   the day of the jackal (1971) is a thriller novel by english writer frederick forsyth about a professional assassin who is contracted by the oas, a french dissident paramilitary organisation, to kill charles de gaulle, the president of france. the novel received admiring reviews and praise when first published in 1971, and it received a 1972 best novel edgar award from the mystery writers of america. the novel remains popular, and in 2003 it was listed on the bbc's survey the big read."bbc â the big read". bbc. april 2003, retrieved 31 october 2012 the oas did exist as described in the novel, and the book opens with an accurate depiction of the attempt on the life of president de gaulle led by jean-marie bastien-thiry, but the subsequent plot is fiction. == plot summary == ===part one: anatomy of a plot=== the book begins in 1962 with the (historical) failed attempt on de gaulle's life planned by col. jean-marie bastien-thiry in the paris suburb of petit-clamart: operation charlotte corday. following bastien-thiry's arrest, the french security forces wage a short but extremely vicious "underground" war with the terrorists of the oas, a militant right-wing group who have labelled de gaulle a traitor to france after his grant of independence to algeria. the french secret service, particularly its covert operations directorate (the "action service"), is remarkably effective in infiltrating the terrorist organisation with their own informants, allowing them to kidnap and neutralise the terrorists' chief of operations, antoine argoud. the failure of the petit-clamart assassination, and a subsequent attempt at the Ãcole militaire, coupled with bastien-thiry's eventual execution by firing squad, likewise cripple the morale of the terrorists. argoud's deputy, lt. col
1971_novels British_crime_novels British_novels_adapted_into_films Debut_novels Edgar_Award_winning_works Hutchinson_(publisher)_books Novels_by_Frederick_Forsyth Novels_set_in_Paris Novels_set_in_the_1960s Organisation_de_l\'armA(c)e_secrA"te Political_thriller_novels Secret_histories Thriller_novels