How to become an ambassador? This page, and my new book Lessons in Diplomacy: Politics, Power and Parties attempt to answer that question. I’m also a member of International Thriller Writers. You can read about all my books on this site.
History
Who is Leigh Turner? Well, I was conceived in Nigeria and spent the first three years of my life there. I’m the one on the left, my brother Stephen is holding the pram upright.
Growing up
I lived in Exeter, in the south-west of England, from ages 3-6 (my father was teaching at the university there) and in Roma, Lesotho (ditto), from ages 6-12.
Here I’m the one with bare feet. In the middle Bernard and Reginald Tekateka, on the right Stephen. My friend Bernard (second left) tragically died in a car crash in 1978. Reginald was later the Basotho Ambassador and Dean of the Diplomatic Corps in Bonn.
For a glimpse of why Lesotho is special, see my post Ten reasons to like Lesotho, with pictures.
In 1969-70 I went to Waterford Kamhlaba School in Swaziland. I am grinning in this picture (standing next to Stephen) because I am wearing one of my first ever pairs of long trousers. I still have this tie; the yellow dot on a blue background is a phoenix rising.
In 1970 my mum and dad moved to Manchester, where he was Professor at the University and she did a PhD and became a teacher of partially hearing children. I studied at Manchester Grammar School. In 1975 my bedroom looked like this. How many signs of international activity can you spot? I like this picture because it shows anyone can become a diplomat or ambassador.
In 1976 I went to Cambridge University and in 1979 started work. The following picture, taken in West Virginia in 1982, bears no resemblance to me today.
How to become an ambassador
From 1979 to 2021 I worked as a British diplomat and civil servant. You can read about it in Lessons in Diplomacy. My jobs were as follows:
1979-83: jobs in the Departments of the Environment and Transport, and HM Treasury, in London.
On holiday in the mountains of Lesotho, 1980
1983-87: transfer to the Foreign Office and first posting as Second Secretary (Political, Press and Public Affairs) in the British Embassy in Vienna, Austria.
Can you spot me photobombing Diana, Princess of Wales?
1987-91: jobs in London dealing with European Community budgetary and monetary affairs; and with counter-terrorism.
Visiting Louisiana 1990
1991-95: Russian language training and posting to the British Embassy in Moscow as First Secretary (Economic).
My Russian driving licence, 1993
1995-98: work in London on the transfer of Hong Kong to China in 1997.
Visiting Beijing’s Forbidden City in 1996
1998-2002: posted to the British Embassy in Bonn, then Berlin, as Counsellor (EU and Economic).
On holiday in Rhodes, 1999
2002-2006: four year career break to look after the children in Berlin. I also did travel writing for the Financial Times, and wrote novels.
Making a cake in Berlin, 2003. No-one died
2006-8: Director (Overseas Territories) in London. This job involved more travel, including to very remote places, than any other in my career.
Visiting Ascension Island, 2006
2008-12: British Ambassador to Ukraine. Lessons in Diplomacy explains why being an ambassador is such a privilege and responsibility.
In the hot seat at the Strategic Missile Forces Museum, Ukraine, 2010
2012-16: Consul-General and Director General for Trade and Investment for Turkey, South Caucasus and Central Asia in Istanbul. I returned to London for a month in 2014 as joint head of the Foreign Office Crisis Unit during the Russian invasion of Crimea and eastern Ukraine.
On the Golden Horn, Istanbul, 2015
2016-21: British Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the International Organisations in Vienna
With Deep Purple in Vienna, 2017
It’s been a wonderful ride. You can see why Lessons in Diplomacy concludes with the words: “the best way to live longer is to use to the full the life you are living right now”.
My books
My newest book is Lessons in Diplomacy, published on 24 September 2024. How do you become an ambassador? Is a diplomat’s life really as glamorous as a royal visit, or as dramatic as a coup d’état in Turkey? Now you can find out.
My bestselling fiction work is my Berlin thriller Blood Summit, published in 2017. It has had good reviews, including from John Connolly and Edmund de Waal.
My Istanbul thriller Palladium was published by US publisher Immortal Works in 2022. Click on the picture below to learn more.
My black comedy feminist collection Seven Hotel Stories stars Ms N, the world’s most brilliant, unpredictable and deadly hotel manager and her beautiful but naive ally, Tatiana.
My satirical thriller Eternal Life, the first book I wrote, explores our obsession with longevity and how it might change the world.
Lessons in Diplomacy was first published in German in April 2023 by Czernin Verlag, Vienna as The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Diplomacy: Wie Diplomatie die Welt erklärt. It contains additional material to the English version and has been beautifully translated.
All these books are available on Amazon – or you can order them at good bookshops.
Leigh Turner: more info
You can read more about me, including my taste in music, in my post Sixty Seconds with Leigh Turner.
Listen to this one-hour interview with me on “Free Radio Innsbruck” (in English, with a few words of German), focused on Blood Summit, including four readings, in October 2019.
If you want to see what I get up to, please subscribe to this blog (scroll down this page to where it says “subscribe to my updates”) and follow me on social media, eg Facebook.
9 Responses
Why use “Kiev” and not “Kyiv”?
Thanks Paul, good question. Now corrected!
I think this case is a bit different in that it refers to whether you use the Russian or the Ukrainian transliteration of the name of the Ukrainian capital.
Merhaba Robert Bey,
Umarım iyisinizdir.
Sorry to write here but there is no contact button on your website.
I am about to finish writing a book on Turkish Grammar. I am looking for speakers of English who are keen to learn Turkish so that I can test my book before it goes to print. I am using the Google Helpouts platform to do this. I don’t know if this would be of any interest to you or your colleagues?
I look forward to hearing from you.
Kindest,
Yusuf
P.S. My Google Helpouts listings: https://helpouts.google.com/112823075257203128953
Dear Yusuf
Thanks for this. I am having good Turkish lessons at the moment with Concept Languages here in Istanbul. But I will leave up your comment for a while in case others find your link helpful.
Best wishes,
Robert
Many thanks for this!
Hi, You’re a really inspiring figure. What was your course of study at Cambridge? 🙂
You are too kind. I studied geography at Cambridge. Always found it a great subject.
if you want to do that, then You’ve got to do Vien for Vienna, Moskovĭ for Moscow, etc.