BLACK EARTH With the power of Lenin's Tomb and Balkan Ghosts, an illuminating portrait of contemporary Russia.  A decade after the Soviet collapse, Russia remains a country in limbo, a land of vast potential struggling with an unfinished past. Journeying to Russia's five corners—Moscow, Chechnya, Norilsk, Sakhalin, and St. Petersburg—Andrew Meier presents a history of contemporary Russia. In Moscow and St. Petersburg, Meier explores Russia's unbridled market and often lethal politics. From Chechnya, where he investigates the worst single-day massacre of civilians, to Norilsk, the world's northernmost city, Meier uncovers a common theme: the need to find meaning amid the Soviet ruins. In the tradition of Rebecca West's Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, Black Earth is a penetrating view of the new Russia from a bold new voice in political journalism. 7 maps.