English novelist (born 1938)
Frederick McCarthy Forsyth
CBE
(born 25 August 1938) is an English novelist and
journalist
. He is best known for thrillers such as
The Day of the Jackal
,
The Odessa File
,
The Fourth Protocol
,
The Dogs of War
,
The Devil's Alternative
,
The Fist of God
,
Icon
,
The Veteran
,
Avenger
,
The Afghan
,
The Cobra
and
The Kill List
. Forsyth's works frequently appear on best-sellers lists and more than a dozen of his titles have been adapted to film. By 2006, he had sold more than 70 million books in more than 30 languages.
[1]
Early life
[
edit
]
The son of a
furrier
,
[2]
Forsyth was born in
Ashford, Kent
.
[3]
He was educated at
Tonbridge School
and later attended the
University of Granada
in Spain.
[2]
Career
[
edit
]
Military and journalism
[
edit
]
Before becoming a journalist, Forsyth completed his
National Service
in the
Royal Air Force
as a pilot, for which he flew the
de Havilland Vampire
.
[4]
[5]
He joined
Reuters
in 1961 and in 1965 the
BBC
, for which he served as an assistant diplomatic correspondent.
Forsyth reported on his early activities as a journalist. His early career was spent covering French affairs and the attempted assassination of
Charles de Gaulle
. He had never been to Africa until reporting on the
Nigerian Civil War
between
Biafra
and
Nigeria
as a BBC correspondent.
[6]
He was there for the first six months of 1967, but few expected the war to last very long considering the poor weaponry and preparation of the Biafrans when compared to the British-armed Nigerians. After his six months were over, however, Forsyth ? eager to carry on reporting ? approached the BBC to ask if he could have more time there. He noted their response:
I was told quite bluntly, then, "it is not our policy to cover this war". This was a period when the Vietnam War was front-page headlines almost every day, regarded broadly as an American cock-up, and this particularly British cock-up in Nigeria was not going to be covered. I smelt news management. I don't like news management. So I made a private vow to myself: "you may, gentlemen, not be covering it, but I'm going to cover it". So I quit and flew out there, and stayed there for most of the next two years.
He thus returned to Biafra as a freelance reporter, writing his first book,
The Biafra Story
, in 1969.
[7]
In August 2015 Forsyth revealed that in Biafra he was an informant for
MI6
, a relationship that continued for 20 years. According to Forsyth, he was not paid.
[8]
He is an occasional radio broadcaster on political issues and has also written for newspapers throughout his career, including a weekly page in the
Daily Express
. In 2003, he criticised "gay-bashers in the churches" in
The Guardian
newspaper.
[9]
He has narrated several documentaries, including
Jesus Christ Airlines
,
Soldiers: A History of Men in Battle
and
I Have Never Forgotten You: The Life & Legacy of Simon Wiesenthal
.
Writing
[
edit
]
According to Forsyth, his turn to writing fiction was born of financial need; he did not think himself cut out to be a novelist. As a boy, he said, he wanted to be "a fighter jock," and when he traded his career in the RAF for journalism, it was "to see the world" as a foreign and war correspondent. As for becoming a novelist, he confessed "I never wanted to be a writer," but wrote his first full-length novel,
The Day of the Jackal
,
because he was "skint, stony broke."
[10]
He applied similar research techniques to those used in journalism. Published in 1971, the book became an international bestseller and gained its author the
Edgar Allan Poe Award
for Best Novel. In this story, the
Organisation armee secrete
hires an assassin to kill then?French President
Charles de Gaulle
. It was made into a
film of the same name
.
In Forsyth's second full-length novel,
The Odessa File
(1972), a reporter attempts to track down an ex-Nazi
SS
officer in contemporary Germany. The reporter discovers him via the diary of a Jewish Holocaust survivor who committed suicide earlier, but he is being shielded by an organization that protects ex-Nazis, called
ODESSA
. This book was later made into a
movie with the same name
, starring
Jon Voight
, but there were substantial alterations. Many of the novel's readers assumed that ODESSA really existed, but historians disagree.
[11]
In
The Dogs of War
(1974) a British mining executive hires a group of mercenaries to overthrow the government of an African country so that he can install a puppet regime that will allow him cheap access to a colossal platinum-ore reserve. This book was also adapted into a
1980 film
starring
Christopher Walken
and
Tom Berenger
.
The Shepherd
was an illustrated novella published in 1975. It tells of a nightmare journey by an RAF pilot while flying home for Christmas in the late 1950s. His attempts to find a rational explanation for his eventual rescue prove as troublesome as his experience.
Following this came
The Devil's Alternative
in 1979, which was set in 1982. In this book, the
Soviet Union
faces a disastrous grain harvest. The US is ready to help for some political and military concessions. A Politburo faction fight ensues. War is proposed as a solution.
Ukrainian
freedom fighters complicate the situation later. In the end, a Swedish oil tanker built in Japan, a Russian airliner hijacked to
West Berlin
and various governments find themselves involved.
In 1982,
No Comebacks
, a collection of ten short stories, was published. Some of these stories had been written earlier. Many were set in the Republic of Ireland where Forsyth was living at the time. One of them,
There Are No Snakes in Ireland
, won him a second Edgar Allan Poe Award, this time for best short story.
The Fourth Protocol
was published in 1984 and involves renegade elements within the
Soviet Union
attempting to plant an atomic bomb near an American airbase in the UK, intending to influence the upcoming
British elections
and lead to the election of an anti-
NATO
, anti-American, anti-nuclear, pro-soviet
Labour
government. The
1987 adaptation
starred
Pierce Brosnan
and
Michael Caine
. Almost all of the political content was removed from the film.
Forsyth's tenth book came in 1989 with
The Negotiator
, in which the American President's son is kidnapped and one man's job is to negotiate his release.
Two years later, in 1991,
The Deceiver
was published. It includes four short stories reviewing the career of British secret agent Sam McCready. At the start of the novel, the Permanent Under-Secretary of State (PUSS) of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office requires the Chief of the SIS to push Sam into early retirement. The four stories are presented to a grievance committee in an attempt to allow Sam to stay on active duty with the SIS.
In 1994, Forsyth published
The Fist of God
, a novel which concerns the first
Gulf War
,
Project Babylon
and competition between
Intelligence Agencies
. Next, in 1996, he published
Icon
, about the rise of fascists to power in
post-Soviet Russia
.
In 1999, Forsyth published
The Phantom of Manhattan
, a sequel to
The Phantom of the Opera
. It was intended as a departure from his usual genre; Forsyth's explanation was that "I had done mercenaries, assassins, Nazis, murderers, terrorists, special forces soldiers, fighter pilots, you name it, and I got to think, could I actually write about the human heart?"
[12]
However, it did not achieve the same success as his other novels, and he subsequently returned to modern-day
thrillers
.
In 2001,
The Veteran
, another collection of short stories, was published, followed by
Avenger
, published in September 2003, about a Canadian billionaire who hires a
Vietnam veteran
to bring his grandson's killer to the US.
Avenger
was released as a film starring Sam Elliott and Timothy Hutton.
[13]
The Afghan
, published in August 2006, is an indirect sequel to
The Fist of God
. Set in the very near future, the threat of a catastrophic assault on the West, discovered on a senior al-Qaeda member's computer, compels the leaders of the US and the UK to attempt a desperate gambit ? to substitute a seasoned British operative, retired Col. Mike Martin (of
The Fist of God
), for an Afghan Taliban commander being held prisoner at Guantanamo Bay.
The Cobra
, published in 2010, features some of the characters previously featured in
Avenger
, and has as its subject an attempt to destroy the world trade in
cocaine
.
On 20 August 2013, his novel
The Kill List
was published. It was announced earlier in June that year that
Rupert Sanders
would be directing a film version of the story.
[14]
On 10 September 2015, Forsyth's autobiography,
The Outsider: My Life in Intrigue
, was published.
In January 2018 it was announced that Forsyth would publish his eighteenth novel, a thriller about computer hackers, inspired by the
Lauri Love
and
Gary McKinnon
stories.
[15]
The Fox
was published in electronic format in October 2018, and released in hardcover in November.
The Fox
is an espionage thriller about an autistic but gifted hacker.
Awards
[
edit
]
On 16 February 2012 the
Crime Writers Association
announced that Forsyth had won its
Cartier Diamond Dagger
award in recognition of his body of work.
[16]
Forsyth was appointed a Commander of the
Order of the British Empire
(CBE) in the
1997 New Year Honours
list for services to literature.
[17]
Other appearances
[
edit
]
In September 2005, Forsyth appeared on the
ITV
gameshow
Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?
and raised £250,000 for charity. He offered the answer to the £500,000 question but, despite being correct, he decided to take £250,000. On 8 February 2007, Forsyth appeared on BBC's political panel show
Question Time
; on it, he expressed
scepticism on the subject of anthropogenic climate change
. On 26 March 2008, he also appeared on BBC's
The One Show
. On 17 June 2008, Forsyth was interviewed on BBC
Radio 5 Live
Midday News in relation to the restoration of the
Military Covenant
. On 2 February 2015, he appeared on
Eggheads
as a member of Rewarding Talent.
Political views
[
edit
]
Forsyth is a
Eurosceptic
Conservative
. He has been Patron of The People's Book Prize since 2010. He is Patron of
Better Off Out
, an organisation calling for Britain's withdrawal from the
European Union
, and he supports
Brexit
.
[18]
In 2003, he was awarded the One of Us Award from the
Conservative Way Forward
group for his services to the Conservative movement in Britain. He is also a patron of the
Young Britons' Foundation
.
In 2005, he opposed
Kenneth Clarke
's candidacy for
the leadership of the Conservative Party
, calling Clarke's record in government "unrivalled; a record of failure which at every level has never been matched". Instead, he endorsed and donated money to
David Davis
's campaign. In the run-up to the
2005 United Kingdom general election
, Forsyth called for the impeachment of
Tony Blair
over the
2003 invasion of Iraq
and lent his support to anti-war campaigner
Reg Keys
who stood in Blair's constituency of
Sedgefield
.
[19]
[
irrelevant citation
]
Personal life
[
edit
]
Forsyth has been married twice, first to former model Carole Cunningham between 1973 and 1988, with whom he had two sons Stuart and Shane, and then to Sandy Molloy, since 1994.
[20]
[21]
He also had a relationship with actress
Faye Dunaway
.
[22]
Forsyth previously resided in a manor house in
Hertfordshire
with his family before moving to
Buckinghamshire
in 2010.
[23]
[24]
[25]
In 2016, he said he was giving up writing thrillers because his wife had told him he was too old to travel to dangerous places.
[26]
Bibliography
[
edit
]
The following four works listed above are not fictional novels or novellas:
The Biafra Story
(1969),
Emeka
(1982),
Great Flying Stories
(1991) and
The Outsider
(2015).
Filmography
[
edit
]
As writer only (except for
Soldiers
, as presenter)
Film
[
edit
]
Television
[
edit
]
Theatre
[
edit
]
Video
[
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]
Video games
[
edit
]
Music videos
[
edit
]
Year
|
Title
|
Artist
|
2016
|
"Fallen Soldier"
|
Melissa Alder
|
Music
[
edit
]
Forsyth wrote lyrics to a lament titled "Fallen Soldier", with music by Gareth Ellis Williams, which was released as a single by
Royal Opera House
soprano Melissa Alder in 2016.
[27]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Leeman, Sue (3 September 2006).
"Forsyth Looks at World of Al-Qaida"
.
Associated Press
. Retrieved
26 June
2015
.
- ^
a
b
Forsyth, Frederick (10 September 2015).
The Outsider: My Life in Intrigue
. Bantam Press. p. 84.
ISBN
9780593075401
.
- ^
"Index entry"
.
FreeBMD
. ONS
. Retrieved
30 June
2016
.
- ^
"No. 40902"
.
The London Gazette
(Supplement). 16 October 1956. p. 5846.
- ^
"No. 41165"
.
The London Gazette
(Supplement). 3 September 1957. p. 5169.
- ^
Nigeria War Against Biafra, 1967?70, Part 3
.
BBC
(documentary) – via Njenje Media TV; YouTube.
- ^
"Frederick Forsyth"
.
Biblio
(biography)
. Retrieved
1 December
2007
.
- ^
BBC
article
"Frederick Forsyth reveals MI6 spying past"
- ^
Norman, Matthew (30 June 2003).
"Diary, 26 June 2003"
.
The Guardian
. London
. Retrieved
12 May
2011
.
- ^
Frederick Forsyth, "Author's Note: A Rather Undeserving Scribe," introduction to New American Library re-issue of
The Day of the Jackal
(New York: Penguin, 2012), vi-vii.
- ^
Walters, Guy (2010).
Hunting Evil: The Nazi War Criminals Who Escaped and the Quest to Bring Them to Justice
. Crown Publishing Group. pp. 139, 156.
ISBN
9780307592484
.
- ^
King, Larry,
Live Weekend
(Interview), CNN, archived from
the original
(transcript)
on 4 April 2013
, retrieved
23 June
2006
.
- ^
Avenger
at
IMDb
- ^
Han, Angie (20 June 2013),
"Rupert Sanders to Direct Frederick Forsyth Adaptation 'The Kill List'
"
,
Slash film
.
- ^
Cowdrey, Katherine (9 January 2018):
Forsyth to release hacking thriller this autumn.
The Bookseller.com. URL accessed 19 April 2018.
- ^
"Frederick Forsyth wins the CWA Diamond Dagger"
.
CWA Diamond Dagger Awards
. Crime Writers Association (UK). Archived from
the original
on 20 October 2012
. Retrieved
21 October
2012
.
- ^
"No. 54625"
.
The London Gazette
(Supplement). 31 December 1996. p. 8.
- ^
Frederick Forsyth (10 March 2016).
"The EU was never meant to be a democracy, says Frederick Forsyth"
.
Daily Express
.
- ^
"Biogs.com: Reliable Biographies"
.
Biogs
. Retrieved
25 February
2021
.
- ^
"Forsyth, Frederick 1938- | Encyclopedia.com"
.
www.encyclopedia.com
. Retrieved
25 February
2021
.
- ^
https://www.pressreader.com/uk/the-daily-telegraph-saturday/20190112/282016148484672
. Retrieved
25 February
2021
– via PressReader.
- ^
New York Daily News
, 25 August 1987.
- ^
BBC.
"Hertfordshire Literary Map"
.
www.bbc.co.uk
. Retrieved
3 August
2021
.
- ^
"Frederick Forsyth"
.
www.penguin.co.uk
. Retrieved
3 August
2021
.
- ^
Redwood, Fred (12 February 2017).
"Take a peek inside spy-to-writer Frederick Forsyth's fortress"
.
The Telegraph
.
ISSN
0307-1235
.
Archived
from the original on 12 January 2022
. Retrieved
3 August
2021
.
- ^
"Frederick Forsyth to stop writing thrillers"
.
TheGuardian.com
. 14 September 2016
. Retrieved
16 September
2016
.
- ^
Forsyth's Fallen soldier
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