Meier is a nonfiction author and journalist who writes on political and foreign affairs At present he is a contributor to The New York Times Magazine BLACK EARTH A Journey Through Russia After the Fall WW Norton 2003 was widely hailed as one of the best books on Russia to appear since the end of the USSR THE LOST SPY An American in Stalins Secret Service WW Norton 2008 is an awardwinning biography of the firstknown American to spy for the Soviets Isaiah Cy Oggins Both books were named to a number of Book of the Year lists Meier is currently at work on a biography of the Morgenthau familyfour generations spanning the presidencies of Woodrow Wilson Franklin D Roosevelt and John F Kennedyto be published by Random House