Fergusson started at The Independent before joining Robert Maxwell’s ill-fated weekly, The European, where he became Op-Ed Features Editor. His interest in Islamic affairs developed when he turned freelance in the mid-1990s, and began reporting from Algeria, Bosnia and Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.[2] In 1998 he moved to Sarajevo as press spokesman for the Office of the High Representative, the UN-mandated body charged with implementing the 1995 Dayton Peace Accord. This was followed by a stint in London as an executive at Hakluyt & Company, the secretive corporate intelligence agency. He returned to full-time writing in 2004 with the publication of his first book, Kandahar Cockney.
Books
Kandahar Cockney (HarperCollins 2004) tells the story of Mir, an Afghan asylum-seeker in London who had worked for Fergusson as a translator on assignment in northern Afghanistan.[3][4] It was a Radio 4 Book of the Week. This was followed by The Vitamin Murders (Portobello 2007), an account of the 1952 murder of the nutritionist Sir Jack Drummond.[5]
A Million Bullets (Transworld 2008) a critique of Britain's military engagement in Afghanistan,[6][7] was the British Army's Military Book of the Year.[8] It was followed by Taliban – Unknown Enemy (2010), a plea for greater understanding and engagement with Nato's Afghan enemy.[9][10]The World's Most Dangerous Place (2013) examines the security threat posed to the West by the failed state of Somalia and its diaspora.[11][12] It was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize.[13][14]
Al-Britannia, My Country (2017) recounts his year spent among Britain's Muslims, and argues for a new approach to that fast-expanding community.[15][16][17]
His latest book, In Search of the River Jordan investigates the politics of water supply in Israel-Palestine.[18]
Personal life
Fergusson married Melissa Rose Norman (1970-2021) in 2004. He lives in Edinburgh with his four children.
