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The Outsider: My Life in Intrigue

Frederick Forsyth

4.04 · Rating details · 1,254 ratings · 201 reviews

From Frederick Forsyth, the grand master of international suspense, comes his most intriguing story ever—his own.

For more than forty years, Frederick Forsyth has been writing extraordinary real-world novels of intrigue, from the groundbreaking The Day of the Jackal to the prescient The Kill List. Whether writing about the murky world of arms dealers, the shadowy Nazi und ...more

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Hardcover, 352 pages

Published October 6th 2015 by G.P. Putnam's Sons (first published September 8th 2015)

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Sep 13, 2015 Ian Brydon rated it it was ok

This book demonstrates that Frederick Forsyth is, undoubtedly a very clever man who has had an interesting and exciting life, though there was something oddly stilted and almost antiseptic about it. Although he describes some intriguing events, the whole delivery is entirely lacking in any emotional engagement.

I have never quite known what to make of Forsyth's novels. I enjoyed his early work, though I found that the further he moved from stories with a strong basis in fact, the weaker his novel This book demonstrates that Frederick Forsyth is, undoubtedly a very clever man who has had an interesting and exciting life, though there was something oddly stilted and almost antiseptic about it. Although he describes some intriguing events, the whole delivery is entirely lacking in any emotional engagement.

I have never quite known what to make of Forsyth's novels. I enjoyed his early work, though I found that the further he moved from stories with a strong basis in fact, the weaker his novels became. His first book, which made his name and sealed his fortune, was 'The Day of the Jackal', a barely fictionalised account of an attempt to assassinate President De Gaulle in the early 1960s. That book was immensely successful, and held the reader's attention in a vice-like grasp as it detailed, step by step, how the assassin secured a false passport, smuggled rifles across closely guarded borders and changed his appearance. 'The Dogs of War', his third novel, was essentially a manual on how to conduct a coup in a central African state during the 1970s. In both books, Forsyth relied upon information he had gained during his extensive career as a journalist to generate a taut plot which he followed without any diversion to develop his characters' personality. The focus was on action and planning, and in both cases the approach worked well.

He did, however, move away from fictionalising real events, and that was when his inability to create compelling and empathetic characters (or even entirely plausible ones) began to emerge. One might have thought, therefore, that when he moved to describing the real events of his own life, he would be back in mid-season form, securing the breathless engagement of 'The Day of The Jackal.' With so much exciting material at his disposal one might reasonably have expected to be rapt, reluctant to put the book down. Sadly, it never came close.

As I have said, Forsyth was clearly very clever, excelling at school and especially gifted at learning languages. From the age of five he had a clear idea that he wanted to become a fighter pilot, and to pursue this dream he even turned his back on the offer of a scholarship to Clare College, Cambridge. Following his departure from the RAF he became a journalist, working firstly in East Anglia and then securing a posting with Reuters that was to enable him to travel widely throughout the world, and offer him the inspiration for some of his earlier work. The places that he visited, the conflicts that he witnessed and the people whom he met should have made this account engrossing but, owing to the peculiarities of his prose style it came across as if he was listing some mundane activities that had been recounted to him by someone he met on a bus. ...more

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Sep 12, 2015 Samuel rated it it was amazing

THE OLD PRO.

"You still haven't explained why. You've explained what and how but not why!" - Simon Endean.

" For nearly two years, I watched between half a million and a million small kids starving to death because of people like you and Mason. It was done basically so that you and your kind can make bigger profits through a vicious and totally corrupt dictatorship and it was done in the name of law and order, of legality and constitutional justification. I may be a fighter, I may be a killer, b ...more

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Sep 09, 2015 Sojourner rated it it was amazing

Shelves: reviews

I have been immensely fascinated by The Dogs of War, The Fourth Protocol, The Kill List and The Day of the Jackal, all written by Frederick Forsyth. To this day, The Day of the Jackal remains one of my all-time favorite political spy thrillers and Frederick Forsyth one of my favorite authors. His latest offering, The Outsider: My Life in Intrigue, is a spellbinding compilation of autobiographical vignettes, and is as entertaining as any other Frederick Forsyth book.

In this sixty-chapter memoir, ...more

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Sep 21, 2015 Barbara rated it it was ok

I have not read any of Forsyth's novels, though I know of them and the movies made about them, but this memoir just didn't grab me. I love books about espionage and I think It was told in an easy style, sort of like someone talking with a friend, but it just came across flat. The beginning was the best part in my opinion. Enjoyed reading about his tenacity as a boy learning languages in school, turning down a chance at a prestigious university to pursue his dream to be an RAF fighter pilot. I ha ...more

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Oct 29, 2015 Raja Subramanian rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: books-owned, read-in-2015

I could never resist anything written by Frederick Forsyth. I had bought every single book he has written (so far), and have read all of them. So when I saw his latest book, “The Outsider – My Life in Intrigue” it was a no-brainer for me when the decision came to purchase at the airport. Of course, I missed out sorely on the large discounts available on Amazon / Flipkart or the opportunity purchase a much lower priced Kindle edition. The book did not disappoint me at all!

As the title reveals, it I could never resist anything written by Frederick Forsyth. I had bought every single book he has written (so far), and have read all of them. So when I saw his latest book, “The Outsider – My Life in Intrigue” it was a no-brainer for me when the decision came to purchase at the airport. Of course, I missed out sorely on the large discounts available on Amazon / Flipkart or the opportunity purchase a much lower priced Kindle edition. The book did not disappoint me at all!

As the title reveals, it is an autobiography – not fiction! However, the various incidents in his life that he narrates in the book are as exciting as the plots he uses in his fiction. Some incidents are somewhat stranger than fiction!

Frederick Forsyth has evidently led a full live – a life of exploration, excitement, exploration, enrichment, escapades, and achievement. I just knew him as a famous author whose books I enjoyed immensely. To me he was an extremely talented author. After I finished reading this book, I realize what an immensely multi-talented personality he is. He is multilingual – fluent in French, German and Spanish, apart from English. He has been a pilot since age of 17 and served in the RAF with some nice yarns to tell (which he does in the book). He served as a reporter travelling to the most troubled spots on earth, and coming out unscathed from everyone, showcasing a charmed life well-lived. He has met some famous personalities, monarchs, Heads of State, dictators, and the like. In his twenties, he crashes his car at high-speed, but comes out alive with some nasty injuries. He sits on a pack of mortar on a flight, when a bullet goes between his legs through to the roof of the plane. What a charmed life!

At 70 years of age, he even fulfils his childhood dream of flying a Spitfire! And then, to research for a book, he goes off to Somalia, which is not the safest place for any person at all to be in the best of days.
I knew of the conflict in Nigeria and the tragedy at Biafra. But I never got to know who were really responsible for the deaths of so many children. Much of the news carried in newspapers those days were the official handouts (had no access to TV then) and I wasn’t able to fathom the enormity of the human tragedy. For reading this particular episode alone, the book is well worth purchasing!
After reading this book, I spoke so highly of it that a friend of mine remarked “What is the big deal? He is after all a writer of fiction!” implying that the narration of events in the autobiography could well be exaggerated fiction. I politely told that friend that he is entitled to his opinion and I do not buy that. Sometimes truth can be stranger than fiction. Sometimes real life can be more exciting than fiction. Sometimes real people do lead such an extraordinary life!

If you have read the fiction of Frederick Forsyth and wanted to know the man, here is the book for you. His previous book, The Kill List disappointed me. But this one did not!

...more

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Dec 22, 2015 Tuck rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: books-about-books, chechnya-russia-ussr, europa, music-and-other-700-s, natural-history, noir, phillip-kerr-like, pre-wwi, sailing-and-fighting, south-africa

an entertaining autobiographer, but light in some ways, i guess in the lack of discussion about book writing and book trade. forsyth invokes the "luck" he has, but surely being given a chance to attend oxford as a 16 year old (he turned them down, hah, his mastery of 4 languages surely gave him added advantages, so he wanted to be a jet pilot, which he did become), becoming a journalist with the hopes it would allow him world travel, and being posted to northern england, but then knocking on doo ...more

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Aug 16, 2017 Michael rated it liked it

I kept feeling that a certain streak of arrogance was to the fore. However he certainly had an amazing variation of experiences and it made a very interesting read, all of which provided a background to the books that Frederick Forsyth made his name from.

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Oct 27, 2018 Rajmr64 Rajeev rated it it was amazing

Frederick Forsyth is one of my favorite authors and it was but natural that I had the urge to read his autobiography when I chanced upon it. The standout feature of Forsyth’s volume of work is the impeccable research that goes into each of his novels which makes them so engaging and readable. The Outsider gives a glimpse into his style of working, which has paid the author rich dividends in the form of best-selling novels that he has churned out over the past 48 years- 2nd January 1970 being the Frederick Forsyth is one of my favorite authors and it was but natural that I had the urge to read his autobiography when I chanced upon it. The standout feature of Forsyth’s volume of work is the impeccable research that goes into each of his novels which makes them so engaging and readable. The Outsider gives a glimpse into his style of working, which has paid the author rich dividends in the form of best-selling novels that he has churned out over the past 48 years- 2nd January 1970 being the day on which he commenced work on his all-time best-selling work, The Day of the Jackal, which also happens to be his debut novel.

Forsyth was born in 1939, the year that the second world war commenced. Being in the midst of the war did have an indelible effect on the little child, which was but inevitable. The remarkable feature of young Forsyth’s life was that at that young age, he had the good fortune to stay for considerable periods of time in France, Germany and Spain as part of student exchange programs, which helped him in no small way to pick up foreign languages as also develop a flair for foreign cultures and peoples. Forsyth developed a flair for languages and he managed to get scholarships to pursue his love for foreign tongues. By the age of around 20, he was adept at French, German, Spanish and Russian.

Forsyth had a great passion for flying and at the tender age of just over seventeen, he managed to get himself into National Service in the RAF. He was an exception, because during that time there were lot of young folks who were trying to avoid the National Service. Forsyth gives very engaging accounts of his training which enabled him to get his flying wings in the RAF subsequently.

His love of languages, writing and travel eventually made Forsyth take up a career in journalism after a short stint in the RAF. He embarked on his journalistic career with the Eastern Daily Press, which was based in Norwich, Norfolk. Being in a local newspaper had its advantages. Forsyth says, it made him check his facts always, as there was no room for error. The locals would just walk up to the offices of the newspaper and point out the inconsistencies in the edition, which could turn out to be deeply embarrassing. Forsyth talks about an interesting encounter that he had with a tailor, who could read palms. He says that the ‘palmist’ was able to give an account of his past as well as his future. He says that whatever was predicted at that point in time has turned out to be true. This is definitely a candid confession from a person who prides himself to be a top-notch journalist and a seeker of the truth!!

Forsyth’s passion to travel the world and his ambition to do well in his journalistic career made him move to Fleet Street in London, which was the Mecca of journalism. A chance encounter with a senior journalist landed him in a coveted job as a foreign correspondent with Reuters. He was posted to Paris, just because he was fluent in French. Forsyth says that this move to Paris was the sole reason why a book called the Day of the Jackal could become possible about 10 years hence. A wonderful proof as to how circumstances and chance meetings shape the course that our life takes.

While in Paris, Forsyth had a ringside view of the attempts that were made on the life of the French President, Charles de Gaulle by the OAS. This was the inspiration for him to embark on his debut novel, Day of the Jackal, in 1970. This is an irrefutable proof for the fact that one has to have rich experiences which can subsequently shape one into a master story teller. Forsyth’s further stint at Reuters took him into East Berlin, as the Reuters representative there. He was the only western journalist present on the wrong side of the iron curtain. It was during height of the cold war. During his stint in East Berlin, Forsyth had to work for the Western intelligence in addition to his publicized role as that of a journalist. No doubt that all this exposure gave him tremendous insight into the world of espionage that he was able to reflect all of it so effectively in the thrillers that he produced subsequently as a successful author. Forsyth thereafter had a stint with the venerable BBC, but he was soon disillusioned with that Organization, that he left after a short stint with them. Forsyth paints a very dismal picture about the absence of basic journalistic ethics at the BBC. It is indeed a revealing expose’ that the author makes about the BBC, which is held in high esteem for impartiality. Forsyth was tasked to cover the Nigerian civil war, where the enclave of Biafra had declared independence from Nigeria. Britain was providing aid in the form of Arms and funds to the Nigerian Government to crush the revolt. BBC was unabashedly being selective and partisan in its coverage of the crisis and was toeing the official British line. Forsyth left the Organization and moved as an independent journalist to Biafra to cover the famine, a human tragedy that was unfolding there, which was a direct result of the atrocities committed by the Nigerian Government, with the active assistance of Britain. Forsyth’s exposure to the anarchy in the African continent, and the use of foreign mercenaries in conflicts was the fodder and inspiration for his novel, The Dogs of War.

Soon after his African sojourn, Forsyth found himself out of work. It was at that time, in 1970, that he started work on his debut novel, The Day of the Jackal. He finished this novel, which transformed his life beyond all realms of imagination, in just 35 days. The target of assassination in the novel, Charles de Gaulle was still alive. It was said that the level of technical details that was brought out in the novel was unparalleled, till that point in time. Even then, Forsyth had to face a lot of rejections and the manuscript was not accepted by a host of publishers. It was finally accepted by Hutchison, a major publisher, and the rest, as they say, is history. Forsyth, with his rich experience of intrigue and covert operations in East Germany and in the jungles of Africa, was able to come out with realistic and highly plausible plots in novels like the Odessa File and The Dogs of War, which established him as a frontrunner in the genre of thrillers.

Forsyth is very candid in admitting that he lost all the fortune that he had made writing novels, when he was well into his fifties. He had a divorce, which was a huge drain on his finances. In addition, he was swindled of all his life’s savings by a fly- by- night investment broker, which ended up making him practically bankrupt. He says that he made up his mind that he would make all that he had lost, and thereafter he started writing again. The resolve and the sheer courage of the man has to be appreciated.

This is a very riveting and enjoyable account of the life and times of one of the best novelists of this century. Forsyth does not claim his novels to be classy. But at the same time, they do have an element of plausibility that runs through them, which makes them so readable and enduring. The pains that the author takes in researching for his works, makes the reading so enjoyable that most of his novels read like historical fiction. His autobiography is not one to be missed, especially by his fans.
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Nov 06, 2015 Jacki (Julia Flyte) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Frederick Forsyth is best known as the author of a string of bestselling thrillers, but he was in the RAF and worked as a foreign correspondant before becoming an author, and the first two thirds of this book are about this part of his life. I don't know how many of his stories are 100% true and how many are embellished, but they feel true and either way they are terrifically entertaining. Reading this book feels like being at a dinner party, with the host starting increasingly gobsmacking anecd ...more

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Nov 16, 2015 Steve Gross rated it liked it

Anecdotal biography of the author. Mostly interesting, a little repetitive and at times self-serving.

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Dec 28, 2017 Mike Palmer rated it it was ok

Overblown, self-absorbed, over-reaching.

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Oct 13, 2016 Jiří Pavlovský rated it liked it

Ideální kniha pro lidi, kteří nutně potřebují získat komplexy méněcennosti. Je vám sedmnáct? A kolik jazyků umíte a kolik zemí jste procestovali? A už jste pilotovali stíhačku? Jestli ne, tak jste másla. Forsyth svým lakonickým stylem popisuje svůj život, od mládí na školách (které sloužily hlavně k tomu, aby se, jako správný angličan, naučil snášet bolest v tichosti a s klidem), přes cestování po světě, službu v RAF, až po kariéru zahraničního korespondenta a občasného agenta. Nejvíc prostoru j ...more

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Jul 11, 2016 Neliss added it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-2016, in-slovak

Priznám sa, že donedávna som o Frederickovi Forsythovi nepočula. Pokiaľ ste na tom podobne, zoznámte sa - Forsyth je britský autor, citujem, "svetových politických bestsellerov, jeho romány preložili do mnohých svetových jazykov a niektoré z nich boli sfilmované". Napísal napríklad knihy ako Šakal, Spis Odessa, Žoldnieri či mnohé ďalšie. Pýtate sa, o čom je, prepána, jeho biografia a čím ma zaujala?

"Zakaždým som sa ocitol uprostred diania. A predsa som zostával outsiderom..."

Frederick Forsyth o Priznám sa, že donedávna som o Frederickovi Forsythovi nepočula. Pokiaľ ste na tom podobne, zoznámte sa - Forsyth je britský autor, citujem, "svetových politických bestsellerov, jeho romány preložili do mnohých svetových jazykov a niektoré z nich boli sfilmované". Napísal napríklad knihy ako Šakal, Spis Odessa, Žoldnieri či mnohé ďalšie. Pýtate sa, o čom je, prepána, jeho biografia a čím ma zaujala?

"Zakaždým som sa ocitol uprostred diania. A predsa som zostával outsiderom..."

Frederick Forsyth o spisovateľskej kariére nikdy nesníval. Túžil sa stať pilotom a neskôr precestovať svet. Príležitosť mu na to dala práca zahraničného korešpondenta pre agentúru Reuters a neskôr práca reportéra BBC. Počas svojich ciest sa ocitol v Paríži, Východnom Berlíne, v Nigérii počas občianskej vojny... Skrátka, jeho život rozhodne nebol nudný.

"Stalo sa mi v živote, že som ledva unikol hnevu hamburského obchodníka so zbraňami, v občianskej vojne v Nigérii ma takmer trafil MiG a v Guinei-Bissau som pristál v centre krvavého prevratu."

Štýl písania je vždy dôležitý, o to viac, keď nejde o knihu plnú strhujúceho deja. Outsider je našťastie napísaný jednoducho a čitateľne. Autor sa postupne venuje podrobnému rozprávaniu o celom svojom živote - od detstva (už vtedy začal zbierať zážitky v zahraničí), cez mladosť (kedy si tvrdohlavo šiel za svojím), dospelosť, až po starobu. Celé rozprávanie je napokon veľmi pekne uzavreté, no to si už musíte prečítať sami.

Veľká časť knihy je zameraná na Frederickovu prácu korešpondenta a reportéra, v tomto období videl a zažil skutočne veľa, párkrát mu šlo dokonca o život. Neskôr vysvetľuje, ako sa vlastne dostal k písaniu a predstavuje niektoré zo svojich kníh. Musím poznamenať, že ma námetmi rozhodne zaujali. Zaskočilo ma však, že hoci o písaní padne veľa slov, akosi som "necítila" autorovu lásku k písaniu.

Pri čítaní Outsidera som sa dozvedela pre mňa nové fakty a zaujímavosti - či už šlo o situáciu v komunistickom Východnom Berlíne, v BBC, o Nigérijskú občiansku vojnu, tajné organizácie,... Frederickovo rozprávanie na mňa pôsobilo vierohodne, hoci si človek nikdy nemôže byť celkom istý, že číta objektívnu pravdu.

So zaujímavými časťami som si však prečítala i kopu nepodstatných (aspoň pre väčšinu smrteľníkov) detailov o lietadlách. Často som sa taktiež nedokázala ubrániť dojmu, že by text mohol byť kratší, údernejší, menej rozvláčny a menej odosobnený. V knihe mi chýbali emócie zo strany autora. Takto ju síce vnímam ako zaujímavú obsahom, ale jej spracovanie ju nedokázalo vytrhnúť z kategórie "prečítala som, neurazilo, nenadchlo".

Bez výčitiek vám môžem Outsidera odporučiť, ak ste fanúšikom autorových kníh alebo radi čítate biografie ľudí, ktorí majú čo povedať - za skúšku to stojí. Mňa bohužiaľ Outsider nezaujal a neobohatil natoľko, ako som pôvodne dúfala.

Recenzia na blogu: http://the-bookland.blogspot.sk/2016/... ...more

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Nov 28, 2017 Spybrary Podcast Podcast rated it it was amazing

There is so much more to Frederick Forsyth than the Day of Jackal.

Fans of Mr Forsyth's work will enjoy learning more about his very full and exciting life. This auto-biography almost reads like one of his own thriller books due to the many scrapes he experienced in his life.

From his time as Reuters man in East Berlin to the threats from the IRA, from being the youngest pilot in the RAF to being strafed by MiGs this book has the lot.

Don't read this book if you are wanting to pick up tips on how ...more

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Sep 25, 2015 Jean rated it really liked it

Shelves: audio-book, autobiography, espinonage, memoir

Forsyth writes in an intimate manner and made me feel as if I was sitting in his living room over a cup of tea discussing his life. The book is well written, concise with adventure, intrigue and humor.

The first part of the book he tells of his youth and his desire to fly planes. I was impressed that his father sent him to live with a family in France each summer when he was a child to learn French; then as a teen he sent him to live with a German family to learn German. Just before he went into ...more

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Jun 20, 2016 Nick Brett rated it really liked it

I have a mixed history with the works of Frederick Forsyth, I loved the first three or four books and then he lost me as his books got increasingly right-wing and it felt he was more trying to get messages over rather than writing great books.
So I would have ignored his autobiography, but it has got some very good reviews and, I have to say, it looked like the man has had quite the life.
His life does read almost like a thriller. He moved through life as a RAF pilot, then a reporter and foreign c ...more

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Oct 29, 2015 Gail Cooke rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

As an author who has given us amazingly true to life tales of intrigue for a number of years one would expect his memoir to hold extraordinary revelations, and The Outsider does just that. Frederick Forsyth as most know is one of the most acclaimed writers of our time with such titles as The Day of the Jackal, The Dogs of War and The Odessa File to his credit. His has been a life well lived as he is a former pilot and print and television reporter for Reuters and the BBC. Need I mention all of ...more

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Oct 14, 2015 Qube rated it liked it

Being an admirer of his writing, I was keen to read Frederick Forsyth’s autobiography. My interest was further piqued when I read the he had been an MI6 agent. I therefore picked up the book as soon as it became available. It turned out to be an amusing collection of incidents arranged in chronological order.

At the end of it, I was left feeling a little disappointed. Usually, autobiographies give an insight into the writer’s mind, his values, what he stands for, and stuff like that. Autobiograph ...more

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Feb 17, 2016 Gordon Paisley rated it it was amazing

Frederick Forsyth has long been my favorite author. I even wrote a paper about him for a high school research paper decades ago. I was thrilled to see his autobiography in the library the other day because I knew it would be fascinating. Even having an above-average knowledge of his story, I was still blown away by the life he has led. I am amazed at some of the places and scrapes he has gotten himself into and out of in his action-packed life.

In many ways, he is a modern-day Jack London, who ha ...more

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Apr 13, 2016 Rex Fuller rated it really liked it

Of course there were The Day of the Jackal and The Odessa File, years ago when they came out, and maybe another. No idea why I didn’t read more. Picked this up as a curiosity, as much because he’s still alive as anything else. Was he in intelligence? Did he do what he wrote about?

Turns out the answer to that last question is yes, although he was not a real spook. He describes his life in a string of quick and breezy stories. Lots of humor. And a fair amount of suspense. First as a foreign corres ...more

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Oct 06, 2015 Robert Intriago rated it liked it

Shelves: 2015, autobigraphy

A 3.5
If you already like Forsyth books you will enjoy this one. Do not expect a full blown autobiography. The book is written in a series of vignettes and you can divide the book into three clear sections. The first part deals with his growing up, schooling and learning to be a pilot. The second part is about his time as a journalist, to include stints in Paris, East Berlin, Nigeria and Israel. The final part is about the writing and publishing of his books and life after. There is very little a ...more

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Dec 16, 2015 Ching-Bing-Ping rated it it was amazing

Shelves: bio-autobigraphy, non-fiction, 2016, favorites

There are spy thriller writers, and then there is Frederick Forsyth.

There are spy novels, and then there is the Day of The Jackal.

And, there are auto-biographies, and then there is this.

I cannot call this book a typical auto-biography in the strictest sense. There are no massive revelations, no coming out of closets neither are there instances of self analysis. Instead we get a book, which becomes as thrilling as Forsyth’s novels. He tells us about East Berlin, and makes us travel to that walled ...more

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Oct 23, 2015 Barry Hammond rated it liked it

Frederick Forsyth, author of classic thrillers like The Day Of The Jackal, The Dogs Of War, and The Odessa File (all three made into pretty fine films) writes a memoir of his childhood, his realized ambition to be an RAF pilot, his days in newspapers as a foreign corespondent, an aborted career in the BBC, and some of the adventures he had researching his stories, or helping out The Firm. A very interesting memoir. The only criticism this reader had was that it could have been longer and include ...more

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Oct 23, 2015 Vijai rated it really liked it

One day and that day may never come but if it does and if I am interviewed as to why I am so awesome an author, I will point to Mr. Forsyth's collection on a mahogany book shelf in the resplendent library of my palatial home and say "that dude".

No, really. Mr. Forsyth is my guru and when he writes a memoir it was but my duty to read.

Now, whether I'll seek inspiration from this book to write my own memoir is another matter. Maybe I would if I wanted to have no emotional connect with my reader wh ...more

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Jan 04, 2016 Nicola rated it it was ok

Oh, such interesting tales, told by such an arrogant, self-aggrandising person. I think nearly every chapter - not quite, but nearly - features Mr Forsyth essentially 'saving the day'. His recollections and claims may well all be true, but oh dear, oh dear, oh dear, he does want us all to have a slight frisson of delight at how he's so manly, competent, heroic, and filled with derring-do. I read to the end, but was thoroughly fed up with the author well before that point. Pity that he didn't use ...more

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Oct 13, 2015 Vikas Datta rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Mr Forsyth seems to have lived a life no adventurous than his heroes and he recounts it in a witty and candid manner... while pulling no punches as far as his account of the Harold Wilson government's role in the Biafran conflict goes and on the iniquities of the British legal system go but more engrossing are his accounts of hoodwinking the Stasi and encounters with nature, at its most benign and its most terrible.... This by the way is just a hint of what is available here... Forsyth readers, ...more

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Jul 10, 2016 Roan Chapin rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

It is, by far, the most fascinating autobiography I have ever read / heard because: He is willing to tell the truth about his time in the RAF, Ireland, the mirk that is secret intelligence gathering, Africa, The BBC, fame and financial ruin, East Germany, secret police, mercenaries, Japan -- and how to get out of a jam. I listened to the audiobook.
WAYS OF ESCAPE by Graham Greene has now moved to position #2 on my personal list of Best Autobiographies.

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Dec 09, 2015 Patricia Ann rated it liked it

I deeply appreciated and enjoyed the historical insights of Mr. Forsyth. I also liked learning how he "fell" into writing. However, I found it lacking in the " My life in Intrigue" portion. He was/is an adventurer, but the definition of intrigue didn't fit. Nice enjoyable read.

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Feb 01, 2017 David Highton rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: all-non-fiction, arts-entertainment, autobiography

A slightly odd autobiography, pretty detailed up to the age of 32 and just a few vignettes after that. The childhood section was the most interesting. The publicity on the cover quotes the Sunday Times 'as high-octane as any of his thrillers' - this is certainly not the case!

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Jan 01, 2016 Saba Ansari rated it really liked it

Engrossing

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About Frederick Forsyth

Frederick Forsyth

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Frederick Forsyth, CBE is an English author and occasional political commentator. He is best known for thrillers such as The Day of the Jackal, The Odessa File, The Fourth Protocol, The Dogs of War, The Devil's Alternative, The Fist of God, Icon, The Veteran, Avenger, The Afghan, and recently The Cobra and The Kill List.

The son of a furrier, he was born in Ashford, Kent, educated at Tonbridge Scho ...more