Bestselling author and former politician Jeffrey Archer has died at the age of 86, reports the BBC.
Jeffrey Archer sold over 300 million books during his fifty-year writing career. Among his most famous works are "The Clifton Chronicles" and "Kane and Abel". He often set his novels in his hometown of Wellington, Somerset.
In a statement, publisher HarperCollins said the writer died "suddenly and peacefully at home" on Monday while working on his books.
The former Conservative MP was imprisoned for perjury in 2001 after being found guilty of lying and fraud in a libel case he brought in 1987 against the Daily Star newspaper.
Archer was born in North London on April 15, 1940, but soon moved to Weston-super-Mare in Somerset, where his family bought a house from John Cleese's mother.
In 1969, Archer was elected as an MP for the Louth constituency in Lincolnshire.
He served as an MP for five years, after which he became Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party.
His political career was interrupted in 2001 when he was sentenced to four years in prison for perjury and perverting the course of justice.
He was found to have lied in a libel case he brought against The Star newspaper, which resulted in him being awarded £500,000 in compensation.
In 2003, he was released and returned to the House of Lords, where he remained until his retirement in 2024.
His latest book, "Adam and Eve," is scheduled for release this week. HarperCollins called Archer "a master storyteller" for whom his readers "meant everything."
The publisher also reported that on Sunday, Archer was at the Leicester Square Theatre in London, signing books for fans alongside TV presenter Gyles Brandreth.
Brandreth wrote on X: "Just yesterday I was on stage with Jeffrey Archer for the launch of his new novel – he said it would be his last book. He was in wonderful, extremely energetic form, and the audience in a full house gave him a very warm reception. He was hilarious, interesting and self-deprecating – a great master of storytelling to the last."
Brandreth later said on BBC World Tonight that Archer was a "very colourful character" who "became a softer man after prison."
Now reading
"Around 70% of Russian visitors turned out to be 'vatniks'." Ex-guide from the Museum of the Great Patriotic War, detained by his own tour group, is now popular in Warsaw — we talked to him 11
"Around 70% of Russian visitors turned out to be 'vatniks'." Ex-guide from the Museum of the Great Patriotic War, detained by his own tour group, is now popular in Warsaw — we talked to him
Tsikhanouski ironizes about his wife: Lukashenka helps and cares for her, even when there was a threat to children, all information was passed to Poland 7676
Comments