Commentary In 1971, first-time novelist Frederick Forsyth, a former RAF pilot, journalist, and war correspondent, published “The Day of the Jackal,” a grippingly realistic thriller about an anonymous hired assassin known only as the Jackal, who very nearly assassinates French president Charles de Gaulle in revenge for his abandonment of France’s long-time colony of Algeria in 1962. Outraged at what they saw as a national betrayal, a disaffected section of the French army, which had failed to unhorse de Gaulle in a coup attempt the year before, continued to make attempts on de Gaulle’s life, only to see each one fail. The novel, a worldwide bestseller, was unique in several respects. For one thing, it tracked as closely as possible to actual history in order to make the tale believable. For another, it kept the reader in suspense even though everybody knew the ending before starting the book: De Gaulle …