Frederick Forsyth

English novelist (1938-2025) · United Kingdom · Writers · Died at 86

Frederick Forsyth is read about 848 times a day, in 49 languages.

A typical day, 30 days to 21 October 2026

The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 396 days, one point a day.

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He made the assassination thriller a genre unto itself - precise, cold, and plausible enough that intelligence services took notice. The Day of the Jackal turned a failed 1960s plot against de Gaulle into a template every airport paperback since has chased.

Writers Writer / Author Fiction Screenwriting Journalism Literature United Kingdom Europe

A life in dates

2025Died9 June 20252012Cartier Diamond DaggerAward1996Commander of the Order of the British EmpireAward1994“The man with ten minutes to live was laughing.”In their wordsThe Fist of God (1994)Read the whole statement

“The British Secret Intelligence Service works out of Century House, a rather shabby building south of the Thames between the Elephant and Castle and the Old Kent Road.”In their wordsThe Fist of God (1994)Read the whole statement

“Uh-unh. Islam has nothing to do with it. Saddam doesn't care a fig for the hadith, the codified teachings of the Prophet. He prays on camera when it suits him.”In their wordsThe Fist of God (1994)Read the whole statement

“Not really. There's a quantum leap in moral philosophy when you cross the Jordan.”In their wordsThe Fist of God (1994)Read the whole statement

“You got it, son. People forget - the old Model-T Ford may be old, but it worked. It got you there. It carried you from A to B. And it hardly ever broke down.”In their wordsThe Fist of God (1994)Read the whole statement

1984“Rawlings was a burglar and a thief, but like much of the London underworld he would not have anyone "trash" his country.”In their wordsThe Fourth Protocol (1984)Read the whole statement

1983Grand Prix de Littérature PolicièreAward1972Best Crime Novel in Swedish TranslationAwardEdgar Allan Poe Award for Best NovelAward1938Born25 August 1938

Also in Deutsch

Photos 4

Frederick Forsyth - 01 (cropped)

Frederick Forsyth - 01

Frederick Forsyth in Lynn Garrison's Triplane, Powersourt, Ireland 1975

In their own words 9

Frederick Forsyth

9 statements, newest first

The man with ten minutes to live was laughing.
1994, The Fist of God (1994), Own words
The British Secret Intelligence Service works out of Century House, a rather shabby building south of the Thames between the Elephant and Castle and the Old Kent Road.
1994, The Fist of God (1994), Own words
Martin laughed. "President Bush," he said, "and all the people around him will act according to their upbringing.
1994, The Fist of God (1994), Own words

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Awards

Cartier Diamond Dagger2012

Commander of the Order of the British Empire1996

Grand Prix de Littérature Policière1983

Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Novel1972

Best Crime Novel in Swedish Translation1972

Swedish Crime Writers' Academy

About this person

Frederick McCarthy Forsyth was born 25 August 1938 and spent his early career in the field: Reuters in 1961, then the BBC as assistant diplomatic correspondent in 1965. The Day of the Jackal arrived in 1970 and became the standard - a procedural so tight it read like classified cable traffic. The Odessa File, The Dogs of War, The Fourth Protocol, and a string of others followed, each built on the same architecture of tradecraft and consequence. By 2006 he'd moved more than 70 million books in over 30 languages; a dozen-plus became films. He kept a column at the Daily Express, conservative-leaning and unapologetic, until his death on 9 June 2025.

Country

United Kingdom

In common with Frederick

Andrew Lloyd WebberAlso in Love Never Dies (2012)

Jon VoightAlso in The Odessa File (1974)

Patrick SwayzeAlso in Icon (2005)

Edward FoxAlso in The Day of the Jackal (1973)

Elizabeth HurleyAlso in Death Has a Bad Reputation (1990)

Alfonso CuarónAlso in The Shepherd (2023)

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