Jason Burke | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1970 (age 54–55) |
| Occupation | Journalist, author |
| Nationality | British |
| Alma mater | University of Oxford |
| Genre | Non-fiction |
| Notable works | Al-Qaeda: Casting a Shadow of Terror On the Road to Kandahar |
Jason Burke (born 1970) is a British journalist and the author of several non-fiction books. As of 2016[update] he was acorrespondent covering Africa forThe Guardian, based in Johannesburg, having previously been based in New Delhi as the same paper's South Asia correspondent.[1] In his years of journalism, Burke has addressed a wide range of topics including politics, social affairs and culture in Europe and the Middle East.[1][2] He has written extensively onIslamic extremism and, among numerous other conflicts, covered the wars of 2001 inAfghanistan and 2003 inIraq, the latter of which he described as "entirely justifiable from a humanitarian perspective".[3]
In 2003, Burke wroteAl-Qaeda: Casting a Shadow of Terror, which was later updated and republished asAl-Qaeda: The True Story of Radical Islam.Noam Chomsky described it as the "best book there is" onAl-Qaeda.[4] He was interviewed in the 2004 BBC documentaryThe Power of Nightmares. In 2006, he wroteOn the Road to Kandahar: Travels through Conflict in the Islamic World.
Burke attendedOxford University. For four years, he held a position as an investigative reporter at theSunday Times.[5] He relocated to Pakistan in 1998 to cover events there and inAfghanistan. During this period, he also travelled toBaghdad andBasra. Around 2000, he was hired byThe Observer to serve as its chief foreign correspondent.[5] Since then, he has become the South Asia correspondent forThe Guardian,The Observer's sister publication, as well. As of 2010, he was based in New Delhi.
Prior to his assignment to New Delhi, Burke was based inAfghanistan, Pakistan, and Paris,[1][5] but his work has taken him to many locations. According to a book review in 2006 inThe Daily Telegraph, Burke "is one of the journalistic band of brothers whose job is to get to the trouble spots ahead of the TV crews and show the electronic media what it is all about".[6] His travels have includedGaza,Kurdistan,Thailand,Algeria, andJordan, among others.[5][6]He is the author ofOn the Road to Kandahar, and more recently the critically acclaimedThe 9/11 Wars, released in October 2011.
Burke's bookThe Revolutionists: The Story of the Extremists Who Hijacked the 1970s was published in October 2025.[7] It was shortlisted for the 2025Baillie Gifford Prize.[8]
