One of the great British purveyors of the spy and cold-war genres, Frederick Forsyth, who has died at the age of 86, was best known for his novels The Day of the Jackal (1971), The Odessa File (1972) and The Dogs of War (1974).
He wrote another 22 books, which together have sold 75 million copies worldwide, and spawned several successful films. In his 2015 memoirs, Forsyth revealed he had been a spy for the British government.
My encounters with “Freddie” came late in his life. Back in 2023 my former colleagues at Brunel University were launching a project called Writers in Intelligence. Having no contacts in the murky world of spookery, they approached me for help.
