The Day of the Jackal

The Day of the Jackal is a thriller novel by Frederick Forsyth[?] about a professional assassin who, contracted by the OAS, a French terrorist group of the early 1960's, attempts to kill Charles de Gaulle.

The novel is widely regarded as one of the best "spy thrillers" ever written, widely praised for its convincing portrayal of France in 1962, and carefully thought out plot.

Whilst the OAS did exist as described in the novel, and did actually try to assassinate de Gaulle, no plot of the type described in the novel ever really happened. The book is a work of complete fiction.

The book was filmed in 1973, and a very loose adaption was made in 1997 as The Jackal.