James Fergusson

James Fergusson began his award-winning journalism career in 1989 at The Independent and has also written for The Times, The Daily Mail and The Economist. His current affairs reporting spans Europe, North and East Africa, the Far East, the Caribbean, Central Asia and Afghanistan. He is now a regular TV and radio correspondent on Afghanistan and the Taliban.

He worked in Sarajevo for two years as a spokesman for the body charged with implementing the Dayton Peace Accord ending Bosnia's civil war in 1995, The Office of the High Representative. Following this, he spent some time at a London-based corporate intelligence firm.

His first book, Kandahar Cockney: A Tale of Two Worlds (HarperCollins, 2004), was a Radio 4 Book of the Week, telling the story of his Afghan interpreter whom he helped gain political asylum in London. Following this, The Vitamin Murders: Who Killed Healthy Eating in Britain? (Portobello Books, 2007), investigated the murder of Britain's top government food scientist during World War Two and was shortlisted for the Andre Simon Award for gastronomic literature. A Million Bullets: The Real Story of the British Army in Afghanistan (Transworld, 2008) was the British Army's Military Book of the Year, and became required reading on many Staff College courses. This was followed by The Taliban: The True Story of the World's Fiercest Guerrilla Fighters (Transworld, 2010) and Inside the World's Most Dangerous Place: Inside the Outlaw State of Somalia (Transworld, 2013) which was shortlisted for The Orwell Prize 2014 and the Paddy Power Political Book Awards International Book of the Year.

In Al-Britannia, My Country: A Journey Through Muslim Britain (Transworld, 2017), James travels the length of Britain exploring the often misunderstood Muslim communities in a segregated society. It is a timely and urgent account of life in Britain today, a call to action filled with real-life experience, hard truths and important suggestions for our future.

His most recent title is the critically-acclaimed In Search of the River Jordan (Yale University Press, 2023). It's a writer's travels along the legendary yet contested Jordan River, giving a voice to the fears and aspirations of the region's inhabitants and highlighting the centrality of water in negotiating future peace.

He lives in Edinburgh with his wife and four children.