The son of shopkeepers, Frederick Forsyth left his home in England at the age of 17 and traveled to Spain to study Spanish, only to find himself more interested in becoming a matador. Two years later, he eschewed a college education to become the RAF's youngest pilot. Following his service in the air force, Forsyth worked as a reporter for Reuters and the BBC, but after 13 years in journalism, he turned his talents toward writing novels, a vocation which quickly brought him fame. His first novel, "The Day of the Jackal" (1971), won numerous awards and became an instant international hit. He followed this novel with an unbroken string of best-selling thrillers, often basing the plots on little-known historical facts. Forsyth builds his thrillers using a delicate balance of suspense meant to slowly pull the reader toward a climactic finish, at the same time remaining careful to paint the slightest details, ensuring both accuracy and credibility.

An English assassin, known only as the Jackal, is retained to murder French leader Charles de Gaulle. This novel received international acclaim and was made into a feature film, jointly produced in France and England.

Frederick Forsyth's classic contribution to the thriller genre is The Day of the Jackal, an electrifying story about a man who is known only as the Jackal, the world's most dangerous, enigmatic, and elusive assassin. A killer at the top of his profession. A man with a rifle who can change the course of history. A man unknown to any secret service in the world. The Jackal has a new and extremely dangerous contract: to kill Charles de Gaulle, the world's most heavily guarded man. And as the minutes count down to the final act of execution, it seems that there is no power on earth that can stop the Jackal. Definitely among the all-time greats.