I’m Tom Masters, a freelance journalist and travel writer specialising in the former Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, and Latin America. I’m from London originally but have been based in Berlin for over a decade and work all over the world.

My main interests are the former communist world, decolonisation, the Global South, languages, human rights, and ethical travel. I speak Russian, German, French, and Spanish, and also work as a translator and editor.

I’ve written dozens of books for Lonely Planet, contributed articles to dozens of media outlets, worked as a documentary producer for the BBC, Channel 4, Discovery, and the History Channel, and been a news editor for dpa and The Moscow Times. Please feel free to get in touch if you’d like to discuss commissioning work, using my photos, or anything else.