Frederick Forsyth

Frederick Forsyth was born in Ashford, England, in August 1938. He attended Yardley Court School on a scholarship, leaving at the age of 17 to join the RAF. Two years later, he left the Air Force and turned to journalism, eventually working for Reuters. He reported on numerous events in various European cities, including Paris, East Berlin, Prague, Budapest, Brussels, and Rome. In 1965, at just 28 years old, he began working as a diplomatic correspondent for the BBC, leaving nine months later to go to Biafra as a freelance correspondent. Since leaving journalism in 1971 to focus on writing, Forsyth has authored short stories and numerous novels that became international bestsellers, such as "The Day of the Jackal" (1971), "The Odessa File" (1972) (both adapted into films, the latter with changes), "The Dogs of War" (1974) (also adapted), "The Devil's Alternative" (1979), "The Fourth Protocol" (1984), "The Fist of God" (1994), "Icon" (1996), "The Phantom of Manhattan" (1999), "The Veteran" (2001) (short stories), "Avenger" (2003), "The Afghan" (2006), "The Cobra" (2010), among others.