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Secrets of The Day of the Jackal: As a TV remake with Eddie Redmayne hits our screens, how a thriller masterclass written in just 35 days became an assassin's handbook
Exactly 29 years ago today - on November 4, 1995 - Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated by a far-Right nationalist opposed to Rabin's efforts to make peace with Palestinians.
The killer, Yigal Amir, was reportedly carrying a Hebrew edition of The Day Of The Jackal, Frederick Forsyth's 1971 novel in which a professional hitman is hired to eliminate French president Charles de Gaulle. There are plenty who feel the Middle East would be a happier place now if the pragmatic Rabin had lived to pursue the peace process, yet Forsyth's book can hardly be blamed for giving Amir handy tips on how to carry out a seismic political assassination. It was inspired by his spell at news agency Reuters in Paris, where he covered numerous attempts on de Gaulle's life – including one involving exploding flower vases – by the OAS, Right-wing paramilitaries opposed to Algerian independence.
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