Overview

• He died on June 9, 2025, at age 86.
• He authored about twenty espionage novels that sold approximately 70 million copies worldwide.
• After resigning from the BBC over his pro-Biafran coverage in 1969, he launched a writing career that drew on his RAF and journalism background.
• His debut novel, The Day of the Jackal, overcame five publisher rejections to become a 1971 bestseller and inspired a 1973 film.
• He pioneered the techno-thriller with meticulous on-the-ground research and later revealed in his 2016 autobiography that he had worked with British intelligence.