Frederick Forsyth, adventurer and bestselling spy novelist, dies aged 86
By
Emilie Bickerton
, AFP
Frederick Forsyth, pictured in 1997.
Photo:
ULF ANDERSEN / AFP
A pilot who turned to writing to clear his debts, British author Frederick Forsyth, who died on Monday aged 86, penned some 20 spy novels, often drawing on real-life experiences and selling 70 million copies worldwide.
In such bestsellers as
The Day of the Jackal
and
The Odessa File
, Forsyth honed a distinctive style of deeply researched and precise espionage thrillers involving power games between mercenaries, spies and scoundrels.
For inspiration he drew on his own globe-trotting life, including an early stint as a foreign correspondent and assisting Britain's spy service on missions in Nigeria, South Africa, and the former East Germany and Rhodesia.
"The research was the big parallel: as a foreign correspondent you are probing, asking questions, trying to find out what's going on, and probably being lied to," he told
The Bookseller
magazine in 2015.
"Working on a novel is much the same... essentially it's a very extended report about something that never happened - but might have."
He wrote his first novel when he was 31, on a break from reporting and in dire need of money to fund his wanderlust.
Having returned "from an African war, and stony broke as usual, with no job and no chance of one, I hit on the idea of writing a novel to clear my debts", he said in his autobiography
The Outsider: My Life in Intrigue
, published in 2015.
"There are several ways of making quick money, but in the general list, writing a novel rates well below robbing a bank."
But Forsyth's foray came good. Taking just 35 days to pen
The Day of the Jackal
, his story of a fictional assassination attempt on French president Charles de Gaulle by right-wing extremists, met immediate success when it appeared in 1971.
The novel was later turned into a film and provided self-styled revolutionary Carlos the Jackal with his nickname.
Forsyth went on to write a string of bestsellers including
The Odessa File
(1972) and
The Dogs of War
(1974).
His eighteenth novel,
The Fox
, was published in 2018.
Forsyth's now classic post-Cold War thrillers drew on drone warfare, rendition and terrorism - and eventually prompted his wife to call for an end to his dangerous research trips.
"You're far too old, these places are bloody dangerous and you don't run as avidly, as nimbly as you used to," Sandy Molloy said after his last trip to Somalia in 2013 researching
The Kill List
, as Forsyth recounted to AFP in 2016.
There were also revelations in his autobiography about his links with British intelligence.
Forsyth recounted that he was approached in 1968 by "Ronnie" from MI6 who wanted "an asset deep inside the Biafran enclave" in Nigeria, where there was a civil war between 1967 and 1970.
While he was there, Forsyth reported on the situation and at the same time kept "Ronnie informed of things that could not, for various reasons, emerge in the media".
Then in 1973 Forsyth was asked to conduct a mission for MI6 in communist East Germany. He drove his Triumph convertible to Dresden to receive a package from a Russian colonel in the toilets of the Albertinum museum.
The writer claimed he was never paid by MI6 but in return received help with book research, submitting draft pages to ensure he was not divulging sensitive information.
In later years Forsyth turned his attention to British politics, penning a regular column in the anti-EU
Daily Express
newspaper.
He also wrote articles on counter-terrorism issues, military affairs and foreign policy.
Despite his successful writing career, he admitted in his memoirs it was not his first choice.
"As a boy, I was obsessed by aeroplanes and just wanted to be a pilot," he wrote of growing up an only child in Ashford, southern England, where he was born on 25 August, 1938.
He trained as a Royal Air Force pilot, before joining Reuters news agency in 1961 and later working for the BBC.
But after he wrote
Jackal
, another career path opened up.
"My publisher told me, to my complete surprise, that it seemed I could tell a good story. And that is what I have done for the past forty-five years," he recalled in his autobiography.
- AFP
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RNZ News
2 days ago
- RNZ News
UK man jailed after robbing post office armed with just a banana
Ashley Asquith. Photo: West Yorkshire Police A man who robbed a post office in Britain armed only with a banana has been jailed for more than three years. Staff handed over more than £6000 (NZ$13,500) during the February heist in Bradford, BBC News reported . The assailant, 42-year-old Ashley Asquith, wrapped the banana in a black plastic bag to look like a gun. He was initially accused of using an imitation firearm, but told the court it was just a banana inside the bag. With CCTV not proving otherwise, this explanation was accepted. The judge handing down the sentence said the banana had been held in a way that "made it look realistic". Asquith pleaded guilty to robbery and possessing an imitation firearm. The money was yet to be recovered, according to the report.
RNZ News
2 days ago
- RNZ News
Watch: Pro-Palestinian activists damage planes at UK military base
Pro-Palestinian activists broke into a Royal Air Force base in central England, damaging and spraying red paint over two planes used for refuelling and transport. Palestine Action said two members had entered the Brize Norton base in Oxfordshire on Friday (local time), putting paint into the engines of the Voyager aircraft and further damaging them with crowbars. "Despite publicly condemning the Israeli government, Britain continues to send military cargo, fly spy planes over Gaza and refuel US/Israeli fighter jets," the group said in a statement, posting a video of the incident on X. "Britain isn't just complicit, it's an active participant in the Gaza genocide and war crimes across the Middle East." UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned the "vandalism" as "disgraceful" in a post on X. The act of vandalism committed at RAF Brize Norton is disgraceful. Our Armed Forces represent the very best of Britain and put their lives on the line for us every day. It is our responsibility to support those who defend us. Anti-terrorism police officers took over the investigation and British media reported that Britain's interior minister, Yvette Cooper, planned to use anti-terrorism laws to ban Palestine Action as an organisation. A Home Office spokesperson declined to comment on the reports. A spokesperson for Starmer said the government was reviewing security across all British defence sites. Palestine Action is among groups that have regularly targeted defence firms and other companies in Britain linked to Israel since the start of the conflict in Gaza. The group said it had also sprayed paint on the runway and left a Palestine flag there. The Gaza war was triggered when Hamas-led Palestinian militants attacked Israel in October 2023, killing 1,200 and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli allies. US ally Israel's subsequent military assault on Gaza has killed more than 55,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry, displaced almost all the territory's residents and caused a severe hunger crisis. The assault has led to accusations of genocide and war crimes, which Israel denies. - Reuters
RNZ News
2 days ago
- RNZ News
Singer Chris Brown pleads not guilty in UK assault case
By Helen Rowe , AFP US rapper Chris Brown reacts as he leaves Southwark Crown Court in London, 20 June 2025, after pleading not guilty to attempting to cause grievous bodily harm with intent during an alleged London nightclub brawl in 2023. Photo: Carlos Jasso / AFP American R&B singer Chris Brown on Friday pleaded not guilty in a UK court to a charge stemming from an alleged London nightclub brawl in 2023. Brown, 36, in a navy blue three-piece suit and tie and wearing glasses, stood in the dock as the charge was put to him, replying: "Not guilty, ma'am." The singer, who is on £5 million (NZ$11.2m) bail, made no comment as he arrived earlier to find a large group of photographers gathered outside the central London court. He spoke only during the hearing to confirm his name and date of birth and enter his plea to the charge of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm with intent. He smiled and waved to fans in the public gallery as he left. A five- to seven-day-long trial was fixed to start on 26 October 2026. Currently on the UK leg of an international tour, Brown spent nearly a week in jail last month before being released on bail. Police arrested the star at a five-star hotel in the northwestern city of Manchester hours after reportedly flying in by private jet. Under the terms of his bail, he will forfeit the £5m guarantee if he fails to return for court proceedings. Judge Tony Baumgartner gave him the green light to continue his scheduled tour, which began on 8 June in Amsterdam. The singer, who had a troubled relationship with Barbadian singer Rihanna, is next due to perform in London on Saturday ahead of dates in Manchester, Birmingham, Dublin and Glasgow. Handout photo provided by the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, Chris Brown is seen in a police booking photo after his arrest on charges of felony battery on 5 July 2018 in West Palm Beach, Florida. Photo: Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office The tour will continue in France and Portugal in early July before a string of concerts in the US, wrapping up in Memphis in the US in October. Brown is charged in relation to an assault in which the victim was allegedly struck several times with a bottle before being pursued, punched and kicked. The alleged incident took place at the exclusive private member's club Tape in Hanover Square in London on 19 February 2023, while Brown was touring in the UK. Other bail terms include that he should surrender his passport if he is not travelling. He is also required to live at a specific address known to the court and is not permitted to visit the nightclub where the alleged assault took place or contact the alleged victim, Abraham Diah. Shortly after being released from prison in May, Brown posted an Instagram story referencing his "Breezybowl" tour. "From the cage to the stage. Breezybowl," he posted. Brown appeared in the dock at Friday's London hearing with co-defendant Omololu Akinlolu, 39, also a US national, with whom he is jointly charged. Akinlolu also entered a not-guilty plea to the same charge of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm with intent. Both men are also jointly charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm. They will enter pleas to that charge on 11 July, the court was told. Brown also faces a third charge of having an offensive weapon, a bottle, in public. The Grammy-winning singer is known for mid-2000s hits such as 'Kiss, Kiss'. He rose from a local church choir in Virginia to sudden fame with his rich R&B voice, and later, rap. - AFP
