Bestselling author Frederick Forsyth died at the age of 86!

Bestselling author Frederick Forsyth died at the age of 86!

Graz-Umgebung, Österreich - Frederick Forsyth, the British bestselling author, died at the age of 86. The writer, who was known for his gripping thrillers such as "Der Schakal" and "The Odessa file", died on Monday after a short illness. Many readers will remember him primarily as a master of the tension novel, who knew how to combine history and fiction. According to the Kleine Zeitung , Forsyth died, who once had the dream of becoming a fighting pilot after he started his career as a journalist and even maintained contacts with the British secret service.

One of the highlights of his life was his time as a correspondent in Nigeria during the Biafra War. The author was witness to one of the most brutal conflicts in the Third World, which was shaped by the attempt to split off from Nigeria. Forsyth's book "The Biafra Story", which was published in 1969, is considered one of the earliest and most complete representations of the war from Biafra's perspective. Through his experiences and daily reporting on the horrors of the war, he described the human suffering and the responsibility of Western governments, especially Great Britain, in his work. Wikipedia emphasizes that Forsyth turned away from the reporting of the BBC and brought his own perspective as an eyewitness to the action.

Forsyth reflected in his memoirs about his adventurous experiences and also addressed an incident that almost triggered the Third World War. He was a correspondent for the Reuters news agency in Paris before he was appointed as a journalist to East Berlin, where he dealt with political developments in the GDR, Czechoslovakia and Hungary. The Kleine Zeitung points out that he managed to bring documents from the GDR to the West. These journalistic challenges shaped his writing style and flowed into later works that should captivate the reader.

Another remarkable aspect of his career was the quick creation of his debut "The Schakal". Forsyth wrote the novel in just 35 days while he was sleeping on a friend on the sofa. Forsyth's reputation as a thriller author has significantly consolidated the story of the attack on French President Charles de Gaulle. The first films in the 1970s and 1990s contributed to making his bestseller known even broader. In 2024 there will be a new, ten -part thriller series called "The Day of the Jackal" on Sky, in which Eddie Redmayne plays the leading role.

The examination of violence and human misery impressively addressed in "The Biafra Story". The book is considered a class in modern war reporting and has decisively shaped Forsyth's development from journalist to the author. According to Fantastic fiction , it documents the latest challenges that Africans still experience due to tribalism and conflicts. Forsyth offers a day-by-tag report about the horror and devastation during the war and thus not only shows suffering, but also the complex political conditions that lead to such conflicts.

Forssyth's influence on literature and the journalistic processing of wars will continue to be noticeable in the future. His legacy will live on the memories of his impressive works and the profound examination of the conflicts that shaped the world.