Frederick Forsyth's Biography

Frederick Forsyth was born in Ashford, Kent on 25 August 1938, the son of a store owner.

At 19, Frederick Forsyth became the youngest pilot in the Royal Air Force, however he switched to journalism and in 1958, Forsyth was a reporter for the Eastern Daily Press.

The sixties saw Frederick Forsyth working for Reuters and the BBC in Paris, East and West Germany and Czechoslovakia. He also reported from the Nigeria-Biafran conflict as a freelancer.

Frederick Forsyth then switched to writing highly acclaimed thrillers. Two of his earliest books were also two of his most highly regarded: 'The Day of the Jackal' and the 'The Odessa File'.

Other bestsellers followed, including 'The Dogs of War' and 'The Fourth Protocol'.

Having been a tax exile in Ireland, in 1980 Frederick Forsyth sold his house in County Wicklow, because of kidnap fears and returned to England.

In 1990, Frederick Forsyth had decided to retire, but after being ripped-off by dodgy financial advisor, Roger Levitt, he started to write again.

Dubbed right-wing and often heard being critical of the level of Britain's involvement in 'Europe', Forsyth has strong views on a variety of subjects. He wrote in the Wall Street Journal, for example:

"In Europe the "privacy" laws are so draconian that the press is a virtual poodle. It is dangerous to investigate anything. Result? Institutionalized corruption among the mandarins. In Britain it's the opposite - an open season for anyone the tabloids decide to destroy.

"This appals many here, but deeply flawed persons in, or aiming for, extremely high office should cause justifiable concern, and journalists have some role in informing the public."

He revealed a slightly different slant on this after a former Foreign Secretary was revealed to have been having an affair:

"If a man cannot keep an affair secret," Forsyth asked, "what is he doing in charge of the Intelligence Service?"

Frederick Forsyth joined the call for Tony Blair's impeachment over Iraq, and in the run up to the 2005 general election, Forsyth lent his support to Reg Keys who was standing against Tony Blair in the Prime Minister's Sedgefield constituency.

In March 2009, the BBC reported that Frederick Forsyth happened to be in Guinea-Bissau researching a book on the day the president and army chief were assassinated.

In August 2010, Frederick Forsyth told Hard Talk that he believed US intelligence forces once launched a cyber-attack on his wife's computer.