That’s not quite how it happened. It was even more bizarre! The maddest, most surreal, off the grid landing of the first man who fell to earth, as described in my book Beyond. I loved writing that story!

So now Beyond has just been published in a #Russian edition - on this anniversary of #Gagarin ’s flight. Fascinated to see how that goes down given the lies and corruption at the top level of #Soviet government my book describes…

Listen to the story here with Stephen Walker pod.fo/e/c4127

Sorry, but I thought it was utterly awful. And I so wanted to like it knowing people who worked on it. Mawkish, sentimental, totally nonrealistic flying scenes but worst of all boring. Do yourself a favour & watch William Wyler’s epic color wartime documentary, Memphis Belle.

And of course both #Gagarin and #Korolev were favourites of Nikita Khrushchev, the #soviet premier who was himself ousted in a vicious coup by Brezhnev in 1964. Blood and danger everywhere. In #Russia some things never change.

Don’t want to get too conspiratorial – easy to do with Russia! – but it’s not just Gagarin’s death that’s a mystery. There’s also his friend Korolev, a big character in my book & boss of the Soviet space program, Died in an operation performed by the Soviet minister of health!

Wherein lies one helluva story. The dark arts of Soviet Russia… Check out my book #Beyond for more…. amazon.co.uk/Beyond-Stephen…

Stephen Walker Yes. We’ve read it twice and then got you on the show to talk even more about it. Brilliant book.
aviation-xtended.co.uk/episode-156-be…

We should do another!

Stephen Walker Absolutely. The chap who wrote it was a such a great guest on @coldwarpod! coldwarconversations.com/episode172/

Algorithm madness. Just received this notification from Amazon recommending my own book. Hmmm. Should I read it???

Love this! My book is clearly ‘richly detailed’ and written by a ‘vintage’ author. The next one - which I’m currently working on - will be ‘heartwarming’ ‘exotic’ and - oh god - written once again by a vintage author.

Thank you for your lovely comment on my book #Shockwave . Meantime #Beyond has what I think is a really nice reading by the actor David Rintoul. We had great fun, working on it together! Check it out here amazon.co.uk/Beyond-Astonis…

Delighted to see my book #Beyond is holding up all the others in the left pile. There are some terrific doorstops in there, mine included!

Excited that my book #BEYOND has now been translated into six languages: German, Dutch, Spanish, Polish, Turkish & Slovakian.
Next is the #Russian version out in April. Given my many revelations about #Soviet lies I’m frankly amazed they’re publishing it in today’s climate!

Thanks to Tim Peake Tim Peake for his description of my book BEYOND as 'superlative' in his latest book 'Space - The Human Story'. I've never been to space. He has. I'm honestly flattered. What a great guy.

My God it just gets worse and worse. Not normally a reader of the Daily Mail but Guy Adams is absolutely spot on. Brillliant reportage. One can only hope those in #Fujitsu and #PostOffice found responsible end up where they belong - behind thick steel bars. But will they????

HAPPY 1924

Archive gold with Stephen Walker pod.fo/e/c4127

And the story of cosmonaut #Titov ’s return from space to earth is a truly epic exercise in the surreal, hovering between near tragedy and the blackest comedy… check out the podcast to find out why!