Photo: Brigitte Lacombe


 

Andrew Meier is the author of three award-winning works of nonfiction: Black Earth: A Journey Through Russia After the Fall, The Lost Spy: An American in Stalin’s Secret Service, and most recently, Morgenthau: Power, Privilege and the Rise of an American Dynasty.

Black Earth has been widely hailed as one of the best books on Russia to appear since the end of the USSR.

The Lost Spy unearths the story of Isaiah “Cy” Oggins, the first-known American to spy for the Soviets, a devout believer who survived the Gulag, only to be killed on Stalin’s personal orders.

All three works were named to a number of “Book of the Year” lists.

A former Moscow correspondent for Time, Meier has contributed to The New York Times Magazine, among numerous other national and international publications, for more than two decades.

In 2025, Meier was named a Guggenheim Fellow in nonfiction.

Previously, his work has been recognized with fellowships from the Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers at the New York Public Library, the Leon Levy Center for Biography, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and the Alicia Patterson Foundation.

In addition to appearing as a commentator on the BBC, CNN, and NPR, Meier has reported for PBS television documentaries, and co-directed the Netflix feature documentary, Our Godfather (2019), and the documentary short, Natasha (2025).

A graduate of Wesleyan and Oxford universities, Meier is Professor of Writing at The New School in New York City, where he helped to launch and chaired the undergraduate Journalism + Design program.

He lives in Brooklyn, New York, with his wife and their two daughters.