But when Frederick Forsyth returned from Africa—he had been covering the Biafran war in Nigeria as a journalist—he had no money or prospects. Against friends’ advice, he decided to write a novel. Worse, it would be about Charles de Gaulle: the French general and president was unlikely to set publishers’ hearts aflutter.

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 T

A former fighter pilot, journalist and spy, many of his books were based on his own experience. He wove intricate technical details into his stories, without detracting from the l