- Paperback: 560 pages
- Publisher: Harper Perennial; New Ed edition (15 Nov 2004)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0007113242
- ISBN-13: 978-0007113248
- Product Dimensions: 19.4 x 13 x 3.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 440,061 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
| ||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Guardian
'...his blend of reportage and travel writing often resembles a 19th century novel...'
Review
‘[Meier’s] knowledge of the country and his abiding love for its people stands out on every page of this book, making his journey through Russia after the fall an informed and scrupulously researched one.’ Economist
‘“Black Earth” is the best investigation of post-Soviet Russia since David Remnick’s “Resurrection”. Andrew Meier is a truly penetrating eyewitness.’ Robert Conquest
‘If President Bush were to read only the chapters on Chechnya in Meier’s “Black Earth”, he would gain a priceless education about Putin’s Russia.’ Zbigniew Brzezinski
‘That “Black Earth” is an extraordinary work is, for anyone who has known Russia, beyond question.’ George Kennan
‘From the pointless war in Chechnya to the wild, exhilarating and dispriting East and the rise of Vladimir Putin, the former KGB officer – it’s all here in great detail, written with insight, passion and genuine affection.’ Michael Specter, New Yorker and co-chief of New York Times Moscow bureau
‘An engrossing, beautifully written book about a country where “the death of an ideology has displaced millions”…Heartbreaking.’ Publishers’ Weekly
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
First Sentence
IN THE OLD DAYS, before the breakneck final decade of the last century, before the end of empire and the epochal shift that followed in its wake, in the days when dissenters were dissidents and poets were prophets, when "abroad" meant Bulgaria, Budapest, or Cuba at best, when leather shoes and silk ties were not bought but "gotten," when colleagues were "Comrades" and strangers "Citizens," when HIV and heroin were exotic plagues born of bourgeois excess, when artists and soldiers pointed to ceilings and dropped their voices, when churches held archives and orphans, when lovers met in parks because apartments housed generations, when everyone professed to believe in the Party, the Collective, and Vodka but in truth trusted only Fate, God, and Vodka, I first came to Moscow. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
IN THE OLD DAYS, before the breakneck final decade of the last century, before the end of empire and the epochal shift that followed in its wake, in the days when dissenters were dissidents and poets were prophets, when "abroad" meant Bulgaria, Budapest, or Cuba at best, when leather shoes and silk ties were not bought but "gotten," when colleagues were "Comrades" and strangers "Citizens," when HIV and heroin were exotic plagues born of bourgeois excess, when artists and soldiers pointed to ceilings and dropped their voices, when churches held archives and orphans, when lovers met in parks because apartments housed generations, when everyone professed to believe in the Party, the Collective, and Vodka but in truth trusted only Fate, God, and Vodka, I first came to Moscow. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
While this is a completely absorbing read, I doubt whether it can really be classed as a history book. It's more like a travelogue - the author travels to extreme north, east, south and west in Russia and talks about what he sees, while making some comments on the post-1990 history of Russia. Occassionally he makes some comment on pre-1990 history, but it's fairly insubstantial stuff, as he just brushes the surface, mentions that such and such an event happened in such and such a place and moves on. This only really annoyed me in the case of 'the barricade' which I didn't know much about and the book didn't enlighten me any further about it. However, as the author kept making reference to it as an important event, I went and researched it on the internet. If I'm reading a history book, I don't expect to have to do this.
Yet, this is still an involving and a great read. It sheds a light on the life of ordinary Russians unlike any 'history' book could or would ever do. The writing is very good and I would definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in post-1990 Russia. But, if you're after a history book or something about earlier Russia, you should go elsewhere.
Yet, this is still an involving and a great read. It sheds a light on the life of ordinary Russians unlike any 'history' book could or would ever do. The writing is very good and I would definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in post-1990 Russia. But, if you're after a history book or something about earlier Russia, you should go elsewhere.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I bought this book some years back but didn't get around to reading it until after making several visits to Russia (always on business). The book was completely absorbing from the outset and should be recommended reading for anybody who does not want to automatically fall for stereotypes (not that stereotypes are incorrect!). Unlike some other reviewers, I was not looking for a history text book, but rather a well-written insight into an equally fascinating and scary country. And that's what it was.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A very readable account of post-Soviet life written by a journalist with deep experience in living in in the country before and during perestroika as well as after 1991. The tone of the book is pretty pessimistic, but this is not surprising under the circumstances. The author has visited Moscow, St Petersburg, Chechnya, Norilsk in the far North and Sakhalin in the Far East. He captures the range and the warp and weft of Russian life much better than would an account solely based on experiences of life in the two main cities. A remarkable read and in places, esp. the section on Chechnya, quite horrific.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
A stunning journey.
Of the books I have read about the recent history of Russia, this was by far the best. Whilst nearly being 10 years old, the book is amazing and still quite relevant. Read more
Published 28 days ago by godzilla78
Black earth by Andrew meier
I read this book before a visit to Russia. I found it very informative. A huge amount of background information about the situation in Chechnya. Read more
Published on 28 Feb 2010 by Mrs. Margaret J. Martin
Well written, informative
I'm two-thirds of the way through this excellent book. Having just read 'Comrade Criminal', a book that covered a lot of similar ground some ten years earlier, I have to say that... Read more
Published on 13 May 2009 by Mr. H. D. Perry
Enlightening Read
This is a very enlightening and interesting read. Andrew Meier spoke to ordinary Russians trying to get by since the fall of the Soviet Union, he makes a dangerous journey out to... Read more
Published on 30 May 2007 by S. Dawson
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
