political crime in Petersburg --Meier brought Russia together for me in a way never before imaginable. I couldn't recommend this book more -- whether you are taking a trip there or working there, (as I have often over the past decade), or simply just interested in Russia and her fate. I found Meier's unique technique of weaving the narrative a beautiful echo of the nuances of the country at large. I loved this book.. Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: Land of Failed Revolutions
Review: Since the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia has famously descended into organized crime and anarchy. Here, Andrew Meier travels to both well-covered and forgotten locations around the vast country to find how bad things have gotten, for Russian officials and regular people. Meier's travels begin in Moscow with a good outsider's view of the capital's twisted politics and uncontrolled mafia capitalism. Next is a trip to Chechnya, where war still rages despite the West's disinterest. Here Meier includes coverage of a massacre of civilians by the Russian military in the village of Aldy, and the nearly hopeless efforts of residents to find justice. Meier then travels to the far northern Siberian city of Norilsk, which has no reason to exist except for the extraction of minerals, performed by prison camp labor in the Stalin years; then the island of Sakhalin in the far east, where Moscow's grip has always been weak, leading to unique types of individualism and anarchy. Finally Meier reaches melancholy St. Petersburg, where a hoped-for renaissance of enlightenment and culture has failed under mob lawlessness and government corruption.
These travels bring out some useful big-picture conclusions about the fate of Russia and its people. A history of prison camps and slave labor have resulted in a widespread disregard for personal rights, today's control of the economy by oligarchs and kingpins is merely a new form of feudalism, and Chechnya is just a microcosm of the ethnic separatism that could engulf vast regions of Russia. Best of all, Meier implies that Russia has gone through many revolutionary leaps in social order during its history - feudalism to monarchy to totalitarianism to capitalism - and all of these leaps failed to bring about the expected Russian golden age. Most of all, Russia continues to feel all the horrors of its past, regardless of efforts to glorify or suppress past atrocities and failures. The only problem with this book is a long, slow, and meandering writing style that could really use an editor. Meier veers off into many over-descriptions and unfocused coverage of human stories and political trends, while his sometimes lofty attempts at political philosophy don't always come to believable conclusions. [~doomsdayer520~]
Rating:
Summary: Disheartening but Beautiful
Review: The world had so much hope when the Soviet Union fell. We all waited for the emergence of a great new democracy. Instead, the ugly reality was the rise of the oligarchs and the Russian Mafia, the bitter, bloody wars along ethnic lines, the corruption and injustice. Meier describes all this at a human level: Stories of dispossessed Chechen villagers, gulag survivors, oil workers in Sakhalin, victims of Petrograd's gangsters. What's happening in Russia is far worse than we imagined. He writes as an insider, a participant in the Russian way of life, able to move through cultural, political and administrative obstacles to reach the powerful, the formerly powerful, the disinherited, the downtrodden, the rebels, the survivors. He brings us their words, ringing of truth, because no one ever could invent their stories: The massacres of villagers in a pointless war no one wants, The environmental disasters of the extraction industries, The assassination of democratic leaders by gangsters protecting their turf, abetted by the government. These tales provoke outrage. Offsetting the dreary facts, Meier's writing draws the reader on: Deft characterizations of the people he meets, evocative descriptions of places, insightful historical contexts. Russia's despair is disheartening; Meier's prose is beautiful. Moreover, the people we meet have vitality and intelligence. They cope within their system, struggle to keep evil at bay and work to improve their lives. The system is rotten; the people are inspiring. They are the hope of Russia. Black Earth is an informative look at a great country as it struggles to undo the damage of 80 years of Communism. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Incomplete
Review: This book is a wonderful description of Russia's more remote areas. The author has an obvious talent for drawing people out and getting them to tell their stories. Unfortunately the book doesn't ring true as a complete survey of the modern Russian experience. The author is obviously a journalist, pushing himself toward the extremes, trying to find the story. He fails to mention that in the less remote areas of Russia there are much more pleasant places and happier people. Its incompleteness aside, this book really is a well written and fascinating book about places that most of us will never see.
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