Timothy John Marshall (born 1 May 1959) is a British

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

, and broadcaster, specialising in

foreign affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit organization, nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership or ...

and

international diplomacy Diplomacy is the communication by representatives of state, intergovernmental, or non-governmental institutions intended to influence events in the international system.Ronald Peter Barston, ''Modern Diplomacy'', Pearson Education, 2006, p. ...

. Marshall is a guest commentator on world events for the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

Sky News Sky News is a British free-to-air television news channel, live stream news network and news organisation. Sky News is distributed via an English-language radio news service, and through online channels. It is owned by Sky Group, a division of ...

and a guest presenter on

LBC LBC (originally the London Broadcasting Company) is a British phone-in and talk radio station owned and operated by Global and based in its headquarters in London. It was the UK's first licensed commercial radio station, and began to broadc ...

, and was formerly the diplomatic and also foreign affairs editor for Sky News. He has written seven books including '' Prisoners of Geography'' – a

New York Times Best Seller ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list is widely considered the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States. John Bear, ''The #1 New York Times Best Seller: intriguing facts about the 484 books that have been #1 New York Times ...

and #1 Sunday Times bestseller. He also released a children's illustrated version of this book in 2019, '' Prisoners of Geography: Our World Explained in 12 Simple Maps'', nominated for

Waterstones Waterstones Booksellers Limited, trading as Waterstones (formerly Waterstone's), is a British bookselling, book retailer based in London, England, owned by the American investment group Elliott Investment Management. It operates 311 shops, ma ...

Book of the Year. Other titles include '' The Power of Geography'' a #2 Sunday Times bestseller; ''Shadowplay: The Inside Story Of Europe's Last War'', and 2018 Sunday Times bestseller '' Divided: Why We’re Living In An Age Of Walls''. Marshall is founder and editor of news web platfor
thewhatandthewhy.com
a site for journalists, politicians, foreign affairs analysts, and enthusiasts to share their views on world news events.

Education

Marshall was educated at Prince Henry's Grammar School, a state-funded comprehensive school in the market town of

Otley Otley is a market town and civil parish at a bridging point on the River Wharfe, in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the population was 13,668 at the 2011 c ...

, near

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

Career

Marshall began his

journalistic Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree of accuracy. The word, a noun, applies to the journ ...

career reporting for

and was their Paris Bureau Correspondent for three years. He has also reported for the

and has written for a number of national newspapers. He was also the longstanding Foreign Affairs Editor and then Diplomatic Editor for

. Over twenty-four years at Sky News, Marshall reported from thirty countries and covered the events of twelve wars. He has reported from Europe, the United States, (covering three US Presidential Elections), and Asia, as well as from the field in

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

and

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

during the

Balkan The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

wars of the 1990s. He spent the majority of the 1999

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

crisis in

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

, where he was one of the few western journalists who stayed on to report from one of the main targets of

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

bombing raids. He was in

on the day NATO troops advanced into

Pristina Pristina or Prishtina ( , ), . is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. It is the administrative center of the eponymous municipality and District of Pristina, district. In antiquity, the area of Pristina was part of the Dardanian Kingdo ...

. Marshall reported from the front line during the invasion of Afghanistan and spent time in Iraq, reporting on the country's transition to democracy. He has reported from Libya, Egypt, Syria and Tunisia during the uprisings across the

Arab World The Arab world ( '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, comprises a large group of countries, mainly located in West Asia and North Africa. While the majority of people in ...

. As Sky News Middle East Correspondent, based in Jerusalem, he covered Israel's

Gaza Gaza may refer to: Places Palestine * Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea ** Gaza City, a city in the Gaza Strip ** Gaza Governorate, a governorate in the Gaza Strip Mandatory Palestine * Gaza Sub ...

disengagement in August 2005. He was also Sky News Europe Correspondent, heading up their Brussels

news bureau A news bureau is an office for gathering or distributing news. Similar terms are used for specialized bureaus, often to indicate a geographic location or scope of coverage: a 'Tokyo bureau' refers to a given news operation's office in Tokyo; 'fo ...

and also regularly contributed to the channel's former World News Tonight international news bulletin (including as stand-in host). Marshall's blog, 'Foreign Matters', was short-listed for the Orwell Prize 2010. In 2004 he was a finalist in the

Royal Television Society The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...

's News Event category for his

Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...

coverage. He won finalist certificates in 2007, for a report on the

Mujahideen ''Mujahideen'', or ''Mujahidin'' (), is the plural form of ''mujahid'' (), an Arabic term that broadly refers to people who engage in ''jihad'' (), interpreted in a jurisprudence of Islam as the fight on behalf of God, religion or the commun ...

, and in 2004 for his documentary 'The Desert Kingdom' which featured exclusive access to Crown Prince Abdullah and his palaces. One of his most notable moments on Sky News involved a six-hour unbroken broadcast during the first

Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

. He was the last journalist to interview Pakistan's Benazhir Bhutto ahead of her return from exile and subsequent assassination. Marshall's book, ''Prisoners of Geography'', was released in the UK in July 2015 and in the U.S. in October 2015. He continues to broadcast and comment on foreign affairs and is a regular guest on BBC, Sky News and on

Monocle 24 Monocle Radio (originally launched as ''Monocle 24'') is a mainly speech-based internet radio station, broadcasting from Monocle's headquarters at Midori House in London, England. On weekdays, the station produces three hours of live, current ...

Radio's 'Midori House'. Tim Marshall Robert Elms 2014

He is the founder and editor of thewhatandthewhy.com. Launched in February 2015, the site analyses world events and has contributions from writers from the world of politics and journalism.

Personal life

Marshall is a supporter of

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

. In his book ''Shadowplay: The Inside Story of Europe's Last War'', Marshall says that he was supporting

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...

in the 1999 UEFA Champions League final against

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

because he was a Leeds United supporter.

Publications

Marshall has written a number of books including: * ''Dirty Northern B*st*rds'' – about the history of Britain's

football chants A football chant or terrace chant is a form of vocalisation performed by supporters of association football, typically during football matches. Football chanting is an expression of collective identity, most often used by fans to express their ...

(August 2014, Elliott & Thompson). The book was favourably reviewed in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are often names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * The Telegraph (Adelaide), ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaid ...

'', ''

The Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot Plasma (physics), plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as ...

'' and was "Book of the Week" in ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' sports section. It was dedicated to the memory of Sky News cameraman Mickey Deane, a longtime colleague and friend of Marshall's, who was shot dead in Cairo in August 2013. * ''Shadowplay - Behind The Lines & Under Fire (The Inside Story Of Europe's Last War)''. A book which documents the downfall of

Slobodan Milošević Slobodan Milošević ( sr-Cyrl, Слободан Милошевић, ; 20 August 1941 – 11 March 2006) was a Yugoslav and Serbian politician who was the President of Serbia between 1989 and 1997 and President of the Federal Republic of Yugos ...

and contains Marshall's account of his experiences during the

Yugoslav Wars The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related#Naimark, Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and Insurgency, insurgencies that took place from 1991 to 2001 in what had been the Socialist Federal Republic of ...

. (Release: June 2019)

Politics of place series

* '' Prisoners of Geography'' is an international bestseller explaining how a country's geography affects their internal fortunes and international strategy. This book became the No. 1 Sunday Times best seller, a New York Times best seller and during August 2016 was

'Non-fiction Book of the Month' & no. 1 best selling paperback. It made the MPs Summer 2015 Reading List and received favourable reviews both internationally and in the UK (including in ''

The Evening Standard The ''London Standard'', formerly the ''Evening Standard'' (1904–2024) and originally ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), is a long-established regional newspaper published weekly and distributed free of charge in London, England. It is print ...

'' and ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...

''). (2015) * '' Worth Dying For - The Power & Politics Of Flags''"Former Sky News editor pens book on flags" 13 May 2016 by Katherine Cowdrey at thebookseller.com
Accessed 15 April 2017 - is a book which covers the symbolism, culture and history behind the world's flags. Published by Elliott & Thompson (2016) * '' Divided - Why We're living in an Age of Walls'' (2018) * '' The Power of Geography - Ten Maps That Reveal The Future Of Our World'' (2021) * ''The Future of Geography - How Power and Politics in Space will Change our World''. (Elliott and Thompson. Released April 2023)

References

External links

*
The What & The Why
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marshall, Tim 1959 births 20th-century British journalists 20th-century British male writers 20th-century British non-fiction writers 21st-century British journalists 21st-century British male writers 21st-century British non-fiction writers British male journalists British male non-fiction writers British television journalists Living people People educated at Prince Henry's Grammar School, Otley Sky News newsreaders and journalists Theorists on Western civilization Writers about activism and social change Writers about communism Writers about globalization