Overview

It is 1998. After twenty-five years as a BBC TV reporter and producer, Michael Delahaye is sent to Russia as part of a UK/US programme to develop independent journalism in the former Soviet Union. With Boris Yeltsin in power, hopes are high of Russia, along with the other one-time Soviet republics, becoming functioning democracies. Over the next five years, Delahaye and his fellow media missionaries will criss-cross the vast Russian Federation, south through Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan ... and into Moldova, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Their brief is to bring enlightenment to countries where the very concept of journalism has been unknown for seven decades; to support - sometimes help create from scratch - television stations that will be independent, impartial and promote human rights. What they find is the rouble in freefall, state assets being sold off, black BMWs cruising the streets and an ex-KGB officer tipped for promotion in Yeltsin's administration ... Vladimir Putin. After the Fall, a foot-soldier's story, charts Delahaye's realisation of the challenges, both cultural and political, of transition; how, as in Iraq and Afghanistan, the West has repeatedly over-estimated its power to recast other nations in its own image.

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9781923388253

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Reviews

'An absolutely fascinating insight into an all too brief interval between tyrannies... and a very fine, historically important document, which should be read widely.' - Roger Bolton, broadcaster and former editor, BBC Panorama program 'A valuable manual and resource written by someone who has been there, earned the T-shirt and reflected on the experience. An engaging read that is accessible to anyone interested and not just media pros.' - Stephen Whittle, former Controller Editorial Policy, BBC 'A rare insight into the new world disorder' - Martin Bell, BBC War Correspondent

Author Information

Michael Delahaye is an independent television producer and occasional print journalist. He is a former BBC TV news reporter, correspondent and documentary producer. As a senior media consultant for the Thomson Foundation UK and Internews Network US, he has worked extensively across the former Soviet Union. Between 2004 and 2020, he trained journalists for the Al Jazeera Satellite Channel in Qatar, Bosnia and the US. Michael is the author of three thrillers commercially published in the UK, US and Japan: The Sale of Lot 236, The Third Day (US version: On The Third Day) and Stalking Horse. Born and educated in England, a graduate of Durham University, Michael is based in Adelaide, Australia, after many years living in France and the UK.

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