Former RAF pilot and investigative journalist Frederick Forsyth defined the modern thriller when he wrote The Day of the Jackal, described by Lee Child as ‘the book that broke the mould’, with its lightning-paced storytelling, effortlessly cool reality and unique insider information. After that, he wrote thirteen novels which became bestsellers around the world: The Odessa File, The Dogs of War, The Devil’s Alternative, The Fourth Protocol, The Negotiator, The Deceiver, The Fist of God, Icon, Avenger, The Afghan, The Cobra, The Kill List and The Fox. He also published his memoirs in The Outsider. Frederick Forsyth died in June 2025.

Frederick Forsyth

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FREDERICK FORSYTH HAS SEEN IT ALL. AND LIVED TO TELL THE TALE… 
At eighteen, Forsyth was the youngest pilot to qualify with the RAF. 
At twenty-five, he was stationed in East Berlin as a journalist during the Cold War. 
Before he turned thirty, he was in Africa controversially covering the bloodiest civil war in living memory. 
Three years later, broke and out of work, he wrote his game-changing first novel, The Day of the Jackal. He never looked back. 
Forsyth has seen some of the most exhilarating moments of the last century from the inside, travelling the world, once or twice on her majesty’s secret service. He’s been shot at, he’s been arrested, he’s even been seduced by an undercover agent. 
But all the while he felt he was an outsider. This is his story.

The Outsider

My Life in Intrigue

Tony Kent

The bestselling author of The Day of the Jackal returns with his most explosive book yet. 
 
The Nazis may have lost the battle. But the war is just beginning… 
 
Summer, 2025. A US senator is burned to death in his Washington townhouse. Masked gunmen massacre supporters during a football match in Berlin. And an old man is murdered while he sleeps in the dementia ward of a German hospital. Three apparently unconnected events, three steps on the countdown to apocalypse. 
 
When journalist and podcaster Georg Miller starts joining the dots between them, he finds himself the target of professional killers. His investigation soon reveals that his would-be assassins are from an organisation known as the Odessa, a menacing and powerful Nazi group intent on regaining power. 
 
The Odessa has spread its poison from a covert compound in the Bavarian countryside all the way to the halls of the American Capitol. And now, as their campaign to destabilise the Western political system accelerates, Georg must stop the next attack, before it changes the course of history…

Revenge of Odessa

Joan Bakewell

Humphrey Carpenter

Francine Stock

Matthew Parris

Household names nominate leaders from the past for BBC Radio 4's Great Lives 
Since its inception in 2001, Great Lives has been one of Radio 4's most popular programmes, presented by Joan Bakewell, Humphrey Carpenter, Francine Stock and Matthew Parris. The format is simple, but compelling: each week, a distinguished personality is invited to select an inspirational figure who has influenced them. Talking with the presenter and a guest expert, they assess the importance of their chosen candidate. 
 
This special collection, celebrating the programme's 20th birthday, comprises the very best episodes featuring leaders' lives, from the worlds of politics, religion, royalty, business and the military. Some are heroes, some tyrants, and several spark controversy. Among them AA Gill puts forward the case for Neville Chamberlain, Maxine Peake chooses Ellen Wilkinson, the Duke of Wellington is picked by Frederick Forsyth, and Leon Trotsky is selected by Christopher Hitchens in a hugely entertaining show that culminated in fireworks. In these cases, and many others, the life of the invited guest is as riveting as that of their subject - who wouldn't want to listen to Ken Livingstone discussing Robert Kennedy, George Monbiot champion Thomas Paine, and Trevor McDonald on Learie Constantine? 
 
From Nancy Dell'Olio on Lucrezia Borgia to Al Murray on Field Marshal Montgomery, these fascinating episodes showcase the lives of some of the most legendary figures from history, revealing their achievements and enduring influence and demonstrating why their greatness is undisputed. 
 
Episode list and date of first broadcast on BBC Radio 4: 
Robert Kennedy - 06/02/2009 
Henry V - 08/12/2009 
Richard Nixon - 17/08/2010 
Bernard Montgomery - 01/10/2013 
Richard III - 06/01/2015 
Elizabeth I - 18/08/2015 
Dag Hammarskjold - 23/08/2016 
Neville Chamberlain - 20/09/2016 
Gandhi - 26/12/2017 
David Lloyd George - 30/05/2003 
Queen Elizabeth 1 - 06/06/2003 
Machiavelli - 02/04/2004 
Thomas Paine - 23/04/2004 
Lyndon B Johnson - 07/05/2004 
Benjamin Disraeli - 28/05/2004 
Michael Collins - 01/10/2004 
Arthur Wellesly, the 1st Duke of Wellington - 03/06/2005 
Genghis Khan - 01/04/2005 
John Rockefeller - 06/05/2005 
Ronald Reagan - 27/05/2005 
Thomas Cromwell - 11/11/2005 
Leon Trotsky - 08/08/2006 
Eleanor Roosevelt - 22/08/2006 
Millicent Garrett Fawcett - 22/12/2006 
Julius Caesar - 25/05/2007 
George Washington - 02/10/2007 
Winston Churchill - 14/09/2010 
Rommel - 26/08/2014 
Ida B Wells - 19/08/2014 
Learie Constantine - 07/04/2015 
Abraham Lincoln - 26/01/2016 
Lucrezia Borgia - 12/04/2016 
Richard the Lionheart - 10/05/2016 
Dadabhai Naoroji - 27/09/2016 
Pope John XXIII - 24/01/2017 
Sitting Bull - 09/05/2017 
Emma of Normandy - 16/05/2017 
Constance Markievicz - 19/09/2017 
Ellen Wilkinson - 01/08/2017 
Daniel O' Connell - 19/12/2017 
Catherine the Great - 29/05/2018 
Jayaben Desai - 10/04/2018 
 
Copyright © 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd 
Presented by Joan Bakewell, Humphrey Carpenter, Matthew Parris and Francine Stock 
Produced by Miles Warde, Peter Everett, Christine Hall, Perminder Khatkar, Mark Smalley, Charles Ledgard, Maggie Ayre, Beth O'Dea, Jolyon Jenkins, John Byrne, Polly Weston, Julia Johnson, Mary Ward-Lowery, Isobel Eaton, Toby Field

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