Mark Urban

Mark Lee Urban (born 26 January 1961) is a British journalist, historian, and broadcaster. He is a writer and commentator for The Sunday Times, specialising in defence and foreign affairs. Until May 2024 he was Diplomatic Editor and occasional presenter for BBC Two's ''Newsnight''.

His older brother is the film-maker Stuart Urban.

Education and early career

Urban's father came from Poland, but Mark was born in England. Educated at the independent day schools Rokeby School and King's College School in Wimbledon, South London, he continued his education at the London School of Economics.

After graduation, he served in the British Army, for nine months as a regular officer in the Royal Tank Regiment on a Short Service Limited Commission and for four years in the Territorial Army.

Correspondent career

Urban joined the BBC in 1983 as an assistant producer, working on several BBC news programmes. From 1986 to 1990 he was the defence correspondent of ''The Independent'', before rejoining the BBC as a general reporter on ''Newsnight''. From 1993 to 1994 he was Middle East correspondent for BBC News, before becoming ''Newsnight''s diplomatic editor, a role he has held since 1995. He has at times been an embedded reporter, first with British and then US troops.

In his years on ''Newsnight'', he has reported on the Gulf War, the Bosnian War, War in Kosovo, the War in Afghanistan and War in Iraq.Mark Urban on Newsnight's coverage of peace and war
2 February 2005.

After the 2018 Amesbury poisonings Urban reported that he was working with Sergei Skripal up to a year before the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury.

He left Newsnight and the BBC in May 2024 following deep budget cuts and format changes.

Military historian

In 1992, Urban published ''Big Boys' Rules: The SAS and the secret struggle against the IRA'' on killings by British Army and Royal Ulster Constabulary undercover units in Northern Ireland between 1976 and 1987. The book, which was subject to censorship by the D-Notice Committee, was described by John Stalker as "deep and meticulous delving into a secret war".

In 2001 he published ''The Man Who Broke Napoleon's Codes'', the story of George Scovell, using narrative and first-hand accounts of the war. His second narrative history, ''Rifles: Six Years with Wellington's Legendary Sharpshooters,'' published in 2003, continues the story of the Iberian campaign, through the history of the 95th Rifles. His study of the Royal Welch Fusiliers also combined narrative with first-hand accounts.

In 2010, he published ''Task Force Black: The Explosive True Story of the SAS and the Secret War in Iraq'', described as a "ground-breaking investigation" and which required months of negotiations with the Ministry of Defence, which had tried to prevent publication.

Books

*''Soviet Land Power'' (1985)
*''War in Afghanistan'' (1987)
*''Big Boys' Rules: The SAS and the secret struggle against the IRA'' (1992)
*''UK Eyes Alpha: Inside British Intelligence'' (1996)
*''The Man Who Broke Napoleon's Codes: The Story of George Scovell'' (2001)
*''Rifles: Six Years with Wellington's Legendary Sharpshooters'' (2003)
*''Generals: Ten British Commanders Who Shaped the World'' (2005)
*''Fusiliers: Eight Years with the Redcoats in America'' (2007)
*''Task Force Black: The Explosive True Story of the Secret Special Forces War in Iraq'' (2011)
*''The Tank War: The British Band of Brothers – One Tank Regiment's World War II'' (2014)
*''The Edge: Is The Military Dominance Of The West Coming To An End?'' (2015)
*''The Skripal Files: The Life and Near Death of a Russian Spy'' (2018)

References

External links

Profile
at '' BBC Newsnight''

Newsnight at war
2 February 2005
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Urban, Mark
1961 births
20th-century British Army personnel
Military personnel from the City of Westminster
People from Marylebone
British male journalists
Living people
British military historians
People educated at King's College School, London
Historians of the Napoleonic Wars
Royal Tank Regiment officers
BBC News people