Black Earth: A Journey Through Russia After the Fall

This book is about author Andrew Meier's experiences in Russia, where he lived for most of the 1990s. He details much of what he saw of the rise and fall of Yeltsin and the advent of Putin and the events of their rule, including the privatization of many Soviet industries ("an industrial fire sale" of epic proportions), the conflict in Chechnya (the worst fighting in Russia since Stalingrad), and the decline in social and economic well-being of many Russians. Meier spends a good-sized portion of the book on the subject of Moscow, with its "wretched masses and gluttonous elite," a city that remains the heart of Russia, home of over ten million people, one that grew famous after the collapse of the Soviet Union for its boisterous night clubs and its nearly uncontrolled free market. At least some of the city's character derives from Mayor Yuri Luzkhov, who perhaps has influenced the city in its post-Soviet decade more than any other. Adored by Muscovites - who reelected him in 1996 with 90% of the vote - he has become noted for restoring many of the city's pre-Soviet symbols, such as rebuilding the Resurrection Gate to Red Square. Much of Moscow and indeed Russian politics has been dominated by the self-styled oligarchs, the new millionaires and billionaires such as Boris Berezovsky, Vladimir Gusinsky, and Vladimir Potanin who arose during the "Great Gab" of the Yeltsin years, grabbing a share of the division of post-Soviet spoils and often growing preposterously rich. Their story is not all rosy however, as many have links to organized crime, and they and Russians everywhere were hit hard by the August 1998 stock market crash and a number of scandals which came to public attention such as the Mabetex scandal and the Bank of New York affair, some involving the highest levels of government. In contrast to the oligarchs, Meier showed that many Russians were not as well off. Some longed for the days of the Soviet Union, when they felt things were better. A third of households lie below the poverty line, and HIV and drug addiction are a growing epidemic in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and elsewhere. Crime he writes is particularly rampant in St. Petersburg, where assassinations of rival politicians and industrialists are not unknown. The most interesting section was the one on Chechnya. Located a thousand miles south of Moscow between the Black and Caspian Seas, this Connecticut-sized area of 6,000 square miles is one of the so-called small nations that lie within Russia's borders, once romanticized by Pushkin, Tolstoy, and Mikhail Lermontov in military epics starring "swarthy mountaineers with bejeweled daggers and mysterious black-eyed" women. He chronicled the war in Chechnya - really two wars - the first war began on New Year's Eve 1994 and ended on August 6, 1996, launched to quell a nationalist uprising and in which as many as 100,000 died. The peace that followed brought little more than poverty, banditry, a kidnapping trade, and some local attempts

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.

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.

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.

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.