From 1970 to 1982, he was a freelance writer and magazine editor, chiefly of journals about decorative and applied arts (Pottery Gazette, Tableware International, Home and Table, Ambassador).
He also wrote for industrial and commercial publications and was the supervisory editor of the English edition of Automobile World (Zurich).
From 1975 to 1990, he was freelance special features writer for The Guardian, book reviewer for The Daily Telegraph, and was a contributor to Connoisseur, The Times, and various specialist journals.
A series of critically well-regarded books followed, mainly biographies of British figures associated with the nineteenth and twentieth century history of the Middle East, such as Gertrude Bell, Gerard Leachman, Leonard Woolley, Howard Carter and Lady Anne Blunt.
Prior to his death, he lived in Bideford, north Devon, England.