Allan Little was born in South West Scotland and studied Politics and Modern History at the University of Edinburgh (MA, 1982). He joined the BBC in 1983 and has been an on-air correspondent since 1985, specialising in foreign affairs since 1989. He reported the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe in 1989. He covered the first Gulf War from the Iraqi capital Baghdad in 1990 and 1991. He then spent four years, from 1991-1995 reporting the breakup of Yugoslavia, where he co-authoroed (with Laura Silber) a book on the conflict (Death of Yugoslavia, Penguin, 1995).
In 1995 he moved to Johannesburg to become the BBC’s Africa correspondent, reporting from across the continent. IN 1997 he was appointed Moscow correspondent. In 1999 he returned to London as a Special Correspondent, during which time he reported the second Gulf War, from both the allied side and again from Iraq. From 2003 to 2005, Little acted as Paris Correspondent.
He has presented BBC Radio 4’s flagship news programme “Today’ as well as ‘Newsnight’ on BBC Television.
He is the author and presenter of many long form documentary programmes on both radio and television.
Little has received many awards for his journalism, including Sony Radio Reporter of the Year, Amnesty International Reporter of the Year, Bayeux War Correspondent of the Year and the Charles Wheeler Award for Outstanding Contribution to Broadcast Journalism.
He is an Honorary Fellow in History at the University of Edinburgh. He has been Chairman of the Edinburgh International Book Festival since 2015.
Little is married to the journalist and broadcaster Sheena McDonald. They live in Edinburgh.
