Charles van der Leeuw is a Dutch

Dutch people

The Dutch people are an ethnic group native to the Netherlands. They share a common culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Suriname, Chile, Brazil, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and the United...

 journalist currently based in Almaty

Almaty

Almaty , also known by its former names Verny and Alma-Ata , is the former capital of Kazakhstan and the nation's largest city, with a population of 1,348,500...

, Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...

.

After studying composition at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam

Conservatorium van Amsterdam

The Conservatorium van Amsterdam is a Dutch academy of music located in Amsterdam. This school is the music division of the Amsterdamse Hogeschool voor de Kunsten, the city's vocational university of arts...

, he became a journalist. While working for Dutch public broadcaster VARA he had been stationed in Beirut

Beirut

Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...

 during the height of the Lebanese Civil War

Lebanese Civil War

The Lebanese Civil War was a multifaceted civil war in Lebanon. The war lasted from 1975 to 1990 and resulted in an estimated 150,000 to 230,000 civilian fatalities. Another one million people were wounded, and today approximately 350,000 people remain displaced. There was also a mass exodus of...

, where he was kidnapped and endured a lengthy period of incarceration. In 1990s, during his stay in Baku

Baku

Baku , sometimes spelled as Baki or Bakou, is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. It is located on the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula, which projects into the Caspian Sea. The city consists of two principal...

, Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...

, van der Leeuw wrote several books on the Caucasus

Caucasus

The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...

oil industry and regional history while contributing to local newspapers including Caspian Business News. He remained a major regional correspondent after moving to Kazakhstan where he is now editorial manager of Caspian Publishing House.

Books

Charles van der Leeuw is author of a number of books, some of which, however, were subject of serious criticism.

• Kazakhstan: A quest for Statehood (2008) ISBN 9965992312
• Black & Blue: The Turbulent formation of new giants - the Russian oil & gas industry (2006) ISBN 9965992355
• Azerbaijan: A Quest for Identity (2000) ISBN 0312219032
• Oil and Gas in the Caucasus & Caspian (1999) ISBN 0700711236
• Storm over the Caucasus: In the wake of Independence (1997) ISBN 0312220294
• Afvalcriminaliteit in Europa (1997) ISBN 9057490625
• Koeweit brandt (1991) ISBN 9064455600
• Libanon. De vermoorde onschuld (1990) ISBN 9053300023
• Niet schieten op de journalist: pers en politie in Nederland (1984) ISBN 9064600236
• De Golfoorlog (1986) ISBN 9027456801