Madeleine Bunting was born in North Yorkshire. After studying history at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, she won a Knox postgraduate fellowship to study and teach history at Harvard University. She worked for an independent television production company before joining the Guardian as a reporter in 1989. After a period as a leader writer, she is now a columnist. She has won several awards for her journalism and is a regular broadcaster. She has three children and lives in London.