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Sunrise over the Gulf of Thailand, April 2019. © Stephen Dalziel
Over the years I have written millions of words on a variety of subjects, and I have taken thousands of photographs. Some of these words have been published. My book, The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Empire, was published by the now defunct Bison Books in 1993 (although I'm told there are still copies available via the Internet!) I've contributed chapters to a number of books, and had many articles published in magazines and newspapers.

Between 1988 and 2004 I wrote and broadcast short and long pieces on the BBC World Service; two major six-part series, The Re-Making of Russia (1991-92) and Russia's Runaway Revolution (1995); a three-part series, Stalin (1989) and another a few months later on Lenin (1990); and numerous one-off programmes, including an hour-long feature on MI9 in the Second World War, made for Radio 4 in 2001.

I have also written reminiscences, stories and even the odd poem simply for my own amusement. But it was only when I mentioned to someone that I had started to write my thoughts and memories of the Cosmonauts Exhibition, held at the Science Museum from September 2015 to March 2016, at which I was a Volunteer, and they expressed an interest in reading what I had written that I thought that perhaps I should make my writing more available.

Life and work have got in the way of realising that plan. But I now present examples of my work for a wider readership. I genuinely welcome comments and constructive criticism - one principle which I learnt at World Service was the value of "the second pair of eyes". Sometimes when we are close to a subject we write something which we understand but is ambiguous to the general reader. And apart from being a wonderful place to work with some brilliant people, the World Service was an excellent school in learning to write clearly and concisely.

As for the photographs, a few hundred were displayed at an exhibition in Moscow in 2011, which we called A London Eye. But the vast majority have simply sat in my own files. I now publish what I consider to be some of the better ones, either to illustrate the writing, or in the separate photo section.

Unless clearly stated (such as quotations), all the writing on this site is my own and thus I am responsible for all opinions and, of course, any errors. If - or rather, when - you come across them, do let me know!

Stephen Dalziel, June 2019


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