Frederick Forsyth: British Author

Frederick Forsyth, (born August 25, 1938, Ashford, Kent, England), British author of best-selling thriller novels noted for their journalistic style and their fast-paced plots based on international political affairs and personalities.

Forsyth attended the University of Granada, Spain, and served in the Royal Air Force before becoming a journalist. He was a reporter for the British newspaper the Eastern Daily Press from 1958 to 1961 and a European correspondent for the Reuters news agency from 1961 to 1965. He worked as a correspondent for the British Broadcasting Corporation until he was reassigned in 1968 after criticizing British aid to Nigeria during the Biafran war; The Biafra Story (1969) is his nonfiction history of the war. His experiences as a news correspondent gave Forsyth the knowledge to write realistic thrillers.

Forsyth’s first and most-admired novel, The Day of the Jackal (1971; film 1973 and 1997 [the latter as The Jackal]), is based on rumours he had heard of an actual attempt to assassinate French Pres. Charles de Gaulle. Several other carefully researched thrillers followed, including The Odessa File (1972; film 1974), about a search for a Nazi war criminal, and The Dogs of War (1974; film 1980), about an uprising in a fictional African nation. Forsyth’s works emphasize the power of individuals to change the world and history. His later novels include The Devil’s Alternative (1979), The Fourth Protocol (1984; film 1987), The Negotiator (1989), The Fist of God (1994), Icon (1996), Avenger (2003), and The Kill List (2013). Among his short-story collections are No Comebacks (1982) and The Veteran (2001). Many of his novels and stories were adapted for film and television.

The realism of his works raised speculation that Forsyth had worked for the British intelligence agency MI6. In 2015, shortly before the release of his autobiography, The Outsider: My Life in Intrigue, Forsyth confirmed the rumours. He claimed his association with MI6 began during the Biafran war and continued for more than two decades. In 1997 he was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire.