From the 1960s to the 90s, Ann Leslie, who has died aged 82, was among the last of the great “firemen” – foreign correspondents dispatched by Fleet Street tabloids to cover revolutions, elections and breaking news stories all over the world. Seemingly fearless, she wrote about what she saw and uncovered in an accessible, first-person manner, her prose elegant and thoughtful, and underpinned by research.
The majority of her career, which began in the Manchester office of the Daily Express in 1962, was spent working for the Daily Mail, where she was cherished and promoted as its star special correspondent. She particularly thrived under the 20-year editorship of Sir David English, who gave her the freedom to be herself.
