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Octopussy and The Living Daylights
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Octopussy and The Living Daylights
FlemingOTLD.jpg
First edition cover, published by Jonathan Cape

Author
Ian Fleming
Cover artist
Richard Chopping (Jonathan Cape ed.)
Country
United Kingdom
Language
English
Series
James Bond
Genre
Spy fiction
Publisher
Jonathan Cape

Publication date
 23 June 1966
Media type
Print (Hardcover and Paperback)
Preceded by
The Man with the Golden Gun
Octopussy and The Living Daylights (sometimes published as Octopussy) is the fourteenth and final James Bond book written by Ian Fleming in the Bond series. The book is a collection of short stories published posthumously in the United Kingdom by Jonathan Cape on 23 June 1966.
The book originally contained just two stories, "Octopussy" and "The Living Daylights", with subsequent editions also carrying firstly "The Property of a Lady" and then "007 in New York". The stories were first published in different publications, with "Octopussy" first serialised in the Daily Express in October 1965. "The Living Daylights" had first appeared in The Sunday Times on 4 February 1962; "The Property of a Lady" was published in November 1963 in a Sotheby's publication, The Ivory Hammer, whilst "007 in New York" first appeared in the New York Herald Tribune in October 1963.
The two original stories, "Octopussy" and "The Living Daylights", were both adapted for publication in comic strip format in the Daily Express in 1966–1967. Elements from the stories have also been used in the Eon Productions Bond films. The first, Octopussy, starring Roger Moore as James Bond, was released in 1983 as the thirteenth film in the series and provided the back story for the film Octopussy's family, while "The Property of a Lady" was more closely adapted for an auction sequence in the film. The Living Daylights, released in 1987, was the fifteenth Bond film produced by Eon and starred Timothy Dalton in his first appearance as Bond.


Contents  [hide]
1 Plots 1.1 "Octopussy"
1.2 "The Living Daylights"
1.3 "The Property of a Lady"
1.4 "007 in New York"
2 Characters and themes
3 Background 3.1 "Octopussy"
3.2 "The Living Daylights"
3.3 "Property of a Lady"
3.4 "007 in New York"
4 Release and reception 4.1 Reviews
5 Adaptations
6 See also
7 References
8 Bibliography
9 Further reading
10 External links

Plots[edit]
"Octopussy" [edit]
Secret Service operative James Bond, code name 007, is assigned to apprehend a hero of the Second World War implicated in a murder involving a cache of Nazi gold. Bond appears briefly in this story, which is told mostly in flashback and from the point of view of Major Dexter Smythe, the villain. Bond chooses not to take Smythe into custody immediately, but Smythe's guilt drives him to commit suicide by allowing a scorpion fish to sting him and his "pet" octopus to attack him, bringing on a fatal heart attack.
"The Living Daylights" [edit]
An unusually morose James Bond is assigned sniper duty to help British agent 272 escape from East Berlin. Bond's duty is to prevent a top KGB assassin codenamed "Trigger" from killing 272 by eliminating the sniper. Bond waits for three nights for the agent to come over no man's land and notices a female orchestra arriving and leaving for practice each night; a beautiful, blonde cellist catches his eye while he waits. When he sees the agent start making his way over the broken ground, he sees the Russian sniper take up position and realises it is the cellist: a split second decision sees Bond deciding instead to shoot the butt of her rifle, preventing her from making the kill. The mission, while successful, is also considered a failure due to Bond's last-second decision, and it ends with Bond hoping that M fires him for it.
"The Property of a Lady" [edit]
James Bond investigates a Secret Service employee, Maria Freudenstein, who is a double agent about to be paid by her Russian keepers by auctioning a clock crafted by Peter Carl Fabergé at Sotheby's in her name. The Russians have sent the Resident Director of the KGB in London to attend the auction and underbid for the item to push the price to the necessary value to pay for her services as a double agent. Bond attends the auction in hopes of spotting this man; after he does so, the man is expelled from London as persona non grata.
"007 in New York" [edit]
A brief tale in which Bond muses about New York City and his favourite recipe for scrambled eggs, during a quick mission to the titular city to warn a female MI6 employee that her new boyfriend is a KGB agent. It is notable for including a rare humorous conclusion and for its mention of Solange, a young lady of Bond's intimate acquaintance who works in a shop, Abercrombie's, "appropriately employed in their Indoor Games Department".
Characters and themes[edit]
Author of the "continuation" Bond stories, Raymond Benson, noted that in "The Living Daylights" Bond's thoughts on killing are examined once again, showing that although 007 did not like doing it, he considered that he must as part of his duty to complete an assignment.[1] Once the mission is completed, with Bond deliberately not killing the assassin, there is an attitude of complacency with Bond shrugging off his colleague's complaints about the incident.[2] Academic Jeremy Black sees the colleague, the officious Captain Spender, as the antithesis of Bond and an echo of Colonel Schreiber, the head of security at Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), who appeared in "From a View to a Kill".[3]
In the act of not killing the assassin, the theme of disobedience is raised in "The Living Daylights",[4] with Bond calling what he has to do "murder" and subsequently dismissing his actions by saying "with any luck it will cost me my Double-0 number".[5] Raymond Benson considered "Octopussy" to be a morality tale, with greed bringing repercussions years later to the main protagonist, Dexter Smythe.[6]
Background[edit]
On the morning of 12 August 1964, Fleming died of a heart attack;[7] eight months later, The Man with the Golden Gun was published.[8] The rights to Fleming's works were held by Glidrose Productions (now Ian Fleming Publications) and it was decided by the company that two short stories, "Octopussy" and "The Living Daylights", would be published in 1966.[9]
"Octopussy"[edit]
The story "Octopussy" was written in early 1962 at Fleming's Goldeneye estate in Jamaica.[10] The story is told in the manner of "Quantum of Solace", with Bond as catalyst for story told in flashback, rather than as a main character for action.[11] The topics chosen for Fleming were familiar ground for him to cover, with hidden gold, tropical fish and the wartime exploits of commandos all coming from elements of his past.[12] Also from the past, or from his acquaintance, were other references used in the story and Miscellaneous Objectives Bureau was a fictional version of Fleming's 30 AU unit.[13] One of Fleming's neighbours in Jamaica, and later his lover, was Blanche Blackwell, mother of Chris Blackwell of Island Records. Fleming had previously used Blackwell's name as the guano-collecting ship in Dr. No, calling it Blanche.[14] Blackwell had given Fleming a coracle called Octopussy, the name of which Fleming used for the story.[15] Octopussy was posthumously serialised in the Daily Express newspaper, 4–8 October 1965.[16]
"The Living Daylights"[edit]
Fleming originally titled "The Living Daylights" as "Trigger Finger",[17] although when it first appeared, in the The Sunday Times colour supplement of 4 February 1962,[18] it was under the title of "Berlin Escape".[10] It was also published in June 1962 issue of the American magazine Argosy under the same name.[19] For The Sunday Times, Fleming had commissioned Graham Sutherland to undertake the artwork to accompany the piece, at a cost of 100 guineas,[20] although the artwork wasn't used in the published edition.[18]
As background research to the story, Fleming corresponded with Captain E.K. Le Mesurier, secretary of the National Rifle Association at Bisley for information and to correct some of the more specialist areas of knowledge required for sniper shooting. Part of the background to the plot, of using the noise of the orchestra to cover the crossing over no man's land, was inspired by Pat Reid's escape from Colditz prisoner of war camp, with two escapers having to run across a courtyard under the cover of the noise from an orchestra.[17] The conductor of the Colditz orchestra was Douglas Bader, who played golf with Fleming on a number of occasions.[17] The assassin, Trigger, was partly based on Amaryllis Fleming, Ian's half-sister, a concert cellist with blonde hair, and Fleming managed to get a passing reference to her in the story, saying: "Of course Suggia had managed to look elegant, as did that girl Amaryllis somebody."[17]
"Property of a Lady"[edit]
"Property of a Lady", which was written in early 1963, was commissioned by Sotheby's for use in their annual journal, The Ivory Hammer,[11] and was published in November 1963 and later in Playboy;[21] Sotheby's chairman Peter Wilson is mentioned by name in the story. Fleming was so unhappy with the final piece he wrote to Wilson and refused payment for something he considered so lacklustre.[22]
"007 in New York"[edit]
In 1959 Fleming was commissioned by The Sunday Times to write a series of articles based on world cities, material for which later was collected into a book entitled Thrilling Cities; whilst travelling through New York for material, Fleming wrote "007 in New York" from Bond's point of view.[23] "007 in New York" was originally titled "Reflections in a Carey Cadillac"[11] and it contains a recipe for scrambled eggs which came from May Maxwell,[11] the housekeeper to friend Ivar Bryce who gave her name to Bond's own housekeeper, May.[14] The story was first published in the New York Herald Tribune in October 1963 as "Agent 007 in New York", but was subsequently renamed as "007 in New York" for the 1964 US editions of Thrilling Cities.[24]
Release and reception[edit]
Octopussy and The Living Daylights was published in Britain on 23 June 1966[25] by Jonathan Cape and cost 10s.6d.[26] The hardback edition of the book contained only the two stories mentioned in the title, although when the paperbacks editions were published, "The Property of a Lady" was also included.[25] Once again artist Richard Chopping provided the cover art, although his fee rose once again, to 350 guineas.[27] The book was published in US by New American Library with illustrations from Paul Bacon.[25] By 2002, "007 in New York" had been added to the book by Penguin Books.[28]
Reviews[edit]
Philip Larkin wrote in The Spectator that "I am not surprised that Fleming preferred to write novels. James Bond, unlike Sherlock Holmes, does not fit snugly into the short story length: there is something grandiose and intercontinental about his adventures that require elbow room and such examples of the form as we have tend to be eccentric or muted. These are no exception."[17] The critic for The Times Literary Supplement wrote that the book was "slight and predictable, and usual sex and violence yield to a plausible use of ballistics and marine biology".[17] Writing in The Listener, Anthony Burgess thought that "in their fascinated poring on things...remind us that the stuff of the anti-novel needn't necessarily spring from a thought-out aesthetic",[26] going on to note that "it is the mastery of the world that gives Fleming his peculiar literary niche".[26] On a personal note, Burgess added "I admired all the Bond books and I'm sorry there'll be no more. A sad farewell to Fleming".[26]
Adaptations[edit]
Main articles: James Bond (comic strip) and Octopussy
Comic strip adaptation (1966–1967)
Two of the short stories were adapted for publication in comic strip format, which were published daily in the Daily Express newspaper and syndicated worldwide. "The Living Daylights" ran from 12 September to 12 November 1966, adapted by Jim Lawrence and illustrated by Yaroslav Horak; the same pair also worked on "Octopussy", which ran from 14 November 1966 to 27 May 1967.[29] The story lines for the strips were altered from the original Fleming version to ensure that they contained a glamorous reason for being Bond involved and to include Bond in action.[30] The strips were reprinted by Titan Books in 1988[29] and then again in The James Bond Omnibus Vol. 2, published in 2011.[31]
Octopussy (1983)
In 1983 Eon Productions loosely adapted elements of two of the stories, "Octopussy" and "The Property of a Lady" for the thirteenth film in their Bond series, starring Roger Moore as Bond.[32] "Octopussy" provided the title of the film and the background for the character Octopussy, the daughter of a character Bond had allowed to commit suicide, rather than face the shame of arrest and imprisonment.[33] The film also used the plot device of auctioning of a Fabergé egg at Sotheby's from "The Property of a Lady" and, as with the story, the auction item was described as being the same "property of a lady".[33]
The Living Daylights (1987)
In 1987 Eon used the plot of "The Living Daylights", almost unchanged, for a section of their 1987 film of the same name.[34] The film starred Timothy Dalton in his first role as Bond, whilst the character of Trigger became that of cello player Kara Milovy.[35]
"Casino Royale" (2006)
In 2006 Eon used the plot of Fleming's first novel, Casino Royale, for its 21st film of the same name. However, a main character was named Solange, after the woman featured in "007 in New York."
See also[edit]

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 Wikiquote has quotations related to: Octopussy
List of James Bond novels and short stories
Outline of James Bond
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Benson 1988, p. 144.
2.Jump up ^ Benson 1988, p. 145.
3.Jump up ^ Black 2005, p. 41.
4.Jump up ^ Black 2005, pp. 82–84.
5.Jump up ^ Black 2005, p. 84.
6.Jump up ^ Benson 1988, p. 143.
7.Jump up ^ "Obituary: Mr. Ian Fleming". The Times. 13 August 1964. p. 12.
8.Jump up ^ Black 2005, p. 75.
9.Jump up ^ Lycett 1996, p. 445.
10.^ Jump up to: a b Black 2005, p. 78.
11.^ Jump up to: a b c d Chancellor 2005, p. 240.
12.Jump up ^ Lycett 1996, p. 408.
13.Jump up ^ Lycett 1996, p. 409.
14.^ Jump up to: a b Chancellor 2005, p. 113.
15.Jump up ^ Macintyre 2008, p. 93.
16.Jump up ^ Gilbert 2012, p. 443.
17.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Chancellor 2005, p. 241.
18.^ Jump up to: a b Lycett 1996, p. 396.
19.Jump up ^ Benson 1988, p. 24.
20.Jump up ^ Lycett 1996, p. 395.
21.Jump up ^ Benson 1988, p. 25.
22.Jump up ^ Lycett 1996, p. 422.
23.Jump up ^ Benson 1988, p. 60.
24.Jump up ^ Griswold 2006, p. 381.
25.^ Jump up to: a b c Benson 1988, p. 31.
26.^ Jump up to: a b c d Burgess, Anthony (14 July 1966). "New Fiction". The Listener.
27.Jump up ^ Midwinter, Janet (4 April 2010). "The Man with the Golden Grudge". Mail on Sunday. Retrieved 14 October 2011.
28.Jump up ^ "Octopussy & The living daylights / Ian Fleming". The British Library Catalogue. The British Library. Retrieved 4 December 2011.
29.^ Jump up to: a b Fleming, Gammidge & McLusky 1988, p. 6.
30.Jump up ^ Fleming, Gammidge & McLusky 1988, p. 4.
31.Jump up ^ McLusky et al. 2011, p. 6.
32.Jump up ^ Barnes & Hearn 2001, p. 151.
33.^ Jump up to: a b Barnes & Hearn 2001, p. 146.
34.Jump up ^ Barnes & Hearn 2001, p. 168.
35.Jump up ^ Barnes & Hearn 2001, p. 173.
Bibliography[edit]
Benson, Raymond (1988). The James Bond Bedside Companion. London: Boxtree Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85283-233-9.
Fleming, Ian; Gammidge, Henry; McLusky, John (1988). Octopussy. London: Titan Books. ISBN 1-85286-040-5.
Lycett, Andrew (1996). Ian Fleming. London: Phoenix. ISBN 978-1-85799-783-5.
Barnes, Alan; Hearn, Marcus (2001). Kiss Kiss Bang! Bang!: the Unofficial James Bond Film Companion. Batsford Books. ISBN 978-0-7134-8182-2.
Black, Jeremy (2005). The Politics of James Bond: from Fleming's Novel to the Big Screen. University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 978-0-8032-6240-9.
Chancellor, Henry (2005). James Bond: The Man and His World. London: John Murray. ISBN 978-0-7195-6815-2.
Griswold, John (2006). Ian Fleming's James Bond: Annotations And Chronologies for Ian Fleming's Bond Stories. AuthorHouse. ISBN 978-1-4259-3100-1.
Macintyre, Ben (2008). For Your Eyes Only. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7475-9527-4.
McLusky, John; Gammidge, Henry; Hern, Anthony; Fleming, Ian; Horak, Yaroslav (2011). The James Bond Omnibus Vol.2. London: Titan Books. ISBN 978-1-84856-432-9.
Gilbert, Jon (2012). Ian Fleming: The Bibliography. London: Queen Anne Press. ISBN 978-0-9558189-6-7.
Further reading[edit]
Simpson, Paul (2002). The Rough Guide to James Bond. Rough Guides. ISBN 978-1-84353-142-5.
Smith, Jim; Lavington, Stephen (2002). Bond Films. London: Virgin Books. ISBN 978-0-7535-0709-4.
Comentale, Edward P; Watt, Stephen; Willman, Skip (2005). Ian Fleming & James Bond: the cultural politics of 007. Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-21743-1.
Lindner, Christoph (2009). The James Bond Phenomenon: a Critical Reader. Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-0-7190-6541-5.
External links[edit]
Ian Fleming Bibliography of James Bond 1st Editions


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The Man with the Golden Gun (novel)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

For other uses, see The Man with the Golden Gun (disambiguation).
The Man with the Golden Gun
1965 Jonathan Cape first edition
First edition cover, published by Jonathan Cape

Author
Ian Fleming
Cover artist
Richard Chopping (Jonathan Cape ed.)
Country
United Kingdom
Language
English
Series
James Bond
Genre
Spy fiction
Publisher
Jonathan Cape

Publication date
 1 April 1965
Media type
Print (hardback & paperback)
Preceded by
You Only Live Twice
Followed by
Octopussy and The Living Daylights
The Man with the Golden Gun is the twelfth novel (and thirteenth book) of Ian Fleming's James Bond series. It was first published by Jonathan Cape in the UK on 1 April 1965, eight months after the author's death. The novel was not as detailed or polished as the others in the series, leading to poor but polite reviews. Despite that, the book was a best-seller.
The story centres on the fictional British Secret Service operative James Bond, who had been posted missing, presumed dead, after his last mission in Japan. Bond returns to England via the Soviet Union, where he had been brainwashed to attempt to assassinate his superior, M. After being "cured" by the MI6 doctors, Bond is sent to the Caribbean to find and kill Francisco Scaramanga, the titular "Man with the Golden Gun".
The first draft and part of the editing process was completed before Fleming's death and the manuscript had passed through the hands of his copy editor, William Plomer, but it was not as polished as other Bond stories. Much of the detail contained in the previous novels was missing, as this was often added by Fleming in the second draft. Publishers Jonathan Cape passed the manuscript to Kingsley Amis for his thoughts and advice on the story, although his suggestions were not subsequently used.
The novel was serialised in 1965, firstly in the Daily Express and then in Playboy; in 1966 a daily comic strip adaptation was also published in the Daily Express. In 1974 the book was loosely adapted as the ninth film in the Eon Productions James Bond series, with Roger Moore playing Bond and Fleming's cousin, Christopher Lee, as Scaramanga.


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot
2 Characters and themes
3 Background
4 Release and reception 4.1 Reviews
5 Adaptations
6 See also
7 References
8 Bibliography
9 External links

Plot[edit]
A year after James Bond's final confrontation with Ernst Stavro Blofeld, while on a mission in Japan, a man claiming to be Bond appears in London and demands to meet the head of the Secret Service, M. Bond's identity is confirmed, but during his debriefing interview with M, Bond tries to kill him with a cyanide pistol; the attempt fails. The Service learns that after destroying Blofeld's castle in Japan, Bond suffered a head injury and developed amnesia. Having lived as a Japanese fisherman for several months, Bond travelled into the Soviet Union to learn his true identity. While there, he was brainwashed and assigned to kill M upon returning to England.
Now de-programmed, Bond is given a chance to re-prove his worth as a member of the 00 section following the assassination attempt. M sends Bond to Jamaica and gives him the seemingly impossible mission of killing Francisco "Pistols" Scaramanga, a Cuban assassin who is believed to have killed several British secret agents. Scaramanga is known as "The Man with the Golden Gun" because his weapon of choice is a gold-plated Colt .45, which fires silver-jacketed solid-gold bullets.
Bond locates Scaramanga in a Jamaican bordello and manages to become his temporary personal assistant under the name "Mark Hazard". He learns that Scaramanga is involved in a hotel development on the island with a group of investors that consists of a syndicate of American gangsters and the KGB. Scaramanga and the other investors are also engaged in a scheme to destabilise Western interests in the Caribbean's sugar industry and increase the value of the Cuban sugar crop, running drugs into America, smuggling prostitutes from Mexico into America and operating casinos in Jamaica that will cause friction between tourists and the local people.
Bond discovers that he has an ally who is also working undercover at the half-built resort, Felix Leiter, who has been recalled to duty by the CIA and is working ostensibly as an electrical engineer while setting up bugs in Scaramanga's meeting room. However, they learn that Scaramanga plans to eliminate Bond when the weekend is over. Bond's true identity is confirmed by a KGB agent and Scaramanga makes new plans to entertain the gangsters and the KGB agent by killing Bond while they are riding a sight-seeing train to a marina. However, Bond manages to turn the tables on Scaramanga and, with the help of Leiter, kill most of the conspirators. Wounded, Scaramanga escapes into the swamps, where Bond pursues him. Scaramanga lulls Bond off-guard and shoots him with a golden derringer he had hidden behind his neck. Bond is hit but returns fire and shoots Scaramanga several times, killing him at last.
Characters and themes[edit]
The central character of the novel is James Bond. In The Man with the Golden Gun, he appears with a different personality from the previous stories and is robot-like, according to author of the "continuation" Bond novels, Raymond Benson.[1] Benson also noted that Bond's character had not been developed any further than in the previous books.[1] Academic Jeremy Black noted that when given two opportunities to kill Scaramanga in cold blood, he cannot bring himself to do it. The first time this happens, is when Bond sits in a car behind Scaramanga; the method of killing would be to shoot him in the back of the head and this is compared to the technique used by both the KGB and Nazis. According to Black, Bond has to rise above the actions and act more suitably for a British fictional hero.[2] Once the mission is completed, Bond is offered the KCMG, but he refuses the honour and reflects on his own name, "a quiet, dull, anonymous name", which had been Fleming's aim when he first named the character.[3] Benson also points out that the touches of humour displayed by Bond in the previous novels disappeared and he appeared in the book as cold and emotionless.[1]
For the first time in the Bond canon, M's full name of "Admiral Sir Miles Messervy KCMG" was finally revealed.[4] Despite being the target of the failed assassination attempt, not only does M not press charges against Bond, he sends him out on further missions.[5]
According to Benson, main adversary of the novel, Francisco Scaramanga, is more a henchman than a major adversary and "a second-rate, smalltime crook who happens to have gotten lucky with his shooting."[1] Comentale, Watt and Willman note that Scaramanga had the same character profile as Herr von Hammerstein, the former Gestapo officer who is the chief of counterintelligence for the Cuban secret service in "For Your Eyes Only".[6]
There are two main themes of note that appear in the novel. The first is that with Scaramanga providing the Rastafarians with drugs in return for fires in the sugar plantations, there is the return of the theme used in "Risico", of drugs being used for political purposes to undermine the West.[7] This was part of a wider conspiracy by Scaramanga and his KGB connection, Hendricks, to destabilise the region by a campaign of industrial sabotage against companies based in Jamaica, including Reynolds Metal, Kaiser Bauxite and Aluminia.[8]
Jeremy Black notes that the independent inquiry at the end of the novel, conducted in Bond's hospital bedroom, was undertaken by the Jamaican judiciary and the CIA and MI6 were recorded as acting "under the closest liaison and direction of the Jamaican CID"; Bond and Leiter are also awarded the Jamaican Police Medal for "Services to the Independent State of Jamaica."[9] Black notes that this was the new world of a non-colonial, independent Jamaica, underlining the collapse of the British Empire.[9]
Background[edit]

a single story white building with a grey roof and palm trees in the background

 Fleming's house, Goldeneye, where he wrote all the Bond novels, including The Man with the Golden Gun
Ian Fleming wrote The Man with the Golden Gun at his Goldeneye estate in Jamaica in January and February 1964,[10] completing it by the beginning of March.[11] His health affected him badly during the writing process and he dropped from his usual rate of two thousand words a morning to a little over an hour's worth of work a day.[10]
As with his previous novels, Fleming used events from his past as elements in his novel. Whilst at Kitzbühel in the 1930s, Fleming's car, a Standard Tourer, had been struck by a train at a level crossing and he had been dragged fifty yards down the track. From that time on he had associated trains with death, which led to their use as a plot device not just in The Man with the Golden Gun, but also in Diamonds Are Forever and From Russia, with Love.[12]
As well as using events from his past, Fleming also used names of individuals he knew for some of his characters. The editor of The London Magazine, Alan Ross, had provided Fleming with details about the effects of the electroshock therapy that Bond went through and, by way of thanks, the novel's SIS station chief in Jamaica, Commander Ross, was named after him.[13] Similarly, Fleming used the name of the secretary of the Royal St George's Golf Club, Mark Nicholson, for the CIA representative at the hotel.[13] Tony Hugill, the sugar planter mentioned in the novel, was named after a member of Fleming's 30 AU unit who managed the Tate & Lyle plantations in West Indies after the war[14] and the book's main villain, Francisco Scaramanga, was named after George Scaramanga, an Etonian contemporary of Fleming's: the pair are said to have fought at school.[15]
The effects of the two Eon Productions Bond films released prior to the writing of the novel (Dr. No and From Russia with Love) were reflected in the novel through the increased number of gadgets used.[12] One of these was the poison gun used in the scene of the attempted assassination of M. The idea was taken from the story of Bohdan Stashynsky, who defected from the Eastern Bloc to the West in 1961. Stashynsky was put on trial for the murder of Ukrainian nationalist leaders Lev Rebet and Stepan Bandera and stated that he had used a poison-spray gun to do it.[16][17]
Fleming returned to Britain with a completed first draft of the manuscript in March 1964[11] and wrote to the copy editor of all his novels, William Plomer, saying it needed a lot of re-writing.[18] As time went on Fleming became increasingly unhappy with the book and thought about re-working it in the spring of 1965, but was persuaded against it by Plomer, who considered the novel viable for publication.[19] Five months after returning from Jamaica, on the morning of 12 August 1964, Fleming died of a heart attack.[20] His obituary in The Times noted that he "had completed and was revising a new novel, The Man with the Golden Gun."[20]
Despite William Plomer's original thought about the state of the manuscript, editors Jonathan Cape were concerned enough about the story to pass the manuscript to Kingsley Amis to read on holiday, paying him £35/15 shillings for his thoughts and advice, although Amis' subsequent suggestions were not used by Cape.[21] Cape had taken the step because they thought the novel was thin and "feeble".[21] Raymond Benson has noted that the thinness comes from a lack of the rich detail and descriptions which are normally present in Fleming's work, but which are missing from The Man with the Golden Gun; Benson suggests that these details were normally worked into the second draft by Fleming, but their absence shows that no such additional work was done on this occasion.[22] The Man with the Golden Gun was published posthumously, eight months after its author's death.[23]
Release and reception[edit]



This is, alas, the last Bond and, again alas, I mean it, for I really have run out of puff and zest
Ian Fleming, letter to William Plomer[19]
The Man with the Golden Gun was published in the UK on 1 April 1965[18] by Jonathan Cape, was 221 pages long and cost eighteen shillings.[24] Cover artist Richard Chopping undertook the cover design again and was paid 300 guineas for the artwork.[25] The Man with the Golden Gun was published in the US in August 1965, was 183 pages long and cost $4.50.[26] Even before the US edition was published, The Man with the Golden Gun was ninth place on the best-seller lists, with 80,000 pre-orders for the hardback version.[27]
Reviews[edit]
Critics did not praise The Man with the Golden Gun, although much of the criticism was muted. Fleming biographer Henry Chandler noted that the novel "received polite and rather sad reviews, recognizing that the book had effectively been left half-finished, and as such did not represent Fleming at the top of his game."[28] Kingsley Amis wrote in the New Statesman that the book was "a sadly empty tale, empty of the interests and effects that for better or worse, Ian Fleming made his own."[18] Meanwhile, the critic for The Times wrote that the novel would "doubtless be followed with close attention by the keen-eyed admirers of the many-wiled Bond."[29]
Maurice Richardson, writing in The Observer, lamented that "perhaps Ian Fleming was very tired when he wrote it. Perhaps ... he left it unrevised. The fact remains that this posthumous Bond is a sadly sub-standard job."[30] His praise for the novel was muted, admitting "it isn't of course by any means totally unreadable but it's depressingly far from the best Bond."[30] Writing in The Observer's sister paper, The Guardian, Christopher Wordsworth noted that "since Goldfinger 007 has been toiling hopelessly in the wake of the Zeitgeist."[24] Prior to this novel, Wordsworth writes, "the distance between Live and let Die, Ian Fleming's second and best, and You Only Live Twice, his last and worst, is a long iron down the Sandwich fairway."[24] The Man with the Golden Gun, however, sinks to the level of a "farrago".[24]
William Trevor, writing in The Listener, was dismissive of the work, thinking that "Bond continues to behave with so little originality that neither Templar nor Drummond, Marlowe nor Nick Charles, would have paused to waste a pellet on him";[31] he continued, saying that "this present work is once again a fantasy for grown-up children, neither as clever nor exciting as the early thrillers of Edgar Wallace or the boys adventure stories of fifty years ago."[31] Trevor did admit that "for those who like to escape to Bondsville, the old boom-town hasn't changed a scrap."[31]
The critic for Time was damning, saying that "It may have been just as well that Fleming died when everybody still thought he could do no wrong".[27] Meanwhile the critic for Newsweek said that "James Bond should have had a better exit. Sadly [it] ... ends not with a bang but a whimper. The world will be a vastly more lacklustre and complicated place with 007 gone."[17]
Associated Press wrote that "Bond and Fleming were fun. They entertained, sometimes mildly, often grandly – but always consistently. Life will be less interesting without them."[17] In his review for The New York Times, Charles Poore wrote that The Man with the Golden Gun was "a gory, glittering saga".[26] Poore noted that " "The Gee-whizzery ... starts early and never flags"[26] and that, despite the passing of Fleming, "the James Bond spirit soars on".[26] The critic for Books and Bookmen lamented the fact that "Bond has gone out like a lamb; even the girls are below par, while the villain seems like a refuge from a seedy Western. But we'll miss our James".[17]
D.A.N. Jones, writing in The New York Review of Books thought The Man with the Golden Gun was "an innocuous run-of-the-mill adventure story of 1911 vintage",[32] Anthony Lejeune, writing in the National Review, thought that it "is undeniably slight, but, like everything Fleming wrote, intensely readable ... In a sense Fleming's job was finished. He had irrevocably transformed the genre in which he worked".[17] Lejeune went on to say that "in highbrow novels sex and violence are treated gloomily: in Fleming's stories they are presented cheerfully with full enjoyment."[17]
Adaptations[edit]
Main articles: The Man with the Golden Gun (film) and James Bond (comic strip)
Newspaper serialisation (1965)
The Man with the Golden Gun was published in serial form in the Daily Express newspaper on a daily basis from 22 March 1965 onwards.[33]
Playboy serialisation (1965)
This novel was also serialised over four issues of Playboy from April through July 1965.[34]
Comic strip (1966)
The novel was adapted as a daily comic strip which was published in the Daily Express newspaper and syndicated around the world. The adaptation ran from 10 January to 10 September 1966. The adaptation was written by Jim Lawrence and illustrated by Yaroslav Horak.[35] The strip was reprinted by Titan Books in The James Bond Omnibus Vol. 2, published in 2011.[36]
The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)
In 1974, Eon Productions made the ninth Bond film, loosely based on the novel. The film starred Roger Moore as Bond and Fleming's cousin, Christopher Lee, as Scaramanga.[37] The film moved away from Jamaica to the Far East and borrowed from the martial arts genre[38] that was popular in the 1970s. The plot also changed and used the 1973 energy crisis as a backdrop to the film,[9] allowing the MacGuffin of the "Solex agitator" to be introduced.[39]
See also[edit]

Portal icon James Bond portal
Portal icon Novels portal
 Wikiquote has quotations related to: The Man with the Golden Gun
List of James Bond novels and short stories
Outline of James Bond
References[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b c d Benson 1988, p. 142.
2.Jump up ^ Black 2005, p. 85.
3.Jump up ^ Macintyre 2008, p. 65.
4.Jump up ^ Macintyre 2008, p. 74.
5.Jump up ^ Benson 1988, p. 143.
6.Jump up ^ Comentale, Watt & Willman 2005, p. 177.
7.Jump up ^ Black 2005, p. 77.
8.Jump up ^ Black 2005, pp. 76–77.
9.^ Jump up to: a b c Black 2005, p. 78.
10.^ Jump up to: a b Macintyre 2008, p. 208.
11.^ Jump up to: a b Lycett 1996, p. 436.
12.^ Jump up to: a b Chancellor 2005, p. 234.
13.^ Jump up to: a b Lycett 1996, p. 434.
14.Jump up ^ Chancellor 2005, p. 113.
15.Jump up ^ Macintyre 2008, p. 90.
16.Jump up ^ Chancellor 2005, p. 217.
17.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Chancellor 2005, p. 235.
18.^ Jump up to: a b c Benson 1988, p. 30.
19.^ Jump up to: a b Lycett 1996, p. 438.
20.^ Jump up to: a b "Obituary: Mr. Ian Fleming". The Times. 13 August 1964. p. 12.
21.^ Jump up to: a b Lycett 1996, p. 445.
22.Jump up ^ Benson 1988, p. 141.
23.Jump up ^ Black 2005, p. 75.
24.^ Jump up to: a b c d Wordsworth, Christopher (2 April 1965). "Trouble in Crete". The Guardian. p. 8.
25.Jump up ^ Lycett 1996, p. 437.
26.^ Jump up to: a b c d Poore, Charles (26 August 1965). "Books of the Times". The New York Times.
27.^ Jump up to: a b "Books: Current & Various". Time. 10 September 1965. p. 1. Archived from the original on 3 February 2011. Retrieved 25 October 2011.
28.Jump up ^ Chancellor 2005, p. 233.
29.Jump up ^ "New Fiction". The Times. 1 April 1965. p. 15.
30.^ Jump up to: a b Richardson, Maurice (4 April 1965). "Bond's Last Case". The Observer. p. 26.
31.^ Jump up to: a b c Trevor, William (1 April 1965). "New Fiction". The Listener. p. 497.
32.Jump up ^ Jones, D.A.N. (14 October 1965). "Bondage (Subscription required)". The New York Review of Books. Retrieved 26 October 2011.
33.Jump up ^ "Bond is Back". Daily Express. 18 March 1965. p. 1.
34.Jump up ^ Lindner 2009, p. 92.
35.Jump up ^ Fleming, Gammidge & McLusky 1988, p. 6.
36.Jump up ^ McLusky et al. 2011, p. 76.
37.Jump up ^ Barnes & Hearn 2001, p. 82.
38.Jump up ^ Smith & Lavington 2002, p. 140.
39.Jump up ^ Barnes & Hearn 2001, p. 83.
Bibliography[edit]
Barnes, Alan; Hearn, Marcus (2001). Kiss Kiss Bang! Bang!: the Unofficial James Bond Film Companion. Batsford Books. ISBN 978-0-7134-8182-2.
Benson, Raymond (1988). The James Bond Bedside Companion. London: Boxtree Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85283-233-9.
Black, Jeremy (2005). The Politics of James Bond: from Fleming's Novel to the Big Screen. University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 978-0-8032-6240-9.
Chancellor, Henry (2005). James Bond: The Man and His World. London: John Murray. ISBN 978-0-7195-6815-2.
Comentale, Edward P; Watt, Stephen; Willman, Skip (2005). Ian Fleming & James Bond: the cultural politics of 007. Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-21743-1.
Fleming, Ian; Gammidge, Henry; McLusky, John (1988). Octopussy. London: Titan Books. ISBN 1-85286-040-5.
Lindner, Christoph (2009). The James Bond Phenomenon: a Critical Reader. Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-0-7190-6541-5.
Lycett, Andrew (1996). Ian Fleming. London: Phoenix. ISBN 978-1-85799-783-5.
Macintyre, Ben (2008). For Your Eyes Only. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7475-9527-4.
McLusky, John; Gammidge, Henry; Lawrence, Jim; Fleming, Ian; Horak, Yaroslav (2011). The James Bond Omnibus Vol. 2. London: Titan Books. ISBN 978-1-84856-432-9.
Smith, Jim; Lavington, Stephen (2002). Bond Films. London: Virgin Books. ISBN 978-0-7535-0709-4.
External links[edit]
Ian Fleming Bibliography of James Bond 1st Editions


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You Only Live Twice (novel)
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You Only Live Twice
FlemingYOLT.jpg
First edition cover

Author
Ian Fleming
Cover artist
Richard Chopping
Country
United Kingdom
Language
English
Series
James Bond
Genre
Spy fiction
Published
1964 (Jonathan Cape)
Media type
Print (hardback & paperback)
Preceded by
On Her Majesty's Secret Service
Followed by
The Man with the Golden Gun
You Only Live Twice is the eleventh novel (and twelfth book) in Ian Fleming's James Bond series of stories. It was first published by Jonathan Cape in the United Kingdom on 26 March 1964 and sold out quickly. The book holds the distinction of being the last novel by Fleming to be published in his lifetime, with subsequent works being published posthumously. You Only Live Twice is the concluding chapter in what is known as the "Blofeld Trilogy".
The story starts eight months after the murder of Tracy Bond, which occurred at the end of the previous novel, On Her Majesty's Secret Service. James Bond is drinking and gambling heavily and making mistakes on his assignments when, as a last resort, he is sent to Japan on a semi-diplomatic mission. Whilst there he is challenged by the Head of the Japanese Secret Service to kill Dr. Guntram Shatterhand. Bond realises that Shatterhand is Ernst Stavro Blofeld and sets out on a revenge mission to kill him and his wife, Irma Bunt.
The novel deals on a personal level with the change in Bond from a depressed man in mourning, to a man of action bent on revenge, to an amnesiac living as a Japanese fisherman. Through the mouths of his characters, Fleming also examines the decline of post-World War II British power and influence, notably in relation to the United States. The book was popular with the public, with pre-orders in the UK totalling 62,000; critics were more muted in their reactions, generally delivering mixed reviews of the novel.
The story was serialised in the Daily Express newspaper and Playboy magazine, and also adapted for comic strip format in the Daily Express. In 1967, it was released as the fifth entry in the Eon Productions James Bond film series, starring Sean Connery as Bond. The novel has also been adapted as a radio play and broadcast on the BBC.


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot
2 Characters and themes
3 Background
4 Release and reception 4.1 Reviews
5 Adaptations
6 See also
7 References
8 Bibliography
9 External links

Plot[edit]
After the wedding-day murder of his wife, Tracy (see On Her Majesty's Secret Service), Bond begins to let his life slide, drinking and gambling heavily, making mistakes and turning up late for work. His superior in the Secret Service, M, had been planning to dismiss Bond, but decides to give him a last-chance opportunity to redeem himself by assigning him to the diplomatic branch of the organisation. Bond is subsequently re-numbered 7777 and handed an "impossible" mission: convincing the head of Japan's secret intelligence service, Tiger Tanaka, to provide Britain with information from radio transmissions captured from the Soviet Union, codenamed Magic 44. In exchange, the Secret Service will allow the Japanese access to one of their own information sources.



 Blofeld's Samurai armour would have protected him from the poisonous plants.
Bond is introduced to Tanaka—and to the Japanese lifestyle—by an Australian intelligence officer, Dikko Henderson. When Bond raises the purpose of his mission with Tanaka, it transpires that the Japanese have already penetrated the British information source and Bond has nothing left to bargain with. Instead, Tanaka asks Bond to kill Dr. Guntram Shatterhand, who operates a politically embarrassing "Garden of Death" in an ancient castle; people flock there to commit suicide. After examining photos of Shatterhand and his wife, Bond discovers that "Shatterhand" and his wife are Tracy's murderers, Ernst Stavro Blofeld and Irma Bunt. Bond gladly takes the mission, keeping his knowledge of Blofeld's identity a secret so that he can exact revenge for his wife's death. Made up and trained by Tanaka, and aided by former Japanese film star Kissy Suzuki, Bond attempts to live and think as a mute Japanese coal miner in order to penetrate Shatterhand's castle. Tanaka renames Bond "Taro Todoroki" for the mission.
After infiltrating the Garden of Death and the castle where Blofeld spends his time dressed in the costume of a Samurai warrior, Bond is captured and Bunt identifies him as a British secret agent and not a Japanese coal miner. After surviving a near execution, Bond exacts revenge on Blofeld in a duel, Blofeld armed with a sword and Bond with a wooden staff. Bond eventually kills Blofeld by strangling him, then blows up the castle. Upon escaping, he suffers a head injury, leaving him an amnesiac living as a Japanese fisherman with Kissy, while the rest of the world believes him dead; his obituary appears in the newspapers.
While Bond's health improves, Kissy conceals his true identity to keep him forever to herself. Kissy eventually sleeps with Bond and becomes pregnant, and hopes that Bond will propose marriage after she finds the right time to tell him about her pregnancy. Bond reads scraps of newspaper and fixates on a reference to Vladivostok, making him wonder if the far-off city is the key to his missing memory; he tells Kissy he must travel to Russia to find out.
Characters and themes[edit]
The central character in the novel is James Bond himself and the novel ends with his obituary, purportedly written for The Times by M. The obituary provides a number of biographical details of Bond's early life, including his parents' names and nationalities.[1] Bond begins You Only Live Twice in a disturbed state, described by M as "going to pieces", following the death of his wife Tracy eight months previously.[2] Academic Jeremy Black points out that it was a very different Bond to the character who lost Vesper Lynd at the end of Casino Royale. Given a final chance by M to redeem himself with a difficult mission, Bond's character changes under the ministrations of Dikko Henderson, Tiger Tanaka and Kissy Suzuki.[3] The result, according to Benson, is a Bond with a sense of humour and a purpose in life.[1] Benson finds the transformation of Bond's character to be the most important theme in the novel: that of rebirth.[2] This is suggested in Bond's attempt at a haiku, written in the style of Japanese poet Matsuo Bashō:
“ You only live twice:
 Once when you are born
 And once when you look death in the face
 (You Only Live Twice, Chapter 11) ”
The rebirth in question is that of Bond, transformed from the heavily drinking man mourning his wife at the beginning of the book to a man of action and then, after the death of Blofeld, becoming Taro Todoroki, the Japanese partner of Kissy Suzuki.[2] While Bond is in his action phase, Benson sees Fleming's writing becoming allegorical and epic, using Bond as a symbol of good against the evil of Blofeld.[4] As in Goldfinger and The Spy Who Loved Me, Bond is referred to as St George in his fight against the dragon, this time by Tiger Tanaka, who says that "it would make the subject for a most entertaining Japanese print."[4]
According to the author of continuation Bond novels, Raymond Benson, Kissy Suzuki is "a most appealing heroine" and "apparently loves Bond very much."[1] Apart from being the mother of Bond's unborn child at the end of the book, Suzuki also acts as a "cultural translator" for Bond, helping explain the local traditions and customs: Quarrel had the same function in Live and Let Die and Dr. No.[5] Academic Christoph Lindner identifies Tiger Tanaka as one of Fleming's characters with morals closer to those of traditional villains, but who act on the side of good in support of Bond; others of this type have included Darko Kerim (From Russia, with Love), Marc-Ange Draco (On Her Majesty's Secret Service) and Enrico Colombo ("Risico").[6]
Blofeld makes his third appearance in the Bond series in You Only Live Twice[7] and Benson notes that on this occasion he is quite mad and egocentric in his behaviour;[8] Tanaka refers to him as "a devil who has taken human form".[9] Comentale, Watt and Willman note that Fleming, through Bond, parallels Blofeld with Caligula, Nero and Hitler, and that this exemplifies Blofeld's actions as being on "a titanic scale", as much of the criminal action was throughout the Bond series.[10] Linder echoes this, noting that the crimes perpetrated are not against individuals per se, but entire nations or continents.[11]
Much in the novel concerns the state of Britain in world affairs. Black points out that the reason for Bond's mission to Japan is that the US did not want to share intelligence regarding the Pacific, which it saw as its "private preserve". As Black goes on to identify, however, the defections of four members of MI6 to the Soviet Union had a major impact in US intelligence circles on how Britain was viewed.[12] The last of the defections was that of Kim Philby in January 1963,[13] while Fleming was still writing the first draft of the novel.[14] Black contends that the conversation between M and Bond allows Fleming to discuss the decline of Britain, with the defections and the 1963 Profumo Affair as a backdrop.[15]
The theme of Britain's declining position in the world is also dealt with in conversations between Bond and Tanaka, Tanaka voicing Fleming's own concerns about the state of Britain in the 1950s and early 60s.[16] Tanaka accuses Britain of throwing away the empire "with both hands";[17] this would have been a contentious situation for Fleming, as he wrote the novel as the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation was breaking out in December 1962, a direct challenge to British interests in the region.[15] Fleming's increasingly jaundiced views on America appear in the novel too,[18] through Bond's responses to Tiger's comments, and they reflect on the declining relationship between Britain and America: this is in sharp contrast to the warm, co-operative relationship between Bond and Leiter in the earlier books.[15]
Background[edit]
You Only Live Twice is the twelfth book (the eleventh novel) of Fleming's Bond series and the last book completed by Fleming before his death.[19] The story is the third part of the Blofeld trilogy,[7] coming after Thunderball, where SPECTRE is introduced, and On Her Majesty's Secret Service, where Blofeld is involved in the murder of Bond's wife. You Only Live Twice was the last book by Fleming that was published in his lifetime:[4] he died five months after the UK release of the novel.[20] It was written in January and February 1963 in Jamaica at Fleming's Goldeneye estate.[14] The original manuscript was 170 pages long and the least revised of all Fleming's novels,[14] with a mood that is dark and claustrophobic,[19] reflecting Fleming's own increasing melancholia.[12] The story was written after the film version of Dr. No was released in 1962, and Bond's personality was somewhat skewed towards the screen persona rather than simply to Fleming himself;[21] Sean Connery's filmic depiction of Bond affected the book version, with You Only Live Twice giving Bond a sense of humour and Scottish antecedents that were not present in the previous stories,[22] although Fleming himself was part Scottish. Correspondence dating back to 1960 shows that Fleming contacted a Scottish nobleman to help research Bond's family history, in particular seeking a Scottish Bond line.[23]
Fleming's first trip to Japan was as part of the Thrilling Cities trip undertaken for The Sunday Times in 1959,[24] although his visit only lasted for three days.[7] He returned in 1962 and was accompanied on his trip round the country by Australian friend Richard Hughes and Tiger Saito, both journalists. In You Only Live Twice, these two characters became Dikko Henderson and Tiger Tanaka, respectively. Hughes was also the model for "Old Craw" in John le Carré's The Honourable Schoolboy.[24]
The novel contains a fictional obituary of Bond, purportedly published in The Times, which provided details of Bond's early life,[25] although many of these were Fleming's own traits. These included Bond's expulsion from Eton College, which was part of Fleming's own history.[26] As with a number of the previous Bond stories, You Only Live Twice used names of individuals and places that were from Fleming's past. Bond's mother, Monique Delacroix, was named after two women in Fleming's life: Monique Panchaud de Bottomes, a girl Fleming was engaged to in the early 1930s, with Delacroix taken from Fleming's own mother, whose maiden name was Ste Croix Rose.[27] Bond's aunt was called Charmian Bond: Charmian was the name of Fleming's cousin who married Richard Fleming, Ian's brother.[27] Charmian's sister was called "Pet" which, when combined with the Bottom from Monique Panchaud de Bottomes, gives Pett Bottom, where Charmian lives.[27] Pett Bottom is also the name of a real place which amused Fleming when he stopped for lunch after a round of golf at Royal St George's Golf Club, Sandwich.[27]
Ernst Stavro Blofeld's name partially comes from Tom Blofeld, a Norfolk farmer and a fellow member of Fleming's club Boodle's, who was a contemporary of Fleming's at Eton.[28] Tom Blofeld's son is Henry Blofeld, a sports journalist, best known as a cricket commentator for Test Match Special on BBC Radio.[29] For Blofeld's pseudonym in the novel, Dr. Guntram Shatterhand, Fleming uses the name of an old café he had seen in Hamburg in 1959—"Old Shatterhand".[27] The characterisation of him dressed as a Samurai was taken from the sketch Fleming had come up with thirty five years earlier for a character called Graf Schlick.[19]
Release and reception[edit]



... high-flown and romanticized caricatures of episodes in the career of an outstanding public servant.
Ian Fleming, Bond's obituary
You Only Live Twice, Chapter 21
You Only Live Twice was published in the UK on 16 March 1964,[30] by Jonathan Cape and cost sixteen shillings.[31] There were 62,000 pre-orders for the book,[32] a significant increase over the 42,000 advance orders for the hardback first edition of On Her Majesty's Secret Service.[33] Richard Chopping, cover artist for The Spy Who Loved Me, was engaged for the design.[30] On 17 July 1963, Michael Howard of Jonathan Cape had written to Chopping about the artwork, saying: "I have had a talk with Ian about the ideas for the ingredients of this design. He is very much in favour of the toad ... but with a suitable array of oriental embellishrangment, i.e. toad plus Japanese flower arrangements, which he thinks should be sitting in a suitable piece of Japanese pottery, perhaps ornamented with a dragon motif. If you could manage a pink dragonfly sitting on the flowers, and perhaps just one epicanthic eye peering through them he thinks that will be just splendid!"[34] Chopping's fee rose to 300 guineas for the cover,[35] a rise from the 250 guineas he received for The Spy Who Loved Me.[36]
You Only Live Twice was published in the United States by New American Library in August 1964;[30] it was 240 pages long and cost $4.50.[37]
Reviews[edit]
Cyril Connolly, reviewing You Only Live Twice in The Sunday Times wrote that Fleming's latest book was "reactionary, sentimental, square, the Bond-image flails its way through the middle-brow masses, a relaxation to the great, a stimulus to the humble, the only common denominator between Kennedy and Oswald".[38] The critic for The Times was largely unimpressed with You Only Live Twice, complaining that "as a moderate to middling travelogue what follows will just about do ... the plot with its concomitant sadism does not really get going until more than half way through".[39] In contrast to the previous novels, The Times continued, "though Mr. Fleming's macabre imagination is as interesting as ever, some of the old snap seems to have gone".[39] Dealing with the cliffhanger ending to the story, the reviewer wrote that "Mr. Fleming would keep us on tenterhooks, but at this rate of going even his most devoted admirers will free themselves before very long."[39]
The critic for The Spectator felt that "Ian Fleming has taken a hint from films of his books and is now inclined to send himself up. I am not at all sure that he is wise",[38] while The Belfast Telegraph considered that Fleming was "still in a class of his own."[38] The Bookman declared that You Only Live Twice "must rank among the best of the Bonds".[30] Malcolm Muggeridge, writing in Esquire magazine disagreed, writing that "You Only Live Twice has a decidedly perfunctory air. Bond can only manage to sleep with his Japanese girl with the aid of colour pornography. His drinking sessions seem somehow desperate, and the horrors are too absurd to horrify ... it's all rather a muddle and scarcely in the tradition of Secret Service fiction. Perhaps the earlier novels are better. If so, I shall never know, having no intention of reading them."[38]
Maurice Richardson, in The Observer, thought You Only Live Twice "though far from the best Bond, is really almost as easy to read as any of them".[40] He was critical of a number of aspects, saying that the "narrative is a bit weak, action long delayed and disappointing when it comes but the surround of local colour ... has been worked over with that unique combination of pubescent imagination and industry which is Mr. Fleming's speciality."[40] In The Guardian, Francis Iles wrote that "I think he [Fleming] must be getting tired of the ineffable James Bond and perhaps even of writing thrillers at all".[41] Iles reasoned that "of the 260 pages of You Only Live Twice... only 60 are concerned with the actual business of a thriller",[41] and his enjoyment was further diminished by what he considered "the grossness of Bond's manners and his schoolboy obscenities".[41]
Peter Duval Smith, in the Financial Times, was in two minds about the book, believing on the one hand that "the background is excellent ... Mr. Fleming has caught the exact 'feel' of Japan",[42] and on the other that You Only Live Twice "is not really a success and it's Bond's fault mainly. He just doesn't add up to a human being".[42] Maggie Ross, in The Listener was also a little dissatisfied, writing that the novel can be read as a thriller and, "if interest flags, as it may do, the book can be treated as a tourist guide to some of the more interesting parts of Japan."[43] She went on to say that "since not very much in the way of real excitement happens until the latter half of the book, perhaps it is better to ignore the whole thing".[43]
Robert Fulford in the Toronto-based magazine Maclean's, noted that "the characteristic which makes Fleming appear so silly also helps make him so popular: his moral simplicity. When we read James Bond we know whose side we are on, why we are on that side and why we are certain to win. In the real world that is no longer possible."[38] Charles Poore, writing in The New York Times, noted that Bond's mission "is aimed at restoring Britain's pre-World War II place among the powers of the world. And on that subject, above all others, Ian Fleming's novels are endlessly, bitterly eloquent."[37] The Boston Globe's Mary Castle opined that the agent's trip was "Bond's latest and grimmest mission",[44] which she called "Escapism in the Grand Manner".[44]
Adaptations[edit]
Main articles: James Bond (comic strip) and You Only Live Twice (film)



Sean Connery played Bond in the 1967 cinema adaptationDaily Express serialisation (1964)
You Only Live Twice was adapted for serialisation in the Daily Express newspaper on a daily basis from 2 March 1964 onwards.[31]
Playboy serialisation (1964)
You Only Live Twice was serialised in the April, May and June 1964 issues of Playboy magazine.[45]
Comic strip (1965–1966)
Ian Fleming's novel was adapted as a daily comic strip published in the Daily Express newspaper, and syndicated worldwide. The adaptation, written by Henry Gammidge and illustrated by John McLusky, ran from 18 May 1965 to 8 January 1966.[46] It was the final James Bond strip for Gammidge, while McClusky returned to illustrating the strip in the 1980s.[46] The strip was reprinted by Titan Books in The James Bond Omnibus Vol. 2, published in 2011.[47]
You Only Live Twice (1967)
In 1967, the book was adapted into the fifth film in the Eon Productions series, starring Sean Connery as Bond.[48] Only a few elements of the novel and a limited number of Fleming's characters survive into the film version.[49]
Radio adaptation (1990)
In 1990, the novel was adapted into a 90-minute radio play for BBC Radio 4 with Michael Jayston playing James Bond. The production was repeated a number of times between 2008 and 2013.[50]
See also[edit]

Portal icon James Bond portal
Portal icon Novels portal
Outline of James Bond
References[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b c Benson 1988, p. 138.
2.^ Jump up to: a b c Benson 1988, p. 137.
3.Jump up ^ Benson 1988, p. 138-139.
4.^ Jump up to: a b c Benson 1988, p. 136.
5.Jump up ^ Comentale, Watt & Willman 2005, p. 168.
6.Jump up ^ Lindner 2009, p. 39.
7.^ Jump up to: a b c Black 2005, p. 60.
8.Jump up ^ Benson 1988, p. 139.
9.Jump up ^ Lindner 2009, p. 42.
10.Jump up ^ Comentale, Watt & Willman 2005, p. 227.
11.Jump up ^ Lindner 2009, p. 79.
12.^ Jump up to: a b Black 2005, p. 61.
13.Jump up ^ Clive, Nigel. "Philby, Harold Adrian Russell (Kim) (1912–1988) (subscription needed)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/40699. Retrieved 25 October 2011.
14.^ Jump up to: a b c Benson 1988, p. 24.
15.^ Jump up to: a b c Black 2005, p. 62.
16.Jump up ^ Macintyre 2008, p. 113.
17.Jump up ^ Chancellor 2005, p. 200-201.
18.Jump up ^ Macintyre 2008, p. 187.
19.^ Jump up to: a b c Chancellor 2005, p. 222.
20.Jump up ^ "Obituary: Mr. Ian Fleming". The Times. 13 August 1964. p. 12.
21.Jump up ^ Chancellor 2005, p. 75.
22.Jump up ^ Macintyre 2008, p. 205.
23.Jump up ^ Helfenstein 2009.
24.^ Jump up to: a b Chancellor 2005, p. 222-223.
25.Jump up ^ Chancellor 2005, p. 58.
26.Jump up ^ Macintyre 2008, p. 33.
27.^ Jump up to: a b c d e Chancellor 2005, p. 113.
28.Jump up ^ Chancellor 2005, p. 117.
29.Jump up ^ Macintyre, Ben (5 April 2008). "Bond – the real Bond". The Times. p. 36.
30.^ Jump up to: a b c d Benson 1988, p. 26.
31.^ Jump up to: a b Fleming, Ian (2 March 1964). "James Bond: You Only Live Twice". Daily Express. p. 6.
32.Jump up ^ Lycett 1996, p. 437.
33.Jump up ^ Lycett 1996, p. 419.
34.Jump up ^ Midwinter, Janet (4 April 2010). "The Man with the Golden Grudge". Mail on Sunday. Retrieved 14 October 2011.
35.Jump up ^ Lycett 1996, p. 426.
36.Jump up ^ Lycett 1996, p. 390.
37.^ Jump up to: a b Poore, Charles (22 August 1964). "Books of the Times". The New York Times.
38.^ Jump up to: a b c d e Chancellor 2005, p. 223.
39.^ Jump up to: a b c "New Fiction". The Times. 19 March 1964. p. 16.
40.^ Jump up to: a b Richardson, Maurice (15 March 1964). "Bondo-san and Tiger Tanaka". The Observer. p. 27.
41.^ Jump up to: a b c Iles, Francis (8). "Criminal Records". The Guardian. p. 8.
42.^ Jump up to: a b Duval Smith, Peter (26 March 1964). "Could Do Better". The Financial Times. p. 28.
43.^ Jump up to: a b Ross, Maggie (26 March 1964). "New Novels". The Listener. p. 529.
44.^ Jump up to: a b Castle, Mary (6 September 1964). "Thrills and Chills Dept.". The Boston Globe. p. 43.
45.Jump up ^ Lindner 2009, p. 92.
46.^ Jump up to: a b Fleming, Gammidge & McLusky 1988, p. 6.
47.Jump up ^ McLusky et al. 2011, p. 76.
48.Jump up ^ Barnes & Hearn 2001, p. 81.
49.Jump up ^ Barnes & Hearn 2001, p. 72.
50.Jump up ^ "James Bond – You Only Live Twice". BBC Radio 4 Extra. BBC. Retrieved 29 September 2013.
Bibliography[edit]
Barnes, Alan; Hearn, Marcus (2001). Kiss Kiss Bang! Bang!: the Unofficial James Bond Film Companion. Batsford Books. ISBN 978-0-7134-8182-2.
Benson, Raymond (1988). The James Bond Bedside Companion. London: Boxtree Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85283-233-9.
Black, Jeremy (2005). The Politics of James Bond: from Fleming's Novel to the Big Screen. University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 978-0-8032-6240-9.
Chancellor, Henry (2005). James Bond: The Man and His World. London: John Murray. ISBN 978-0-7195-6815-2.
Comentale, Edward P; Watt, Stephen; Willman, Skip (2005). Ian Fleming & James Bond: the cultural politics of 007. Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-21743-1.
Fleming, Ian; Gammidge, Henry; McLusky, John (1988). Octopussy. London: Titan Books. ISBN 1-85286-040-5.
Helfenstein, Charles (2009). The Making of On Her Majesty's Secret Service. London: Spies Publishing. ISBN 0-9844126-0-3.
Lindner, Christoph (2009). The James Bond Phenomenon: a Critical Reader. Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-0-7190-6541-5.
Lycett, Andrew (1996). Ian Fleming. London: Phoenix. ISBN 978-1-85799-783-5.
Macintyre, Ben (2008). For Your Eyes Only. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7475-9527-4.
McLusky, John; Gammidge, Henry; Lawrence, Jim; Fleming, Ian; Horak, Yaroslav (2011). The James Bond Omnibus Vol. 2. London: Titan Books. ISBN 978-1-84856-432-9.
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has quotations related to: You Only Live Twice
Official Website of Ian Fleming Publications


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On Her Majesty's Secret Service (novel)
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For the James Bond film, see On Her Majesty's Secret Service (film).
For the official franking initialism on which the title is based, see O.H.M.S..
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On Her Majesty's Secret Service
FlemingOHMSS.jpg
First edition cover, published by Jonathan Cape

Author
Ian Fleming
Cover artist
Richard Chopping (Jonathan Cape ed.)
Country
United Kingdom
Language
English
Series
James Bond
Genre
Spy fiction
Publisher
Jonathan Cape

Publication date
 1 April 1963
Media type
Print (hardback & paperback)
Preceded by
The Spy Who Loved Me
Followed by
You Only Live Twice
On Her Majesty's Secret Service is the tenth novel in Ian Fleming's James Bond series, first published in the UK by Jonathan Cape on 1 April 1963. The initial and secondary print runs sold out, with over 60,000 books sold in the first month. Fleming wrote the book in Jamaica whilst the first film in the Eon Productions series of films, Dr. No, was being filmed nearby.
On Her Majesty's Secret Service is the second book in what is known as the "Blofeld trilogy", which begins with Thunderball and concluded with You Only Live Twice. The story centres on Bond's ongoing search to find Ernst Stavro Blofeld after the Thunderball incident; through contact with the College of Arms in London Bond finds Blofeld based in Switzerland. After meeting him and discovering his latest plans, Bond attacks the centre where he is based, although Blofeld escapes in the confusion. Bond meets and falls in love with Contessa Teresa "Tracy" di Vicenzo during the story. The pair marry at the end of the story but Blofeld kills Bond's wife hours after the ceremony.
Fleming made a number of revelations about Bond's character within the book, including showing an emotional side that was not present in the previous stories. In common with Fleming's other Bond stories, he used the names and places of people he knew or had heard of and Blofeld's research station on Piz Gloria was based on Schloss Mittersill, which the Nazis had turned into a research establishment examining the Asiatic races.
On Her Majesty's Secret Service received broadly good reviews in the British and American press. The novel was adapted to run as a three-part story in Playboy in 1963 and then as a daily comic strip in the Daily Express newspaper in 1964–1965. In 1969 the novel was adapted as the sixth film in the Eon Productions James Bond film series and was the only film to star George Lazenby as Bond. In 2014 On Her Majesty's Secret Service was adapted as a play on BBC Radio, starring Toby Stephens.


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot
2 Characters and themes
3 Background
4 Release and reception 4.1 Reviews
5 Adaptations
6 See also
7 References
8 Bibliography
9 External links

Plot[edit]
For more than a year, James Bond, British Secret Service operative 007, has been involved in "Operation Bedlam": trailing the private criminal organisation SPECTRE and its leader, Ernst Stavro Blofeld. The organisation had hijacked two nuclear devices and subsequently blackmailed the western world, as described in Thunderball. Convinced SPECTRE no longer exists, Bond is frustrated by MI6's insistence that he continue the search and his inability to find Blofeld. He composes a letter of resignation for his superior, M.
Whilst composing his letter, Bond encounters a beautiful, suicidal young woman named Contessa Teresa "Tracy" di Vicenzo first on the road and subsequently at the gambling table, where he saves her from a coup de deshonneur by paying the gambling debt she is unable to cover. The following day Bond follows her and interrupts her attempted suicide, but they are captured by professional henchmen. They are taken to the offices of Marc-Ange Draco, head of the Unione Corse, the biggest European crime syndicate. Tracy is the daughter and only child of Draco who believes the only way to save his daughter from further suicide attempts is for Bond to marry her. To facilitate this, he offers Bond a dowry of £1 million (£19 million in 2014 pounds[1]); Bond refuses the offer, but agrees to continue romancing Tracy while her mental health improves.



 The College of Arms building in London.
Afterwards Draco uses his contacts to inform Bond that Blofeld is somewhere in Switzerland. Bond returns to England to be given another lead: the College of Arms in London has discovered that Blofeld has assumed the title and name Comte Balthazar de Bleuville and wants formal confirmation of the title and has asked the College to declare him the reigning count.
On a visit to the College of Arms, Bond finds that the family motto of Sir Thomas Bond is "The World Is Not Enough", and that he might be (though unlikely) Bond's ancestor. On the pretext that a genetically-inherited minor physical abnormality (a lack of earlobes) needs a personal confirmation, Bond impersonates a College of Arms representative, Sir Hilary Bray to visit Blofeld's lair atop Piz Gloria, where he finally meets Blofeld. Blofeld has undergone plastic surgery partly to remove his earlobes, but also to disguise himself from the police and security services who are tracking him down.
Bond learns Blofeld has been curing a group of young British and Irish women of their livestock and food allergies. In truth, Blofeld and his aide, Irma Bunt, have been brainwashing them into carrying biological warfare agents back to Britain and Ireland in order to destroy the agricultural economy, upon which post-World War II Britain depends. Believing himself discovered, Bond escapes by ski from Piz Gloria, chased by SPECTRE operatives, a number of whom he kills in the process. Afterward, in a state of total exhaustion, he encounters Tracy. She is in the town at the base of the mountain after being told by her father that Bond may be in the vicinity. Bond is too weak to take on Blofeld's henchmen alone and she helps him escape to the airport. Smitten by the resourceful, headstrong woman, he proposes marriage and she accepts. Bond then returns to England and works on the plan to capture Blofeld.
Helped by Draco's Union Corse, Bond mounts an air assault against the clinic and Blofeld. Whilst the clinic is destroyed, Blofeld escapes down a bobsled run and although Bond give chase Blofeld escapes. Bond flies to Germany where he marries Tracy. The two of them drive off on honeymoon and, a few hours later, Blofeld and Bunt drive past, machine gunning them: Tracy is killed in the attack.
Characters and themes[edit]
On Her Majesty's Secret Service contains what the author of "continuation" Bond novels Raymond Benson calls "major revelations" about Bond and his character.[2] These start with Bond's showing an emotional side, visiting the grave of Casino Royale's Vesper Lynd, which he did every year.[2] The emotional side continues with Bond asking Tracy to marry him.[3] The character of Tracy is not as well defined as some other female leads in the Bond canon, but Benson points out that that it may be the enigmatic quality that Bond falls in love with.[4] Benson also notes that Fleming gives relatively little information about the character, only how Bond reacts to her.[4]
Academic Christoph Lindner identifies the character of Marc-Ange Draco as an example of those characters who have morals closer to those of the traditional villains, but who act on the side of good in support of Bond; others of this type include Darko Kerim (From Russia, with Love), Tiger Tanaka (You Only Live Twice) and Enrico Colombo ("Risico").[5] Fellow academic Jeremy Black noted the connection between Draco and World War II; Draco wears the King's medal for resistance fighters. The war reference is a method used by Fleming to differentiate good from evil and raises a question about "the distinction between criminality and legality", according to Black.[6]
Background[edit]
On Her Majesty's Secret Service was written in Jamaica at Fleming's Goldeneye estate in January and February 1962,[7] whilst the first Bond film, Dr. No was being filmed nearby.[8] The first draft of the novel was 196 pages long and called The Belles of Hell.[9] Fleming later changed the title after being told of a nineteenth-century sailing novel called On Her Majesty's Secret Service, seen by Fleming's friend Nicholas Henderson in Portobello Road Market.[10]



 HMS Repulse on manoeuvres in the 1920s
As with all his Bond books, Fleming used events or names from his life in his writing. In the 1930s, Fleming often visited Kitzbühel in Austria to ski; he once deliberately set off down a slope that had been closed because of the danger of an avalanche. The snow cracked behind him and an avalanche came down, catching him at its end: Fleming remembered the incident and it was used for Bond's escape from Piz Gloria.[11] Fleming would occasionally stay at the sports club the Schloss Mittersill in the Austrian Alps; in 1940 the Nazis closed down the club and turned it into a research establishment examining the Asiatic races. It was this pseudo-scientific research centre that inspired Blofeld's own centre of Piz Gloria.[12]
The connection between M and the inspiration for his character, Rear Admiral John Godfrey, was made apparent with Bond visiting Quarterdeck, M's home. He rings the ship's-bell for HMS Repulse, M's last command: it was Godfrey's ship too.[13] Godfrey was Fleming's superior officer in Naval Intelligence Division during the war[14] and was known for his bellicose and irascible temperament.[15] During their Christmas lunch, M tells Bond of an old naval acquaintance, a Chief Gunnery Officer named McLachlan. This was actually an old colleague of both Godfrey and Fleming's in the NID, Donald McLachlan.[8]
The name Hilary Bray was that of an old-Etonian with who Fleming worked at the stock broking firm Rowe & Pitman,[16] whilst Sable Basilisk was based on "Rouge Dragon" in the College of Arms. Rouge Dragon was the title of heraldic researcher Robin de la Lanne-Mirrlees who asked Fleming not to use the title in the book; in a play on words, Fleming used Mirrlees's address, a flat in Basil St and combined it with a dragon-like creature, a basilisk, to come up with the name.[17] Mirrlees had Spanish antecedents, generally born without earlobes and Fleming used this physical attribute for Blofeld.[16] Mirrlees also discovered that the line of the Bonds of Peckham bears the family motto "The World is Not Enough", which Fleming appropriated for Bond's own family.[12]
Fleming also used historical references for some of his names and Marc-Ange Draco's name is based upon that of El Draco, the Spanish nickname for Sir Francis Drake,[16] a fact also used by J. K. Rowling for the naming of her character Draco Malfoy.[18] For Tracy's background, Fleming used that of Muriel Wright, a married wartime lover of Fleming's, who died in an air-raid[19] and Bond's grief for the loss of his wife is an echo of Fleming's at the loss of Wright.[20] Fleming did make mistakes in the novel, however, such as Bond ordering a half-bottle of Pol Roger Champagne: Fleming's friend Patrick Leigh Fermor pointed out that Pol Roger was the only champagne at the time not to be produced in half-bottles.[21]
On Her Majesty's Secret Service is the second book in what is called "the Blofeld trilogy", sitting between Thunderball, where SPECTRE is introduced and You Only Live Twice, where Blofeld is finally killed by Bond.[22] Although Blofeld is present in Thunderball, he directs operations from a distance and as such he and Bond never meet and On Her Majesty's Secret Service constitutes his and Bond's first meeting.[2]
Release and reception[edit]
On Her Majesty's Secret Service was published on 1 April 1963 in the UK as a hardcover edition by publishers Jonathan Cape;[23] it was 288 pages long and cost 16 shillings.[24] A limited edition of 250 copies were also printed that were numbered and signed by Fleming.[23] Artist Richard Chopping once again undertook the cover art for the first edition.[23] There were 42,000 advance orders for the hardback first edition[25] and Cape did an immediate second impression of 15,000 copies, selling over 60,000 by the end of April 1963.[26] By the end of 1963 it had sold in excess of 75,000 copies.[27]
The novel was published in America in August by the New American Library,[23] after Fleming changed publishers from Viking Press after The Spy Who Loved Me.[28] The book was 299 pages long and cost $4.50[29] and it topped The New York Times Best Seller list for over six months.[23]
Reviews[edit]
Writing in The Guardian, critic Anthony Berkeley Cox, writing under the name Francis Iles, noted that the two minor grammatical errors he spotted were "likely to spoil no one's enjoyment"[30] of the novel as he considered that On Her Majesty's Secret Service was "not only up to Mr. Fleming's usual level, but perhaps even a bit above it."[30] Writing in The Guardian's sister paper, The Observer Maurice Richardson pondered if there had been "a deliberate moral reformation"[31] of Bond. However, he notes Bond still has his harder side when needed. Richardson also thought that "in reforming Bond Mr. Fleming has reformed his own story-telling which had been getting very loose".[31] Overall he thought that "O.H.M.S.S. is certainly the best Bond for several books. It is better plotted and retains its insane grip until the end".[31]
Raymond Mortimer, writing for The Sunday Times, said that "James Bond is what every man would like to be, and what every woman would like between her sheets";[12] meanwhile the critic for The Times considered that after The Spy Who Loved Me, "On Her Majesty's Secret Service constitutes a substantial, if not quite a complete, recovery."[24] In the view of the reviewer, it was enough of a recovery for them to point out that "it is time, perhaps, to forget the much exaggerated things which have been said about sex, sadism and snobbery, and return to the simple, indisputable fact that Mr. Fleming is a most compelling story-teller."[24] Marghanita Laski, writing in The Times Literary Supplement thought that "the new James Bond we've been meeting of late [is] somehow gentler, more sentimental, less dirty."[32] However, she considered that "it really is time to stop treating Ian Fleming as a Significant Portent, and to accept him as a good, if rather vulgar thriller-writer, well suited to his times and to us his readers."[32]
The New York Herald Tribune thought On Her Majesty's Secret Service to be "solid Fleming",[12] while the Houston Chronicle considered the novel to be "Fleming at his urbanely murderous best, a notable chapter in the saga of James Bond".[12] Gene Brackley, writing in the Boston Globe wrote that Bond "needs all the quality he can muster to escape alive"[33] from Blofeld's clutches in the book and this gives rise to "two of the wildest chase scenes in the good guys-bad guys literature".[33] Regarding the fantastic nature of the plots, Brackley considered that "Fleming's accounts of the half-world of the Secret Service have the ring of authenticity"[33] because of his previous role with the NID.
Writing for The Washington Post, Jerry Doolittle thought that Bond is "still irresistible to women, still handsome in a menacing way, still charming. He has nerves of steel and thews of whipcord",[29] even if "he's starting to look a little older."[29] Doolittle was fulsome in his praise for the novel, saying "Fleming's new book will not disappoint his millions of fans".[29] Writing in The New York Times, Anthony Boucher—described by a Fleming biographer, John Pearson as "throughout an avid anti-Bond and an anti-Fleming man"[34]—was again damning, although even he admitted that "you can't argue with success".[35] However, he went on to say that "simply pro forma, I must set down my opinion that this is a silly and tedious novel."[35] Boucher went on to bemoan that although On Her Majesty's Secret Service was better than The Spy Who Loved Me, "it is still a lazy and inadequate story",[35] going on to say that "my complaint is not that the adventures of James Bond are bad literature ... but that they aren't good bad literature".[35] Boucher finished his review lamenting that "they just aren't writing bad books like they used to."[35]
The opposite point of view was taken by Robert Kirsch, writing in the Los Angeles Times, who considered Fleming's work to be a significant point in fiction, saying that the Bond novels "are harbingers of a change in emphasis in fiction which is important."[36] The importance, Kirsch claimed, sprung from "a revolution in taste, a return to qualities in fiction which all but submerged in the 20th-century vogue of realism and naturalism"[36] and the importance was such that they were "comparable ... only to the phenomenon of Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories".[36] Kirsch also believed that "with Fleming, ... we do not merely accept the willing suspension of disbelief, we yearn for it, we hunger for it."[36] The critic for Time magazine referred to previous criticism of Fleming and thought that "in Fleming's latest Bond bombshell, there are disquieting signs that he took the critics to heart"[37] when they complained about "the consumer snobbery of his caddish hero".[37] The critic mourned that even worse was to follow, however, when "Bond is threatened with what, for an international cad, would clearly be a fate worse than death: matrimony".[37] However, eventually a "deus ex machina (the machine, reassuringly, is a lethal red Maserati) ... saves James Bond from his better self."[37]
Adaptations[edit]
Main articles: James Bond (comic strip) and On Her Majesty's Secret Service (film)

Grey haired man in red check shirt, sitting at a table on which his hands are resting.

George Lazenby, the second actor to play Bond on the cinema screen
Serialisation (1963)
On Her Majesty's Secret Service was serialised in the April, May and June 1963 issues of Playboy.[38]
Comic strip (1964–65)
 Ian Fleming's 1963 novel was adapted as a daily comic strip published in the Daily Express newspaper, and syndicated worldwide; the strip ran for nearly a year, from 29 June 1964 to 17 May 1965. The adaptation was written by Henry Gammidge and illustrated by John McLusky.[39] The strip was reprinted by Titan Books in The James Bond Omnibus Vol. 2, published in 2011.[40]
On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)
 In 1969 the novel was adapted into the sixth film in the Eon Productions series. It starred George Lazenby in his only appearance of the Bond role.[41] With the films being produced in a different order to the books, the continuity of storylines was broken and the films altered accordingly.[42] Even so, the character of Blofeld was present in the previous film, You Only Live Twice, and he and Bond had met: this previous meeting was ignored for the plot of On Her Majesty's Secret Service.[42]
Radio (2014)
 In 2014 the novel was adapted for BBC Radio 4's Saturday Drama strand. Toby Stephens, who played Gustav Graves in Die Another Day, portrayed Bond. Joanna Lumley appeared in both the film and radio adaptations of the novel.[43]
See also[edit]

Portal icon James Bond portal
Portal icon Novels portal
 Wikiquote has quotations related to: On Her Majesty's Secret Service
List of James Bond novels and short stories
Outline of James Bond
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ UK CPI inflation numbers based on data available from Gregory Clark (2014), "What Were the British Earnings and Prices Then? (New Series)" MeasuringWorth.
2.^ Jump up to: a b c Benson 1988, p. 132.
3.Jump up ^ Benson 1988, p. 133.
4.^ Jump up to: a b Benson 1988, p. 134.
5.Jump up ^ Lindner 2009, p. 39.
6.Jump up ^ Black 2005, p. 59.
7.Jump up ^ Benson 1988, p. 22.
8.^ Jump up to: a b Lycett 1996, p. 398.
9.Jump up ^ Benson 1988, p. 23.
10.Jump up ^ Chancellor 2005, p. 204.
11.Jump up ^ Chancellor 2005, p. 15-16.
12.^ Jump up to: a b c d e Chancellor 2005, p. 205.
13.Jump up ^ Macintyre 2008, p. 58.
14.Jump up ^ Chancellor 2005, p. 192.
15.Jump up ^ Macintyre 2008, p. 74.
16.^ Jump up to: a b c Chancellor 2005, p. 113.
17.Jump up ^ Lycett 1996, p. 404.
18.Jump up ^ Macintyre 2008, p. 93.
19.Jump up ^ Macintyre 2008, p. 150.
20.Jump up ^ Macintyre 2008, p. 155.
21.Jump up ^ Chancellor 2005, p. 95.
22.Jump up ^ Benson 1988, p. 131.
23.^ Jump up to: a b c d e Benson 1988, p. 24.
24.^ Jump up to: a b c "New Fiction". The Times. 4 April 1963. p. 16.
25.Jump up ^ Lycett 1996, p. 419.
26.Jump up ^ Lycett 1996, p. 420.
27.Jump up ^ Lycett 1996, p. 430.
28.Jump up ^ Lycett 1996, p. 383.
29.^ Jump up to: a b c d Doolittle, Jerry (25 August 1963). "007 Seems a Bit Longer in Tooth". The Washington Post. p. G7.
30.^ Jump up to: a b Iles, Francis (3 May 1963). "Criminal Records". The Guardian. p. 8.
31.^ Jump up to: a b c Richardson, Maurice (31 March 1963). "The reformation of Fleming and Bond: On Her Majesty's Secret Service". The Observer. p. 25.
32.^ Jump up to: a b Laski, Marghanita (5 April 1963). "Strictly for Thrills". The Times Literary Supplement. p. 229.
33.^ Jump up to: a b c Brackley, Gene (22 August 1963). "Cmdr. James Bond Finds the Going Tough". Boston Globe. p. 19.
34.Jump up ^ Pearson 1967, p. 99.
35.^ Jump up to: a b c d e Boucher, Anthony (25 August 1963). "On Assignment with James Bond". The New York Times.
36.^ Jump up to: a b c d Kirsch, Robert (25 August 1963). "James Bond Appeal? It's Elementary, Watson". Los Angeles Times. p. E14.
37.^ Jump up to: a b c d "Books: Fate Worse than Death". Time. 30 August 1963. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
38.Jump up ^ Lindner 2009, p. 92.
39.Jump up ^ Fleming, Gammidge & McLusky 1988, p. 6.
40.Jump up ^ McLusky et al. 2011, p. 6.
41.Jump up ^ Barnes & Hearn 2001, p. 82.
42.^ Jump up to: a b Smith & Lavington 2002, p. 97.
43.Jump up ^ "BBC Radio 4 – Saturday Drama". BBC. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
Bibliography[edit]
Pearson, John (1967). The Life of Ian Fleming: Creator of James Bond. London: Jonathan Cape.
Benson, Raymond (1988). The James Bond Bedside Companion. London: Boxtree Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85283-233-9.
Fleming, Ian; Gammidge, Henry; McLusky, John (1988). Octopussy. London: Titan Books. ISBN 1-85286-040-5.
Lycett, Andrew (1996). Ian Fleming. London: Phoenix. ISBN 978-1-85799-783-5.
Barnes, Alan; Hearn, Marcus (2001). Kiss Kiss Bang! Bang!: the Unofficial James Bond Film Companion. Batsford Books. ISBN 978-0-7134-8182-2.
Simpson, Paul (2002). The Rough Guide to James Bond. Rough Guides. ISBN 978-1-84353-142-5.
Smith, Jim; Lavington, Stephen (2002). Bond Films. London: Virgin Books. ISBN 978-0-7535-0709-4.
Black, Jeremy (2005). The Politics of James Bond: from Fleming's Novel to the Big Screen. University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 978-0-8032-6240-9.
Chancellor, Henry (2005). James Bond: The Man and His World. London: John Murray. ISBN 978-0-7195-6815-2.
Macintyre, Ben (2008). For Your Eyes Only. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7475-9527-4.
Lindner, Christoph (2009). The James Bond Phenomenon: a Critical Reader. Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-0-7190-6541-5.
McLusky, John; Gammidge, Henry; Lawrence, Jim; Fleming, Ian; Horak, Yaroslav (2011). The James Bond Omnibus Vol. 2. London: Titan Books. ISBN 978-1-84856-432-9.
External links[edit]
Official Website of Ian Fleming Publications


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The Spy Who Loved Me (novel)
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For other uses, see The Spy Who Loved Me (film).
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The Spy Who Loved Me
FlemingTSWLM.jpg
First edition cover, published by Jonathan Cape

Author
Ian Fleming
Cover artist
Richard Chopping (Jonathan Cape ed.)
Country
United Kingdom
Language
English
Series
James Bond
Genre
Spy fiction
Publisher
Jonathan Cape

Publication date
 16 April 1962
Media type
Print (hardback & paperback)
Pages
198
Preceded by
Thunderball
Followed by
On Her Majesty's Secret Service
The Spy Who Loved Me is the ninth novel in Ian Fleming's James Bond series, first published by Jonathan Cape on 16 April 1962. It is the shortest and most sexually explicit of Fleming's novels, as well as a clear departure from previous Bond novels in that the story is told in the first person by a young Canadian woman, Vivienne Michel. Bond himself does not appear until two thirds of the way through the book. Fleming wrote a prologue to the novel giving Michel credit as a co-author.
Due to the reactions by critics and fans, Fleming was not happy with the book and attempted to suppress elements of it where he could: he blocked a paperback edition in the United Kingdom and only gave permission for the title to be used when he sold the film rights to Harry Saltzman and Albert R. Broccoli, rather than any aspects of the plots. However, the character of Jaws is loosely based on one of the characters in the book and a British paperback edition was published after his death.
A heavily adapted version of The Spy Who Loved Me appeared in the Daily Express newspaper in daily comic strip format in 1967–1968. In 1977 the title was used for the tenth film in the Eon Productions series. It was the third to star Roger Moore as Bond and used no plot elements from the novel.


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot summary
2 Characters and themes
3 Background
4 Release and reception 4.1 Reviews
5 Adaptations
6 See also
7 References
8 Bibliography
9 External links

Plot summary[edit]



I found what follows lying on my desk one morning. As you will see, it appears to be the first person story of a young woman, evidently beautiful and not unskilled in the arts of love. According to her story, she appears to have been involved, both perilously and romantically, with the same James Bond whose secret service exploits I myself have written from time to time. With the manuscript was a note signed 'Vivienne Michel' assuring me that what she had written was 'purest truth and from the depths of her heart'. I was interested in this view of James Bond, through the wrong end of the telescope so to speak, and after obtaining clearance for certain minor infringements of the Official Secrets Act I have much pleasure in sponsoring its publication.
Ian Fleming, The Spy Who Loved Me, Prologue
Fleming structured the novel in three sections—"Me", "Them" and "Him" to describe the phases of the story.
Me
Vivienne "Viv" Michel, a young Canadian woman narrates her own story, detailing her past love affairs, the first being with Derek Mallaby, who took her virginity in a field after being thrown out of a cinema in Windsor for indecent exposure. Their physical relationship ended that night and Viv was subsequently rejected when Mallaby sent her a letter from Oxford University saying he was forcibly engaged to someone else by his parents. Viv's second love affair was with her German boss, Kurt Rainer, by whom she would eventually become pregnant. She informed Rainer and he paid for her to go to Switzerland to have an abortion, telling her that their affair was over. After the procedure, Viv returned to her native Canada and started her journey through North America, stopping to work at "The Dreamy Pines Motor Court" in the Adirondack Mountains for managers Jed and Mildred Phancey.
Them
At the end of the vacation season, the Phanceys entrust Viv with looking after the motel for the night before the owner, Mr. Sanguinetti, can arrive to take inventory and close it up for the winter. Two mobsters, "Sluggsy" Morant and Sol "Horror" Horowitz, both of whom work for Sanguinetti, arrive and say they are there to look over the motel for insurance purposes. The two have been hired by Sanguinetti to burn down the motel so that Sanguinetti can make a profit on the insurance. The blame for the fire would fall on Viv, who was to perish in the incident. The mobsters are cruel to Viv and, when she says she does not want to dance with them, they attack her, holding her down and starting to remove her top. They are about to continue the attack with rape when the door buzzer stops them.
Him
British secret service agent James Bond appears at the door asking for a room, having had a flat tyre while passing. Bond quickly realises that Horror and Sluggsy are mobsters and that Viv is in danger. Pressuring the two men, he eventually gets the gangsters to agree to provide him a room. Bond tells Michel that he is in America in the wake of Operation Thunderball and was detailed to protect a Russian nuclear expert who defected to the West and who now lives in Toronto, as part of his quest to ferret out SPECTRE. That night Sluggsy and Horror set fire to the motel and attempt to kill Bond and Michel. A gun battle ensues and, during their escape, Horror and Sluggsy's car crashes into a lake. Bond and Michel retire to bed, but Sluggsy is still alive and makes a further attempt to kill them, before Bond shoots him.
Viv wakes to find Bond gone, leaving a note in which he promises to send her police assistance and which he concludes by telling her not to dwell too much on the ugly events through which she has just lived. As Viv finishes reading the note, a large police detachment arrives. After taking her statement, the officer in charge of the detail reiterates Bond's advice, but also warns Viv that all men involved in violent crime and espionage, regardless of which side they are on—including Bond himself—are dangerous and that Viv should avoid them. Viv reflects on this fact as she motors off at the end of the book, continuing her tour of America, but despite the officer's warning still devoted to the memory of the spy who loved her.
Characters and themes[edit]
Continuation Bond author Raymond Benson sees Vivienne Michel as the best realised female characterisation undertaken by Fleming, partly because the story is told in the first person narrative.[1] Academic Jeremy Black notes that Michel is the closest Fleming gets to kitchen sink realism in the Bond canon:[2] she has been a victim of life in the past,[1] but is wilful and tough, too.[3]
The other characters in the novel are given less attention and Vivienne's second lover, Kurt, is a caricature of a cruel German, who forces her to have an abortion before finishing their affair.[4] According to Black, the two thugs, Sluggsy and Horror, are "comic-book villains with comic-book names".[5] Their characters are not given the same status as other villains in Bond stories, but are second-rate professional killers, which makes them more believable in the story.[3]
As with Casino Royale, the question of morality between Bond and the villains is brought up, again by Bond, but also by the police officer involved.[1] Benson argues that this runs counter to another theme in the novel, which had also appeared in a number of other Bond books including Goldfinger: the concept of Bond as Saint George against the dragon.[1] In this Black agrees, who sees The Spy Who Loved Me as being "an account of the vulnerable under challenge, of the manipulative nature of individuals and of the possibility of being trapped by evil".[6]
Background[edit]



 Goldeneye, where Fleming wrote all the Bond novels, including The Spy Who Loved Me.
The Spy Who Loved Me was written in Jamaica at Fleming's Goldeneye estate in January and February 1961 and was the shortest manuscript Fleming had produced for a novel, being only 113 pages long.[7] Fleming found the book the easiest for him to write and apologised to his editor at Jonathan Cape for the ease.[8] The Spy Who Loved Me has been described by Fleming biographer Andrew Lycett as Fleming's "most sleazy and violent story ever", which may have been indicative of his state of mind at the time.[8]
Fleming borrowed from his surroundings, as he had done with all his writing up to that point, to include places he had seen. One such location was a motel in the Adirondacks in upstate New York, which Fleming would drive past on the way to Ivar Bryce's Black Hollow Farm; this became the Dreamy Pines Motel.[9] Similarly, he took incidents from his own life and used them in the novel: Vivienne Michel's seduction in a box in the Royalty Kinema,[10] Windsor, mirrors Fleming's loss of virginity in the same establishment.[11] A colleague at The Sunday Times, Robert Harling, gave his name to a printer in the story[12] while another minor character, Frank Donaldson, was named after Jack Donaldson, a friend of Fleming's wife.[13] One of Fleming's neighbours in Jamaica was Vivienne Stuart, whose first name Fleming purloined for the novel's heroine.[13]
Release and reception[edit]
“ ... the experiment has obviously gone very much awry ”
—Ian Fleming, in letter to his editor[14]

The Spy Who Loved Me was published on 16 April 1962 in the UK as a hardcover edition by publishers Jonathan Cape; it was 221 pages long and cost 15 shillings.[15] Artist Richard Chopping once again undertook the cover art, and raised his fee from the 200 guineas he had charged for Thunderball, to 250 guineas.[16] The artwork included a commando knife which was borrowed from Fleming's editor, Michael Howard at Jonathan Cape.[17] The Spy Who Loved Me was published in the US by Viking Books on 11 April 1962[18] with 211 pages and costing $3.95.[19]
The reception to the novel was so bad that Fleming wrote to Michael Howard at Jonathan Cape, to explain why he wrote the book: "I had become increasingly surprised to find my thrillers, which were designed for an adult audience, being read in schools, and that young people were making a hero out of James Bond ... So it crossed my mind to write a cautionary tale about Bond, to put the record straight in the minds particularly of younger readers ... the experiment has obviously gone very much awry".[14]
Fleming subsequently requested that there should be no reprints or paperback version of the book[20] and for the British market no paperback version appeared until after Fleming's death.[21] Because of the heightened sexual writing in the novel, it was banned in a number of countries.[22] In the US the story was also published in Stag magazine, with the title changed to Motel Nymph.[23]
Reviews[edit]
Broadly the critics did not welcome Fleming's experiment with the Bond formula and academic Christoph Linder pointed out that The Spy Who Loved Me received the worst reception of all the Bond books.[6] The Daily Telegraph, for example, wrote "Oh Dear Oh Dear Oh Dear! And to think of the books Mr Fleming once wrote!"[14] whilst The Glasgow Herald thought Fleming finished: "His ability to invent a plot has deserted him almost entirely and he has had to substitute for a fast-moving story the sorry misadventures of an upper-class tramp, told in dreary detail".[14] Writing in The Observer, Maurice Richardson described the tale as "a new and regrettable if not altogether unreadable variation",[24] going on to lament: "I hope this doesn't spell the total eclipse of Bond in a blaze of cornography".[24] Richardson ended his piece by berating Fleming, asking: "why can't this cunning author write up a bit instead of down?"[24] The critic for The Times was not dismissive of Bond, who they describe as "less a person than a cult"[15] who is "ruthlessly, fashionably efficient in both love and war".[15] Rather the critic dismisses the experiment, writing that "the novel lacks Mr. Fleming's usual careful construction and must be written off as a disappointment."[15] John Fletcher thought that it was "as if Mickey Spillane had tried to gatecrash his way into the Romantic Novelists' Association"[14]
Philip Stead, writing in The Times Literary Supplement considered the novel to be "a morbid version of that of Beauty and the Beast".[25] The review noted that once Bond arrives on the scene to find Michel threatened by the two thugs, he "solves [the problem] in his usual way. A great quantity of ammunition is expended, the zip-fastener is kept busy and the customary sexual consummation is associated with the kill."[25] Stead also considered that with the words of the police captain "Mr. Fleming seems to have summarized in this character's remarks some of the recent strictures on James Bond's activities."[25] Vernon Scannell, as critic for The Listener, considered The Spy Who Loved Me to be "as silly as it is unpleasant".[26] What aggrieved him most, however, was that "the worst thing about it is that it really is so unremittingly, so grindingly boring."[26]
The critic for Time lamented the fact that "unaccountably lacking in The Spy Who Loved Me are the High-Stake Gambling Scene, the Meal-Ordering Scene, the Torture Scene, the battleship-grey Bentley, and Blades Club."[19] The critic also bemoaned the fact that "among the shocks and disappointments 1962 still has in store ... is the discovery that the cruel, handsome, scarred face of James Bond does not turn up until more than halfway through Ian Fleming's latest book.[19] Anthony Boucher meanwhile wrote that the "author has reached an unprecedented low".[22]
Not all reviews were negative. Esther Howard wrote in The Spectator, "Surprisingly Ian Fleming's new book is a romantic one and, except for some early sex in England (rather well done, this) only just as nasty as is needed to show how absolutely thrilling it is for ... the narrator to be rescued from both death and worse – than by a he-man like James Bond. Myself, I like the Daphne du Maurier touch and prefer it this way but I doubt his real fans will."[27]
Adaptations[edit]
Main articles: James Bond (comic strip) and The Spy Who Loved Me (film)
Comic Strip (1967–1968)
Fleming's original novel was adapted as a daily comic strip which was published in the British Daily Express newspaper and syndicated around the world. The adaptation ran from 18 December 1967 to 3 October 1968. The adaptation was written by Jim Lawrence and illustrated by Yaroslav Horak.[28] It was the last Ian Fleming work to be adapted as a comic strip.[28] The strip was reprinted by Titan Books in The James Bond Omnibus Vol. 2, published in 2011.[29]
The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
In 1977 the title was used for the tenth film in the Eon Productions series. It was the third to star Roger Moore as British Secret Service agent Commander James Bond. Although Fleming had insisted that no film should contain anything of the plot of the novel, the steel-toothed character of Horror was included, although under the name Jaws.[30]
See also[edit]

Portal icon James Bond portal
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 Wikiquote has quotations related to: The Spy Who Loved Me
List of James Bond novels and short stories
Outline of James Bond

References[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b c d Benson 1988, p. 129.
2.Jump up ^ Black 2005, p. 71.
3.^ Jump up to: a b Benson 1988, p. 130.
4.Jump up ^ Black 2005, p. 73.
5.Jump up ^ Black 2005, p. 74.
6.^ Jump up to: a b Black 2005, p. 72.
7.Jump up ^ Benson 1988, p. 21.
8.^ Jump up to: a b Lycett 1996, p. 381.
9.Jump up ^ Chancellor 2005, p. 186.
10.Jump up ^ Macintyre 2008, p. 31.
11.Jump up ^ Chancellor 2005, p. 11.
12.Jump up ^ Chancellor 2005, p. 113.
13.^ Jump up to: a b Lycett 1996, p. 382.
14.^ Jump up to: a b c d e Chancellor 2005, p. 187.
15.^ Jump up to: a b c d "New Fiction". The Times. 19 April 1962. p. 15.
16.Jump up ^ Lycett 1996, p. 390.
17.Jump up ^ Lycett 1996, pp. 390–391.
18.Jump up ^ "Books – Authors". The New York Times. 29 March 1962.
19.^ Jump up to: a b c "Books: Of Human Bondage". Time. 13 April 1962. Retrieved 19 October 2011.
20.Jump up ^ Lycett 1996, p. 402.
21.Jump up ^ Lycett 1996, p. 446.
22.^ Jump up to: a b Benson 1988, p. 23.
23.Jump up ^ Simpson 2002, p. 43.
24.^ Jump up to: a b c Richardson, Maurice (15 April 1962). "Crime Ration". The Observer. p. 28.
25.^ Jump up to: a b c Stead, Philip John (20 April 1962). "Bond's New Girl". The Times Literary Supplement. p. 261.
26.^ Jump up to: a b Scannell, Vernon (3 May 1962). "New Novels". The Listener.
27.Jump up ^ Howard, Esther (1 June 1962). "The Spy Who Loved Me". The Spectator (London). p. 728.
28.^ Jump up to: a b Fleming, Gammidge & McLusky 1988, p. 6.
29.Jump up ^ McLusky et al. 2011, p. 285.
30.Jump up ^ Barnes & Hearn 2001, p. 121.
Bibliography[edit]
Benson, Raymond (1988). The James Bond Bedside Companion. London: Boxtree Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85283-233-9.
Fleming, Ian; Gammidge, Henry; McLusky, John (1988). Octopussy. London: Titan Books. ISBN 1-85286-040-5.
Lycett, Andrew (1996). Ian Fleming. London: Phoenix. ISBN 978-1-85799-783-5.
Barnes, Alan; Hearn, Marcus (2001). Kiss Kiss Bang! Bang!: the Unofficial James Bond Film Companion. Batsford Books. ISBN 978-0-7134-8182-2.
Simpson, Paul (2002). The Rough Guide to James Bond. Rough Guides. ISBN 978-1-84353-142-5.
Black, Jeremy (2005). The Politics of James Bond: from Fleming's Novel to the Big Screen. University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 978-0-8032-6240-9.
Chancellor, Henry (2005). James Bond: The Man and His World. London: John Murray. ISBN 978-0-7195-6815-2.
Macintyre, Ben (2008). For Your Eyes Only. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7475-9527-4.
McLusky, John; Gammidge, Henry; Lawrence, Jim; Fleming, Ian; Horak, Yaroslav (2011). The James Bond Omnibus Vol. 2. London: Titan Books. ISBN 978-1-84856-432-9.
External links[edit]
Ian Fleming Bibliography of James Bond 1st Editions


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Thunderball (novel)
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Thunderball
IanFleming Thunderball.jpg
First edition cover, published by Jonathan Cape

Author
Ian Fleming
Cover artist
Richard Chopping (Jonathan Cape ed.)
Country
United Kingdom
Language
English
Series
James Bond
Genre
Spy fiction
Publisher
Jonathan Cape

Publication date
 27 March 1961
Media type
Print (hardback & paperback)
Preceded by
For Your Eyes Only
Followed by
The Spy Who Loved Me
Thunderball is the ninth book in Ian Fleming's James Bond series, and the eighth full length James Bond novel. It was first published in the UK by Jonathan Cape on 27 March 1961, where the initial print run of 50,938 copies quickly sold out. The first novelization of an unfilmed James Bond screenplay, it was born from a collaboration by five people: Ian Fleming, Kevin McClory, Jack Whittingham, Ivar Bryce and Ernest Cuneo, although the controversial shared credit of Fleming, McClory and Whittingham was the result of a courtroom decision.
The story centres on the theft of two atomic bombs by the crime syndicate SPECTRE and the subsequent attempted blackmail of the Western powers for their return. James Bond, Secret Service operative 007, travels to the Bahamas to work with his friend Felix Leiter, seconded back into the CIA for the investigation. Thunderball also introduces SPECTRE's leader Ernst Stavro Blofeld, in the first of three appearances in Bond novels, with On Her Majesty's Secret Service and You Only Live Twice being the others.
Thunderball has been adapted three times, once in a comic strip format for the Daily Express newspaper and twice for the cinema. The Daily Express strip was cut short on the order of its owner, Lord Beaverbrook, after Ian Fleming signed an agreement with The Sunday Times to publish a short story. On screen, Thunderball was released in 1965 as the fourth film in the Eon Productions series, with Sean Connery as James Bond. The second adaptation, Never Say Never Again, was released as an independent production in 1983 also starring Connery as Bond and was produced by Kevin McClory.


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot
2 Characters and themes
3 Background 3.1 Writing and copyright 3.1.1 Chronology
3.1.2 Script elements

4 Release and reception 4.1 Reviews
5 Adaptations
6 See also
7 References
8 Bibliography
9 External links

Plot[edit]
Thunderball begins with a meeting between Bond and his superior, M, during which the agent is told that his latest physical assessment is poor because of excessive drinking and smoking (up to sixty cigarettes a day). M sends Bond on a two-week treatment at the Shrublands health clinic to improve his health. At the clinic Bond encounters Count Lippe, a member of the Red Lightning Tong criminal organisation from Macau. When Bond learns of the Tong connection, Lippe tries to kill him by tampering with a spinal traction machine. Bond, however, is saved by nurse Patricia Fearing and later retaliates against Lippe by trapping him in a steam bath, resulting in the Count's second-degree burns and a week's stay in hospital.



 The Vickers Valiant: closest relation to the fictional Vindicator
The Prime Minister receives a communiqué from SPECTRE (SPecial Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion) explaining that the organisation has hijacked a Villiers Vindicator and seized its two nuclear bombs, which it will use to destroy two major cities unless a £100,000,000 ransom is paid. This is SPECTRE's Plan Omega. SPECTRE is headed by criminal mastermind Ernst Stavro Blofeld. Count Lippe was dispatched to Shrublands to oversee Giuseppe Petacchi of the Italian Air Force, at the Boscombe Down Airfield, a bomber squadron base. Although Lippe was successful, Blofeld considered him unreliable, because of his childish clash with Bond and, as a consequence, Blofeld has Lippe killed.
Acting as a NATO observer of Royal Air Force procedure, Petacchi is in SPECTRE's pay to hijack the bomber in mid-flight by killing its crew and flying it to the Bahamas. Once there, Petacchi is killed and the plane, with bombs, are taken by Emilio Largo (aka SPECTRE Number One) on board the cruiser yacht Disco Volante.
The Americans and the British launch Operation Thunderball to foil SPECTRE and recover the two atomic bombs. On a hunch, M assigns Bond to the Bahamas to investigate. There, Bond meets Felix Leiter, seconded to the CIA from his usual role at Pinkertons because of the Thunderball crisis. While in Nassau, Bond meets Dominetta "Domino" Vitali, Largo's mistress and the sister of the dead pilot Giuseppe Petacchi. She is living on board the Disco Volante and believes Largo is on a treasure hunt, although Largo makes her stay ashore while he and his partners hunt hidden treasure. After seducing her, Bond informs her that Largo killed her brother; Bond then recruits her to spy on Largo. Domino re-boards the Disco Volante with a Geiger counter to ascertain if the yacht is where the two nuclear bombs are hidden. However, she is discovered and Largo tortures her for information.
Bond and Leiter alert the Thunderball war room of their suspicions of Largo and join the crew of the American nuclear submarine Manta as the ransom deadline nears. The Manta chases the Disco Volante to capture it and recover the bombs en route to the first target. An undersea battle ensues between the crews, while Bond fights Largo. Bond, now very weak from his efforts to disable the bombs, tries to get away, but Largo corners him in an underwater cave and easily overpowers him. Before Largo can finish Bond off Domino shoots him with a spear gun. The bombs are recovered and Bond is sent to hospital with Domino.
Characters and themes[edit]
According to continuation Bond author Raymond Benson, there was further development of the Bond character in Thunderball, with glimpses of both his sense of humour and his own sense of mortality being shown.[1] Felix Leiter had his largest role to date in a Bond story and much of his humour came though,[2] whilst his incapacity, suffered in Live and Let Die, had not led to bitterness or to him being unable to join in with the underwater fight scene towards the end of the novel.[2]
Academic Christoph Linder sees Thunderball as part of the second wave of Bond villains: the first wave consisted of SMERSH, the second of Blofeld and SPECTRE, undertaken because of the thawing of relations between East and West,[3] although the cold war heated up again shortly afterwards, with the Bay of Pigs Invasion, the construction of the Berlin Wall and the Cuban Missile Crisis all occurring in an eighteen month period from April 1961 – November 1962.[4] The introduction of SPECTRE and its use over a number of books gives a measure of continuity to the remaining stories in the series, according to academic Jeremy Black.[5] Black argues that SPECTRE represents "evil unconstrained by ideology"[6] and it partly came about because the decline of the British Empire led to a lack of certainty in Fleming's mind.[6] This is reflected in Bond using US equipment and personnel in the novel, such as the Geiger counter and nuclear submarine.[7]
Background[edit]
As with the previous novels in the series, aspects of Thunderball come from Fleming's own experiences: the visit to the health clinic was inspired by his own 1955 trip to the Enton Hall health farm[8] and Bond's medical record, as read out to him by M, is a slightly modified version of Fleming's own.[9] The name of the health farm, Shrublands, was taken from that of a house owned by the parents of his wife's friend, Peter Quennell.[10] Fleming dedicates a quarter of the novel to the Shrublands setting and the naturalist cure Bond undergoes.[11]



 The Ordzhonikidze was a Sverdlov class cruiser similar to that shown in this photograph (The Alexander Nevsky).
Bond's examination of the hull of the Disco Volante was inspired by the ill-fated mission undertaken on 19 April 1956 by the ex-Royal Navy frogman "Buster" Crabb on behalf of MI6, as he examined the hull of the Soviet cruiser Ordzhonikidze that had brought Nikita Khrushchev and Nikolai Bulganin on a diplomatic mission to Britain. Crabb disappeared in Portsmouth Harbour and was never seen again.[12] As well as having Buster Crabb in mind, Fleming would also recall the information about the 10th Light Flotilla, an elite unit of Italian navy frogmen who used wrecked ships in Gibraltar to launch attacks on Allied shipping.[13] The specifications for the Disco Volante herself had been obtained by Fleming from the Italian ship designer, Leopold Rodriguez.[14]
As often happened in Fleming's novels, a number of names were taken from people of whom he had known. Ernst Stavro Blofeld's name partially comes from Tom Blofeld, a Norfolk farmer and a fellow member of Fleming's club Boodle's, who was a contemporary of Fleming's at Eton.[15] Tom Blofeld's son is Henry Blofeld, a sports journalist, best known as a cricket commentator for Test Match Special on BBC Radio.[16] Additionally, when Largo rents his beachside villa, it is from "an Englishman named Bryce", whose name was taken from Old Etonian Ivar Bryce, Fleming's friend, who had a beachside property in Jamaica called Xanadu.[10]
Other names used by Fleming included a colleague at The Sunday Times, Robert Harling, who was transformed into Commissioner of Police Harling, whilst an ex-colleague from his stock broking days, Hugo Pitman, became Chief of Immigration Pitman and Fleming's golfing friend, Bunny Roddick, became Deputy Governor Roddick.[17] The title Thunderball came from a conversation Fleming had about a US atomic test.[14]
Writing and copyright[edit]
Chronology[edit]
In the summer of 1958 Fleming and his friend, Ivar Bryce, began talking about the possibility of a Bond film; in the autumn of 1958 Bryce introduced Fleming to a young Irish writer and director, Kevin McClory, and the three of them, together with Fleming and Bryce's friend Ernest Cuneo, formed the partnership Xanadu Productions,[18] named after Bryce's Bahamian home,[19] but which was never actually formed into a company.[20] In May 1959 Fleming, Bryce, Cuneo and McClory met first at Bryce's Essex house and then in McClory's London home as they came up with a story outline[21] which was based on an aeroplane full of celebrities and a female lead called Fatima Blush.[22] McClory was fascinated by the underwater world and wanted to make a film that included it.[18] Over the next few months, as the story changed, there were ten outlines, treatments and scripts.[21] Numerous titles were proposed for these works, including SPECTRE, James Bond of the Secret Service and Longitude 78 West.[23]
Much of the attraction Fleming felt working alongside McClory was based on McClory's film, The Boy and the Bridge,[24] which was the official British entry to the 1959 Venice Film Festival.[19] However, when the film was released in July 1959, it was poorly received, and did not do well at the box office;[23] Fleming became disenchanted with McClory's ability as a result.[25] In October 1959, with Fleming spending less time on the project,[23] McClory introduced experienced screenwriter Jack Whittingham to the writing process.[26] In November 1959 Fleming left to travel around the world on behalf of The Sunday Times, material for which Fleming also used for his non-fiction travel book, Thrilling Cities.[27] On his travels – through Japan, Hong Kong and into the US, Fleming met with McClory and Ivar Bryce in New York and McClory told Fleming that Whittingham had completed a full outline, which was ready to shoot.[28] Back in Britain in December 1959, Fleming met with McClory and Whittingham for a script conference; shortly afterwards McClory and Whittingham sent Fleming a script, Longitude 78 West, which Fleming considered to be good, although he changed the title to Thunderball.[29]
In January 1960 McClory visited Fleming's Jamaican home Goldeneye, where Fleming explained his intention of delivering the screenplay to MCA, with a recommendation from him and Bryce that McClory act as producer.[30] Additionally, Fleming told McClory that if MCA rejected the film because of McClory's involvement, then McClory should either sell himself to MCA, back out of the deal, or file suit in court.[30]
Fleming then wrote the novel Thunderball at Goldeneye over the period January to March 1960, based on the screenplay written by himself, Whittingham and McClory.[31] In March 1961 McClory read an advance copy of the book and he and Whittingham immediately petitioned the High Court in London for an injunction to stop publication.[32] The case was heard on 24 March 1961 and allowed the book to be published, although the door was left open for McClory to pursue further action at a later date.[33] He did so and on 19 November 1963, the case of McClory v Fleming was heard at the Chancery Division of the High Court. The case lasted three weeks, during which time Fleming was unwell—including having a heart attack during the case itself[34]—and, under advice from his friend Ivar Bryce, they offered a deal to McClory, settling out of court. McClory gained the literary and film rights for the screenplay, while Fleming was given the rights to the novel, although it had to be recognised as being "based on a screen treatment by Kevin McClory, Jack Whittingham and the Author".[35] On settlement, "Fleming ultimately admitted '[t]hat the novel reproduces a substantial part of the copyright material in the film scripts'; '[t]hat the novel makes use of a substantial number of the incidents and material in the film scripts'; and '[t]hat there is a general similarity of the story of the novel and the story as set out in the said film scripts'."[36] On 12 August 1964, nine months after the conclusion of the trial, Fleming suffered a further heart attack and died at the age of 56.[34]
Script elements[edit]
When the script was first drafted in May 1959, with the storyline of an aeroplane of celebrities in the Atlantic, it included elements from Fleming's friend Ernie Cuneo, who included ships with underwater trapdoor in their hulls and an underwater battle scene.[37] The Russians were originally the villains,[21] then the Sicilian Mafia, but this was later changed again to the international organised criminal organisation, SPECTRE. Both McClory and Fleming claim to have come up with the concept of SPECTRE; Fleming biographer Andrew Lycett and John Cork both note Fleming as the originator of the group, Lycett saying that "[Fleming] proposed that Bond should confront not the Russians but SPECTRE ..."[37] whilst Cork produced a memorandum in which Fleming called for the change to SPECTRE:



My suggestion on (b) is that SPECTRE, short for Special Executive for Terrorism, Revolution and Espionage, is an immensely powerful organisation armed by ex-members of SMERSH, the Gestapo, the Mafia, and the Black Tong of Peking, which is placing these bombs in N.A.T.O. bases with the objective of then blackmailing the Western powers for £100 million or else.
Ian Fleming: memo to Whittingham and McClory[38]
Cork also noted that Fleming used the word "spectre" previously: in the fourth novel, Diamonds Are Forever, for a town near Las Vegas called "Spectreville", and for "spektor", the cryptograph decoder in From Russia, with Love. Others, such as continuation Bond author Raymond Benson, disagree, saying that McClory came up with the SPECTRE concept.[21]
Those elements which Fleming used which can be put down to McClory and Whittingham (either separately or together) include the airborne theft of a nuclear bomb,[39] "Jo" Petachi and his sister Sophie, and Jo's death at the hands of Sophie's boss.[40] The remainder of the screenplay was a two-year collaboration among Fleming, Whittingham, McClory, Bryce and Cuneo.
Release and reception[edit]
Thunderball was published on 27 March 1961 in the UK as a hardcover edition by publishers Jonathan Cape; it was 253 pages long and cost 15 shillings.[41] 50,938 copies were printed[42] and quickly sold out.[18] Thunderball was published in the US by Viking Press and sold better than any of the previous Bond books.[32] Publishers Jonathan Cape spent £2,000 (£38,844 in 2014 pounds[43]) on advance publicity.[33] Cape sent out 130 review copies to critics and others and 32,000 copies of the novel had been sent to 864 UK booksellers and 603 outside the UK.[33]
“ The title of the book will be Thunderball. It is immensely long, immensely dull and only your jacket can save it! ”
—Ian Fleming, in a letter to cover artist Richard Chopping[42]

Artist Richard Chopping once again provided the cover art for the novel. On 20 July 1960 Fleming wrote to Chopping to ask if he could undertake the art for the next book, agreeing on a fee of 200 guineas, saying that "I will ask [Jonathan Cape] to produce an elegant skeleton hand and an elegant Queen of Hearts. As to the dagger, I really have no strong views. I had thought of the ordinary flick knife as used by teenagers on people like you and me, but if you have a nice dagger in mind please let us use it. The title of the book will be Thunderball. It is immensely long, immensely dull and only your jacket can save it!"[42]
Reviews[edit]
Thunderball was generally well received by the critics; Francis Iles, writing in The Guardian wrote that it "is a good, tough, straightforward thriller on perfectly conventional lines."[44] Referring to the negative publicity that surrounded Dr. No—in particular the article by Paul Johnson in the New Statesman entitled, "Sex, Snobbery and Sadism"—Iles was left "wondering what all the fuss is about",[44] noting that "there is no more sadism nor sex than is expected of the author of this kind of thriller".[44] Peter Duval Smith, writing in Financial Times, also took the opportunity to defend Fleming's work against negative criticism, also specifically naming Paul Johnson and his review: "one should not make a cult of Fleming's novels: a day-dream is a day-dream; but nor should one make the mistake of supposing he does not know what he is doing."[45] Duval Smith thought that Thunderball was "an exciting story is skilfully told",[45] with "a romantic sub-plot ... and the denouement involves great events"[45] He also considered it "the best written since Diamonds Are Forever, four books back. It has pace and humour and style. The violence is not so unrelenting as usual: an improvement, I think."[45] He also expressed concern for the central character, saying "I was glad to see him [Bond] in such good form. Earlier he seemed to be softening up. He was having bad hangovers on half-a-bottle of whisky a day, which I don't call a lot, unless he wasn't eating properly."[45]
Writing in The Times Literary Supplement, Phillip Stead thought that Fleming "continues uninhibitedly to deploy his story-telling talents within the limits of the Commander Bond formula."[46] Stead saw that the hijacking of the two bombs "gives Bond some anxiety but, needless to say, does not prevent him from having a good deal of fun in luxury surroundings",[46] whilst "the usual beatings-up, modern style, are ingeniously administered to lady and gentleman like".[46] As to why the novels were so appealing, Stead considered that "Mr. Fleming's special magic lies in his power to impart sophistication to his mighty nonsense; his fantasies connect with up-to-date and lively knowledge of places and of the general sphere of crime and espionage."[46] Overall, in Stead's opinion, with Thunderball "the mixture, exotic as ever, generates an extravagant and exhilarating tale and Bond connoisseurs will be glad to have it."[46] The critic for The Times wrote that Thunderball "relies for its kicks far less than did Dr. No or Goldfinger on sadism and a slightly condescending sophistication."[41] The upshot, in the critic's opinion, was that "the mixture—of good living, sex and violent action—is as before, but this is a highly polished performance, with an ingenious plot well documented and plenty of excitement."[41]
Writing in The Washington Post, Harold Kneeland noted that Thunderball was "Not top Fleming, but still well ahead of the pack",[47] whilst Charles Poore, writing in The New York Times considered the Bond novels to be "post-Dostoevskian ventures in crime and punishment".[48] Thunderball he found to be "a mystery story, a thriller, a chiller and a pleasure to read."[48] Poore identified aspects of the author's technique to be part of the success, saying "the suspense and the surprises that animate the novel arise from the conceits with which Mr. Fleming decorates his tapestry of thieving and deceiving".[48]
The critic from The Sunday Times considered Fleming to have "a sensational imagination, but informed by style, zest and—above all—knowledge".[49] Anthony Boucher wrote that "As usual, Ian Fleming has less story to tell in 90,000 words than Buchan managed in 40,000; but Thunderball is still an extravagant adventure".[32] The critic for the Daily Herald implored "Hey!—that man is taking his clothes off again. So is the girl ... Can anybody stop this? Unfortunately not. Not this side of the best-seller lists. I don't envy Mr Bond's wealthy creator, Ian Fleming. I wish I could pity him",[49] whilst L.G. Offord considered Thunderball to be "just about as wild as ever, with a walloping climax."[32]
Adaptations[edit]
Main articles: James Bond (comic strip), Thunderball (film) and Never Say Never Again
Comic strip (1961–1962)
A comic strip adaptation was published daily in the Daily Express newspaper and syndicated worldwide, beginning on 11 December 1961.[50] However, the owner of the Daily Express, Lord Beaverbrook, cancelled the strip[51] on 10 February 1962[50] after Fleming signed an agreement with The Sunday Times for them to publish the short story "The Living Daylights".[51] Thunderball was reprinted in 2005 by Titan Books as part of the Dr. No anthology that also includes Diamonds Are Forever and From Russia, with Love.[52]
Thunderball (1965)
In 1965, the film Thunderball was released, starring Sean Connery as James Bond. The film was produced as the fourth Eon Productions film and, as well as listing Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman as producers, Kevin McClory was also included in the production team: Broccoli and Saltzman made a deal with McClory, to undertake a joint production of Thunderball, which stopped McClory from making any further version of the novel for a period of ten years following the release of the Eon-produced version.[53] Thunderball premiered in Tokyo on 9 December 1965, grossing $141.2 million at the global box office.[54]
Never Say Never Again (1983)
In 1983 Kevin McClory produced a version of the Thunderball story, again with Sean Connery as Bond.[55] The film premiered in New York on 7 October 1983,[56] grossing $9.72 million ($23 million in 2014 dollars[57]) on its first weekend,[58] which was reported to be "the best opening record of any James Bond film"[58] up to that point.
Warhead (1990s)
In the 1990s, McClory announced plans to make another adaption of the Thunderball story, Warhead 2000 AD, with Timothy Dalton or Liam Neeson in the lead role, but this was eventually dropped.[59][60]
See also[edit]

Portal icon James Bond portal
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 Wikiquote has quotations related to: Thunderball
List of James Bond novels and short stories
Outline of James Bond
The Battle for Bond
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Benson 1988, p. 124.
2.^ Jump up to: a b Benson 1988, p. 126.
3.Jump up ^ Lindner 2009, p. 81.
4.Jump up ^ Black 2005, p. 49-50.
5.Jump up ^ Black 2005, p. 49.
6.^ Jump up to: a b Black 2005, p. 50.
7.Jump up ^ Black 2005, p. 53-4.
8.Jump up ^ Lycett 1996, p. 290.
9.Jump up ^ Chancellor 2005, p. 164.
10.^ Jump up to: a b Chancellor 2005, p. 113.
11.Jump up ^ Lindner 2009, p. 51.
12.Jump up ^ Chancellor 2005, p. 197.
13.Jump up ^ Lycett 1996, p. 145.
14.^ Jump up to: a b Macintyre 2008, p. 199.
15.Jump up ^ Chancellor 2005, p. 117.
16.Jump up ^ Macintyre, Ben (5 April 2008). "Bond – the real Bond". The Times. p. 36.
17.Jump up ^ Lycett 1996, p. 366.
18.^ Jump up to: a b c Benson 1988, p. 17.
19.^ Jump up to: a b Lycett 1996, p. 348.
20.Jump up ^ Lycett 1996, p. 349.
21.^ Jump up to: a b c d Benson 1988, p. 18.
22.Jump up ^ Pearson 1967, p. 371.
23.^ Jump up to: a b c Benson 1988, p. 19.
24.Jump up ^ Pearson 1967, p. 367.
25.Jump up ^ Pearson 1967, p. 372-373.
26.Jump up ^ Pearson 1967, p. 374.
27.Jump up ^ Pearson 1967, p. 375.
28.Jump up ^ Lycett 1996, p. 359.
29.Jump up ^ Benson 1988, p. 231.
30.^ Jump up to: a b Pearson 1967, p. 381.
31.Jump up ^ Benson 1988, p. 20.
32.^ Jump up to: a b c d Benson 1988, p. 21.
33.^ Jump up to: a b c "Law Report, March 24". The Times. 25 March 1961. p. 12.
34.^ Jump up to: a b Sellers, Robert (30 December 2007). "The battle for the soul of Thunderball". The Sunday Times.
35.Jump up ^ Lycett 1996, p. 432.
36.Jump up ^ Judge M. Margaret McKeown (27 August 2001). "Danjaq et al. v. Sony Corporation et al.". United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. p. 9. Archived from the original on 4 October 2006. Retrieved 27 November 2006.
37.^ Jump up to: a b Lycett 1996, p. 350.
38.Jump up ^ "Inside Thunderball by John Cork". Inside Thunderball. Archived from the original on 12 April 2005. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
39.Jump up ^ Lycett 1996, p. 365.
40.Jump up ^ Lycett 1996, p. 356.
41.^ Jump up to: a b c "New Fiction". The Times. 30 March 1961. p. 15.
42.^ Jump up to: a b c Midwinter, Janet (4 April 2010). "The man with the Golden Grudge". Mail on Sunday. Retrieved 14 October 2011.
43.Jump up ^ UK CPI inflation numbers based on data available from Gregory Clark (2014), "What Were the British Earnings and Prices Then? (New Series)" MeasuringWorth.
44.^ Jump up to: a b c Iles, Francis (7 April 1961). "Criminal Records". The Guardian. p. 7.
45.^ Jump up to: a b c d e Duval Smith, Peter (30 March 1961). "No Ethical Frame". Financial Times. p. 20.
46.^ Jump up to: a b c d e Stead, Philip John (31 March 1961). "Mighty Nonsense". The Times Literary Supplement. p. 206.
47.Jump up ^ Kneeland, Harold (11 June 1961). "MI-5's James Bond and Other Sleuths". The Washington Post. p. E7.
48.^ Jump up to: a b c Poore, Charles (4 July 1961). "Books of the Times". The New York Times.
49.^ Jump up to: a b Chancellor 2005, p. 165.
50.^ Jump up to: a b Fleming, Gammidge & McLusky 1988, p. 6.
51.^ Jump up to: a b Simpson 2002, p. 21.
52.Jump up ^ McLusky et al. 2009, p. 287.
53.Jump up ^ Chapman 2009, p. 184.
54.Jump up ^ "Thunderball". The Numbers. Nash Information Services, LLC. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
55.Jump up ^ Barnes & Hearn 2001, p. 154.
56.Jump up ^ Barnes & Hearn 2001, p. 156.
57.Jump up ^ Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–2014. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
58.^ Jump up to: a b Hanauer, Joan (18 October 1983). "Connery Champ". United Press International.
59.Jump up ^ Rye, Graham (7 December 2006). "Kevin McClory". The Independent. Retrieved 5 September 2011.
60.Jump up ^ Smith, Liz (21 December 1998). "Remakes on tap". The New York Post. p. 14.
Bibliography[edit]
Pearson, John (1967). The Life of Ian Fleming: Creator of James Bond. London: Jonathan Cape.
Benson, Raymond (1988). The James Bond Bedside Companion. London: Boxtree Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85283-233-9.
Fleming, Ian; Gammidge, Henry; McLusky, John (1988). Octopussy. London: Titan Books. ISBN 1-85286-040-5.
Lycett, Andrew (1996). Ian Fleming. London: Phoenix. ISBN 978-1-85799-783-5.
Barnes, Alan; Hearn, Marcus (2001). Kiss Kiss Bang! Bang!: the Unofficial James Bond Film Companion. London: Batsford Books. ISBN 978-0-7134-8182-2.
Simpson, Paul (2002). The Rough Guide to James Bond. London: Rough Guides. ISBN 978-1-84353-142-5.
Black, Jeremy (2005). The Politics of James Bond: from Fleming's Novel to the Big Screen. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 978-0-8032-6240-9.
Chancellor, Henry (2005). James Bond: The Man and His World. London: John Murray. ISBN 978-0-7195-6815-2.
Macintyre, Ben (2008). For Your Eyes Only. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7475-9527-4.
Chapman, James (2009). Licence to Thrill: A Cultural History of the James Bond Films. New York: I.B. Tauris. ISBN 978-1-84511-515-9.
Lindner, Christoph (2009). The James Bond Phenomenon: a Critical Reader. Manchester: Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-0-7190-6541-5.
McLusky, John; Gammidge, Henry; Hern, Anthony; Fleming, Ian (2009). The James Bond Omnibus Vol.1. London: Titan Books. ISBN 978-1-84856-364-3.
External links[edit]
Official Website of Ian Fleming Publications


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For Your Eyes Only (short story collection)
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For Your Eyes Only
FlemingFYEO.jpg
First edition cover, published by Jonathan Cape

Author
Ian Fleming
Cover artist
Richard Chopping
Country
United Kingdom
Language
English
Series
James Bond
Genre
Spy fiction
Publisher
Jonathan Cape

Publication date
 11 April 1960
Media type
Print (hardback & paperback)
Preceded by
Goldfinger
Followed by
Thunderball
For Your Eyes Only is a collection of short stories by the British author Ian Fleming, featuring the fictional British Secret Service agent Commander James Bond. It was first published by Jonathan Cape on 11 April 1960. It marked a change of format for Fleming, who had previously written James Bond stories only as full-length novels.
The collection contains five short stories: "From a View to a Kill", "For Your Eyes Only", "Quantum of Solace", "Risico" and "The Hildebrand Rarity". Four of the stories were adaptations of plots for a television series that was never filmed, while the fifth Fleming had written previously but not published. Fleming undertook some minor experiments with the format, including a story written as an homage to W. Somerset Maugham, an author he greatly admired.
Elements from the stories have been used in a number of the Eon Productions James Bond film series, including the 1981 film, For Your Eyes Only, starring Roger Moore as James Bond. The film used some elements and characters from the short stories "For Your Eyes Only" and "Risico". "From a View to a Kill" also gave part of its title (but no characters or plot elements) to the fourteenth Bond film, A View to a Kill (1985), while plot elements from "The Hildebrand Rarity" were used in the sixteenth Bond film, Licence to Kill (1989). "Quantum of Solace" was used as the title for the twenty-second Bond film.


Contents  [hide]
1 Plots 1.1 "From a View to a Kill"
1.2 "For Your Eyes Only"
1.3 "Quantum of Solace"
1.4 "Risico"
1.5 "The Hildebrand Rarity"
2 Characters and themes
3 Background
4 Release and reception 4.1 Reviews
5 Adaptations
6 See also
7 References
8 Bibliography
9 External links

Plots[edit]
"From a View to a Kill" [edit]
Bond investigates the murder of a motorcycle dispatch-rider and the theft of his top-secret documents by a motorcycle-riding assassin. The rider was en route from SHAPE, the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, then located in Versailles, to his base, Station F, in Saint-Germain in France. Since Bond is already in Paris, his superior, M, sends him to assist in the investigation in any way he can. Bond disguises himself as a dispatch-rider and follows the same journey to Station F as the previous rider: as expected, the assassin attempts to kill Bond. Bond, however, is ready and kills the assassin. He then uncovers the assassin's hidden base of operations.
"For Your Eyes Only" [edit]
"For Your Eyes Only" begins with the murder of the Havelocks, a British couple in Jamaica who have refused to sell their estate to Herr von Hammerstein, a former Gestapo officer who is the chief of counterintelligence for the Cuban secret service. They are killed by two Cuban hitmen at the direction of their leader, Major Gonzales; all three work for von Hammerstein. The Havelocks turn out to be close friends of M, who served as the groom's best man during their wedding in 1925. M subsequently gives Bond a voluntary assignment, unconnected to sanctioned Secret Service duties, to travel to Vermont via Canada, find von Hammerstein at his rented estate at Echo Lake and assassinate him as a warning to future criminals who might think to target British citizens. When Bond arrives on the scene, he finds the Havelocks' daughter, Judy, who intends to carry out her own mission of revenge with a bow and arrow. Judy kills von Hammerstein by shooting him in the back with a arrow from 100 yards (91 m) away at the exact moment that he dives into a lake. A shoot-out then occurs between Bond and Gonzales and the two Cuban gunmen. Bond kills all of them and returns to Canada with Judy, who has been wounded during the gunfight.
"Quantum of Solace" [edit]
After completing a mission in the Bahamas, Bond is in Nassau and attends a dinner party at Government House. When the other guests have left, Bond remarks that if he ever marries, he imagines it would be nice to marry an air hostess. The Governor then tells Bond the story of a relationship between a former civil servant, Philip Masters and air hostess Rhoda Llewellyn. After meeting aboard a flight to London, the couple married, and went to live in Bermuda, but after a time Rhoda began a long open affair with the eldest son of a rich Bermudian family. As a result, Masters' work deteriorated, and he suffered a nervous breakdown. After recovering, he was given a break from Bermuda by the governor and sent on an assignment to Washington. Upon his return Masters was determined to end his marriage and he divided their home into two sections, half to each of them and refused to have anything to do with his wife in private—although they continued to appear as a couple in public. He eventually returned to the UK alone, leaving Rhoda with unpaid debts and stranded in Bermuda—a cruel act which he would have been incapable of carrying out just a few months earlier. The governor explains his point to Bond: when the "Quantum of Solace" drops to zero, humanity and consideration of one human for another is gone and the relationship is finished. Despite the success of Masters' plan to take revenge on his unfaithful wife, he never recovered emotionally. After a time, Rhoda married a rich Canadian. The governor then reveals that the dinner companions whom Bond found dull were in fact Rhoda and her rich Canadian husband.
"Risico" [edit]
Bond is sent by M to investigate a drug-smuggling operation based in Italy that is sending narcotics to England. M instructs Bond to get in touch with a CIA informant, Kristatos, who in turn tells Bond that a man named Enrico Colombo is behind the racket. When Bond sets out to find more information on Colombo, he is captured and brought aboard Colombo's ship, the Colombina. Colombo informs Bond that Kristatos is actually the one in charge of the drug smuggling operation, and that Kristatos is backed by the Russians. Colombo agrees to help Bond by providing information about things "as long as none of it comes back to Italy"; Bond agrees to help Colombo eliminate Kristatos. Bond, Colombo, and his men sail the Colombina to Santa Maria when Kristatos's men are loading another shipment of drugs, they attack Kristatos's ship and adjacent warehouse and discover Kristatos lurking near the warehouse, preparing to detonate a bomb. Kristatos tries to escape, but is killed by Bond.
"The Hildebrand Rarity" [edit]



 A squirrel-fish; the Hildebrand Rarity was a rare member of the species.
Bond is on an assignment in the Seychelles Islands; through Fidele Barbey, his influential and well-connected local contact, he meets an uncouth American millionaire named Milton Krest, who challenges the two to aid him in the search for a rare fish, The Hildebrand Rarity. Bond, Barbey, Krest and his English wife, Elizabeth, set off aboard the Wavekrest in search of the fish. During the journey, Bond learns that Milton verbally and physically abuses everyone around him, especially his wife—whom he punishes with the use of a stingray tail he dubs "The Corrector". Krest finds the Hildebrand Rarity and kills it—along with many other fish—by pouring poison into the water. After finding and killing the Hildebrand Rarity, the Wavekrest sets sail for port. Along the way Krest gets very drunk, insults Bond and Barbey and tells his wife he will beat her again with the stingray tail. Later that night, Bond hears Krest choking; investigating, Bond finds that Krest has been murdered—apparently by having the rare fish stuffed down his throat. So as not to be entangled in a murder investigation, Bond throws Krest overboard and cleans up the scene of the crime, making it look as though Krest fell overboard after one of the ropes holding his hammock broke: Bond suspects both Barbey and Mrs. Krest, but is unsure which is responsible. However, when Mrs. Krest invites Bond to sail with her to Mombasa—his next destination—aboard the Wavekrest, he accepts her invitation with reservations.
Characters and themes[edit]
Continuation Bond author Raymond Benson notes that two of the stories ("Quantum of Solace" and "The Hildebrand Rarity") are experimental for Fleming, whilst the remaining three are straightforward Bond adventures.[1] In the two experimental stories Bond is given something of a more human side, with "Quantum of Solace" evidencing Bond's reaction to the Governor's story by showing a compassionate side, as he sees the real life of Philip Masters and Rhoda Llewellyn as being more dramatic than his recent mission; the forthcoming trip he has to make to the CIA, he now sees as "dull and unexciting".[2] In "The Hildebrand Rarity", Bond is also shown with a humanitarian side, with feelings for the plight of Liz at the hands of her husband and for the use of the poison on the fish by Milton Krest.[3]
An aspect of Bond's relationship with M is shown in "For Your Eyes Only", with Bond taking the decision from M's shoulders about what should happen to the murderers of M's friends, the Havelocks; the scene also shows the reader about the weight of command and M's indecision as to what path to follow.[4] The daughter of M's friends, Judy Havelock, is a tough and resourceful character, according to Benson, although after she has revenged her parents' death and is wounded, softens and allows Bond to take up his usual role of protector.[4]
In the "Risico" story, academic Christoph Lindner identifies the character of Enrico Colombo as an example of those characters who have morals closer to those of the traditional villains, but who act on the side of good in support of Bond; others of this type include Darko Kerim (From Russia, with Love), Tiger Tanaka (You Only Live Twice) and Marc-Ange Draco (On Her Majesty's Secret Service).[5]
World War II again makes an appearance in the stories: in For Your Eyes Only, Von Hammerstein is a former Gestapo officer, whilst the RCMP officer, Colonel Johns, served with the British under Montgomery in the Eighth Army.[6] In "The Hildebrand Rarity" Milton Krest is of German descent and "Risico" sees both Enrico Colombo and Aristotle Kristatos as having fought for the British in the war.[7]
Justice and revenge are themes that run through two of the stories. In "For Your Eyes Only" the idea of revenge is looked at from a number of angles: Bond's, M's and Judy Havelock's[8] and each has a different interpretation. Bond's approach to killing is also dissected in "For Your Eyes Only" whilst the morality of killing is a theme in "The Hildebrand Rarity".[8]
Background[edit]
In the summer of 1958, CBS television commissioned Fleming to write episodes of a television show based on the James Bond character. This deal came about after the success of the 1954 television adaptation of Casino Royale as an episode of the CBS television series Climax!. Fleming agreed to the deal, and began to write outlines for the series; however, CBS later dropped the idea.[9] In January and February 1959 Fleming adapted four of these television plots into short stories at his Goldeneye estate in Jamaica and added a fifth story he had written in the summer of 1958.[10] Fleming biographer Andrew Lycett noted that at the time Fleming was writing both the television scripts, and the short story collection, "Ian's mood of weariness and self-doubt was beginning to affect his writing"[11] and this can be seen in Bond's internal monologue of thoughts.[11]
"From a View to a Kill"
"From a View to a Kill" was initially intended to be the backstory for Hugo Drax, the villain of the novel Moonraker.[9] The story would have taken place during World War II, and featured Drax as the motorcycle assassin who crashes his bike and is taken to an American field hospital. Later, the hospital is bombed, leaving Drax with amnesia and a disfigured face.[9] The story was one that Fleming had drawn up for the television series.[9] The SHAPE head of security, Colonel Schreiber, was designed to be the antithesis of Bond, with greying hair, the air of a bank manager, desk with silver framed photographs of his family and a single white rose; the description shows Fleming using colour to show Schreiber's lack of colour and personality.[6] The idea of the underground hideout was inspired by Fleming's brother Peter's band of Auxiliary Units who dug tunnel networks in Britain in 1940 as part of a resistance movement in advance of a German invasion.[9] The original name for the story was "The Rough with the Smooth",[9] which was also the original title of the books, before For Your Eyes Only was chosen for publication.[10]
"For Your Eyes Only"
The story was originally entitled Man's Work[9] and was set in Vermont, where Fleming had spent a number of summers at his friend Ivar Bryce's Black Hollow Farm, which became the model for von Hammerstein's hideaway, Echo Lake.[12] The name of the villain of the story, Von Hammerstein was taken from General Baron Kurt von Hammerstein-Equord (1878–1943), one of Hitler's opponents.[13] Fleming also considered calling the story "Death Leaves an Echo"[14] and based the story on "Rough Justice", which was to be episode three of the television series.[15]



 Somerset Maugham: Fleming was an admirer and paid homage to him with "Quantum of Solace""Quantum of Solace"
"Quantum of Solace" was based on a story told to Fleming by his neighbour and lover Blanche Blackwell about a real-life police inspector, who Fleming turned into the civil servant, Philip Masters. As thanks for the story, Fleming bought Blackwell a Cartier watch.[16] Fleming wrote the story in the style of W Somerset Maugham[17] and this was Fleming's homage to a writer he greatly admired.[16] The story takes its structure - an agent's private conversation with a high-ranking diplomat about socially unequal romance - from Maugham's short story "His Excellency".[16] "Quantum of Solace" was first published in Modern Woman's Magazine of November 1959.[15]
"Risico"
In 1958 Fleming holidayed with his wife Ann in Venice and at the Lido peninsula; Fleming was a great admirer of Thomas Mann's work Death in Venice,[16] which was based on the Lido and the Flemings visited it for that reason, using the location as the backdrop for "Risico".[10] For the love interest in the story, Lisl, Fleming used the name of an ex-girlfriend from Kitzbühel in Austria, where he had travelled in the 1930s.[18] For the name of Colombo, Fleming borrowed the surname of Gioacchino Colombo, the Ferrari engine designer.[19]
"The Hildebrand Rarity"
In April 1958 Fleming flew to the Seychelles via Bombay to report for The Sunday Times on a treasure hunt; although the hunt was not as exciting as he hoped, Fleming used many of the details of the island for "The Hildebrand Rarity".[10] Fleming combined the backdrop of the Seychelles with his experience he and Blanche Blackwell had undergone when they had visited Pedro Keys, two islands off Jamaica, and watched two scientists do something similar with poison to obtain samples.[20] For the villain of the story, an abusive American millionaire, Fleming used the name Milton Krest: Milton was the code name of a Greek sea captain who ferried British soldiers and agents through German patrols and who received the Distinguished Service Order and an MBE, whilst Krest was the name of tonic and ginger beer Fleming drank in Seychelles.[21] "The Hildebrand Rarity" was first published in Playboy in March 1960.[20]
Release and reception[edit]
For Your Eyes Only was published on 11 April 1960 in the UK as a hardcover edition by publishers Jonathan Cape;[22] it was 252 pages long and cost fifteen shillings.[23] The subtitle, Five Secret Occasions in the Life of James Bond, was added for publication; 21,712 copies were printed and quickly sold out.[10] For Your Eyes Only was published in the US in August 1960 by Viking Press and the subtitle was changed to Five Secret Exploits of James Bond; in later editions, it was dropped altogether.[22]
“ No one in the history of thrillers has had such a totally brilliant artistic collaborator! ”
— Ian Fleming, in a letter to cover artist Richard Chopping.[24]

Artist Richard Chopping once again provided the cover art for the book. On 18 March 1959 Fleming had written to Chopping about the cover he had undertaken for Goldfinger, saying that: "The new jacket is quite as big a success as the first one and I do think [Jonathan] Cape have made a splendid job of it".[24] Moving on to For Your Eyes Only, Fleming said "I am busily scratching my head trying to think of a subject for you again. No one in the history of thrillers has had such a totally brilliant artistic collaborator!"[24]
Reviews[edit]
Francis Iles, writing in The Guardian, noting the short-story format, "thought it better than the novels"[25] and wrote that "the first story is full of the old wild improbabilities, but one of the others has a positively Maughamish flavour."[25] Iles also thought that "it seems that one must either enjoy the novels of Mr. Ian Fleming beyond reason or be unable to read them at all."[25] Writing in The Guardian's sister paper, The Observer, Maurice Richardson thought that "our Casanovaesque cad-clubman secret agent is mellowing a bit now";[26] Richardson liked the format, saying that "the short form suits him quite well" although the downside is that "if it checks the wilder fantasies it cuts short the love-affairs".[26] Writing in The Spectator, Cyril Ray (under the pseudonym Christopher Pym) wrote that "each episode of the Bond novels meant the adventure was less probable and more preposterous than the last, and now our hero seems to have lost, as well as any claims to plausibility, the know-how, the know-who, know-what and sheer zing that used to carry the unlikely plots along. Perhaps all that mattress pounding is taking it out of poor Bond".[20]
Writing in The Listener, John Raymond was of the opinion that Bond's "admirers ... will find him in top form"[27] and that the stories, "all but one of which are well up to 007's high standard".[27] Raymond believed that "The Commander seems to be mellowing with the years"[27] and because of this was "less of a show-off ... and, for once, his chronicler has almost cut out the sadism".[27] In terms of the villains in the book, most notably Milton Krest, Raymond saw that Fleming's "capacity to create villains is undiminished".[27]
The critic for The Times reflected that "the mood of For Your Eyes Only is, in fact, a good deal more sober and, perhaps, weary than before";[28] the critic also thought that the short form worked well with Bond, and that "the girls, though a short story allows them only walk-on parts, are as wild and luscious as ever".[28] Philip Stead, writing in The Times Literary Supplement thought that "Mr. Fleming's licensed assassin is in pretty good form."[23] Stead considered that in the stories "occasionally there seem to be echoes of Ashenden and glimpses of Rogue Male, but the Bond ambience is persuasive".[23]
In the US, James Sandoe, writing in the New York Herald Tribune thought that For Your Eyes Only had "urban savagery and mighty smooth tale-spinning".[22] Writing in The New York Times, Anthony Boucher—described by a Fleming biographer, John Pearson as "throughout an avid anti-Bond and an anti-Fleming man"[29]—described what his main issue with Fleming's work was: "his basic weakness as a storyteller, which can be summed up in two words: 'no story.'"[30] In the short story form, however, Boucher finds that Bond's tales "are proportionate"[30] and that Fleming's "prose ... is eminently smooth and readable"[30] even if "Bond's triumphs are too simple and lack ... intricate suspense".[30]
Adaptations[edit]
Main article: James Bond (comic strip)
Comic strip (1961–1967)
Four of the five short stories in For Your Eyes Only were adapted into comic strips published in the British newspaper Daily Express and subsequently syndicated around the world. The first three stories were adapted by Henry Gammidge and illustrated by John McLusky and appeared in the newspaper between 3 April 1961 and 9 December 1961.[31] All three comics were published again in 2005 as part of the Dr. No anthology by Titan Books.[32] The fourth adaptation, "The Hildebrand Rarity", did not appear until six years after the comic-strip versions of the other stories. It was adapted by Jim Lawrence and illustrated by Yaroslav Horak.[31] This adaptation was reprinted by Titan Books in 2009 as part of Volume 2 of the The James Bond Omnibus collection.[32]

Story
Start date
End date
Adaptator
Illustrator
"Risico" 3 April 1961 24 June 1961 Henry Gammidge John McLusky
"From a View to a Kill" 25 June 1961 9 September 1961 Henry Gammidge John McLusky
"For Your Eyes Only" 11 September 1961 9 December 1961 Henry Gammidge John McLusky
"The Hildebrand Rarity" 29 May 1967 16 December 1967 Jim Lawrence Yaroslav Horak
For Your Eyes Only (1981)
A number of details from the story are used in the film For Your Eyes Only, released in 1981 and starring Roger Moore as James Bond.[33] The film shows the murder of the Havelocks by a hit man, although it names the hitman as Gonzalez, rather than Gonzales. The film also changes the name of the Havelock's daughter, Judy, to Melina. For Your Eyes Only also uses much of the plot of "Risico", including the characters of Colombo and Kristatos.[34]
A View to a Kill (1985)
Part of the title of the story From a View to a Kill was used for the 1985 Bond film A View to a Kill, with none of the story used in this or any other film to date.[35]
Licence to Kill (1989)
Milton Krest, his foundation, the Wavekrest, and "the Corrector" were incorporated into the 1989 film Licence to Kill.[36]
Quantum of Solace (2008)
Quantum of Solace was chosen as the title of the 22nd Bond film; none of the story was used for the film's plot.[37] Daniel Craig, who starred as Bond in the film, said the film also shares the primary thematic element of the story as "it relates to the fact that if you don't have that Quantum of Solace in a relationship, you should give up. If you are not respecting each other, it's over, and at the end of the last movie Bond doesn't have that because his girlfriend has been killed."[38]
See also[edit]

Portal icon James Bond portal
Portal icon Novels portal
 Wikiquote has quotations related to: For Your Eyes Only
List of James Bond novels and short stories
Outline of James Bond
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Benson 1988, p. 119.
2.Jump up ^ Benson 1988, p. 121.
3.Jump up ^ Benson 1988, p. 122-23.
4.^ Jump up to: a b Benson 1988, p. 120.
5.Jump up ^ Lindner 2009, p. 39.
6.^ Jump up to: a b Black 2005, p. 41.
7.Jump up ^ Black 2005, p. 43.
8.^ Jump up to: a b Black 2005, p. 42.
9.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g Chancellor 2005, p. 146.
10.^ Jump up to: a b c d e Benson 1988, p. 17.
11.^ Jump up to: a b Lycett 1996, p. 369.
12.Jump up ^ Lycett 1996, p. 209.
13.Jump up ^ Lycett 1996, p. 122.
14.Jump up ^ Griswold 2006, p. 105.
15.^ Jump up to: a b Chancellor 2005, p. 147.
16.^ Jump up to: a b c d Chancellor 2005, p. 148.
17.Jump up ^ MacIntyre, Ben (25 January 2008). "Fleming's reflection on the limitations of love". The Times. p. 13.
18.Jump up ^ Chancellor 2005, p. 15.
19.Jump up ^ Chancellor 2005, p. 197.
20.^ Jump up to: a b c Chancellor 2005, p. 149.
21.Jump up ^ Chancellor 2005, p. 127.
22.^ Jump up to: a b c Benson 1988, p. 21.
23.^ Jump up to: a b c Stead, Philip John (15 April 1960). "The Bond Ambience". The Times Literary Supplement. p. 246.
24.^ Jump up to: a b c Midwinter, Janet (4 April 2010). "The man with the Golden Grudge". Mail on Sunday.
25.^ Jump up to: a b c Iles, Francis (29 April 1960). "Criminal Records". The Guardian. p. 11.
26.^ Jump up to: a b Richardson, Maurice (17 April 1960). "Crime Ration". The Observer. p. 20.
27.^ Jump up to: a b c d e Raymond, John (28 April 1960). "New Novels". The Listener. p. 767.
28.^ Jump up to: a b "Short Stories". The Times. 21 April 1960. p. 15.
29.Jump up ^ Pearson 1967, p. 99.
30.^ Jump up to: a b c d Boucher, Anthony (5 June 1960). "Criminals at Large". The New York Times.
31.^ Jump up to: a b Fleming, Gammidge & McLusky 1988, p. 6.
32.^ Jump up to: a b McLusky et al. 2009, p. 97.
33.Jump up ^ Barnes & Hearn 2001, p. 143.
34.Jump up ^ Barnes & Hearn 2001, p. 135.
35.Jump up ^ Barnes & Hearn 2001, p. 161.
36.Jump up ^ Barnes & Hearn 2001, p. 176.
37.Jump up ^ Tilly, Chris (28 January 2008). "Bond 22 Interview: Quantum of Solace producer Michael G. Wilson speaks". IGN. Retrieved 28 January 2008.
38.Jump up ^ "Live and Let Dye: Daniel Craig turns back the clock with darkened hair at 007 photocall". Daily Mail (London). 25 January 2008. Retrieved 23 January 2008.
Bibliography[edit]
Pearson, John (1967). The Life of Ian Fleming: Creator of James Bond. London: Jonathan Cape.
Benson, Raymond (1988). The James Bond Bedside Companion. London: Boxtree Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85283-233-9.
Fleming, Ian; Gammidge, Henry; McLusky, John (1988). Octopussy. London: Titan Books. ISBN 1-85286-040-5.
Lycett, Andrew (1996). Ian Fleming. London: Phoenix. ISBN 978-1-85799-783-5.
Barnes, Alan; Hearn, Marcus (2001). Kiss Kiss Bang! Bang!: the Unofficial James Bond Film Companion. Batsford Books. ISBN 978-0-7134-8182-2.
Smith, Jim; Lavington, Stephen (2002). Bond Films. London: Virgin Books. ISBN 978-0-7535-0709-4.
Black, Jeremy (2005). The Politics of James Bond: from Fleming's Novel to the Big Screen. University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 978-0-8032-6240-9.
Chancellor, Henry (2005). James Bond: The Man and His World. London: John Murray. ISBN 978-0-7195-6815-2.
Fleming, Ian (2006). Goldfinger. London: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-14-102831-6.
Griswold, John (2006). Ian Fleming's James Bond: Annotations And Chronologies for Ian Fleming's Bond Stories. AuthorHouse. ISBN 978-1-4259-3100-1.
Macintyre, Ben (2008). For Your Eyes Only. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7475-9527-4.
Lindner, Christoph (2009). The James Bond Phenomenon: a Critical Reader. Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-0-7190-6541-5.
McLusky, John; Gammidge, Henry; Hern, Anthony; Fleming, Ian (2009). The James Bond Omnibus Vol.1. London: Titan Books. ISBN 978-1-84856-364-3.
External links[edit]
Ian Fleming Publications


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Categories: 1960 short story collections
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Goldfinger (novel)
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Goldfinger
FlemingGF.jpg
First edition cover, published by Jonathan Cape

Author
Ian Fleming
Cover artist
Richard Chopping
Country
United Kingdom
Language
English
Series
James Bond
Genre
Spy fiction
Publisher
Jonathan Cape

Publication date
 23 March 1959
Media type
Print (hardback & paperback)
Preceded by
Dr. No
Followed by
For Your Eyes Only
Goldfinger is the seventh novel in Ian Fleming's James Bond series, first published in the UK by Jonathan Cape on 23 March 1959. Goldfinger originally bore the title The Richest Man in the World and was written in January and February 1958. The story centres on the investigation by MI6 operative James Bond into the gold smuggling activities of Auric Goldfinger, who is also suspected by MI6 of being connected to SMERSH, the Soviet counter-intelligence organisation. As well as establishing the background to the smuggling operation, Bond uncovers a much larger plot, with Goldfinger planning to steal the gold reserves of the United States from Fort Knox.
Fleming developed the James Bond character more in Goldfinger than in the previous six novels, presenting him as a more complex individual, whilst also bringing out a theme of Bond as Saint George. The Saint George theme is echoed by the fact that it is a British agent sorting out an American problem.
In common with Fleming's other Bond stories, he used the names of people he knew, or knew of, throughout his story, including the book's eponymous villain, who was named after British architect Ernő Goldfinger. Upon learning of the use of his name, Goldfinger threatened to sue over the use of the name, before the matter was settled out of court. Fleming had based the actual character on American gold tycoon Charles W. Engelhard, Jr. Fleming also used a number of his own experiences within the book, and the round of golf played with Goldfinger was based upon a tournament in 1957 at the Berkshire Golf Club in which Fleming partnered the Open winner Peter Thomson.
Upon its release, Goldfinger went to the top of the best-seller lists; the novel was broadly well received by the critics, being favourably compared to contemporary version of both Sapper and John Buchan. Goldfinger was serialised as a daily story and as a comic strip in the Daily Express newspaper, before being the third James Bond feature film of the Eon Productions series, released in 1964 and starring Sean Connery as Bond. Most recently, Goldfinger was adapted for BBC Radio with Toby Stephens as Bond and Sir Ian McKellen as Goldfinger.


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot
2 Characters and themes
3 Background
4 Release and reception 4.1 Reviews
4.2 Legacy
5 Adaptations
6 See also
7 References
8 Bibliography
9 External links

Plot[edit]



Mr Bond, they have a saying in Chicago: "Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it's enemy action." Miami, Sandwich and now Geneva. I propose to wring the truth out of you
Auric Goldfinger[1]
Fleming structured the novel in three sections—"Happenstance", "Coincidence" and" Enemy action"—which was how Goldfinger described Bond's three seemingly coincidental meetings with him.[1]
Happenstance
Whilst changing planes in Miami after closing down a Mexican heroin smuggling operation, British Secret Service operative James Bond is asked by Junius Du Pont, a rich American businessman (whom he briefly met and gambled with in Casino Royale), to watch Auric Goldfinger, with whom Du Pont is playing Canasta in order to discover if he is cheating. Bond quickly realises that Goldfinger is indeed cheating with the aid of his female assistant, Jill Masterton, who is spying on DuPont's cards. Bond blackmails Goldfinger into admitting it and paying back DuPont's lost money; he also has a brief affair with Masterton. Back in London, Bond's superior, M, tasks him with determining how Goldfinger is smuggling gold out of the country: M also suspects Goldfinger of being connected to SMERSH and financing their western networks with his gold. Bond visits the Bank of England for a briefing with Colonel Smithers on the methods of gold smuggling.
Coincidence
Bond contrives to meet and have a round of golf with Goldfinger; Goldfinger attempts to win the golf match by cheating, but Bond turns the tables on him, beating him in the process. He is subsequently invited back to Goldfinger's mansion near Reculver where he narrowly escapes being caught on camera looking over the house. Goldfinger introduces Bond to his factotum, a Korean named Oddjob.
Issued by MI6 with an Aston Martin DB Mark III, Bond trails Goldfinger as he takes his vintage Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost (adapted with armour plating and armour-plated glass) via air ferry to Switzerland, driven by Oddjob. Bond manages to trace Goldfinger to a warehouse in Geneva where he finds that the armour of Goldfinger's car is actually white-gold, cast into panels at his Kent refinery. When the car reaches Goldfinger's factory in Switzerland (Enterprises Auric AG), he recasts the gold from the armour panels into aircraft seats and fits them to the Mecca Charter Airline, in which he holds a large stake. The gold is finally sold in India at a vast profit. Bond foils an assassination attempt on Goldfinger by Jill Masterton's sister, Tilly, to avenge Jill's death at Goldfinger's hands: he had painted her body with gold paint, which killed her. Bond and Tilly attempt to escape when the alarm is raised, but are captured.
Enemy action
Bond is tortured by Oddjob when he refuses to confess his role in trailing Goldfinger. In a desperate attempt to survive being cut in two by a circular saw, Bond offers to work for Goldfinger, a ruse that Goldfinger initially refuses, but then accepts. Bond and Tilly are subsequently taken to Goldfinger's operational headquarters in a warehouse in New York City. They are put to work as secretaries for a meeting between Goldfinger and several gangsters (including the Spangled Mob and the Mafia), who have been recruited to assist in "Operation Grand Slam" – the stealing of the United States gold reserves from Fort Knox. One of the gang leaders, Helmut Springer, refuses to join the operation and is killed by Oddjob. Learning that the operation includes the killing of the inhabitants of Fort Knox by introducing poison into the water supply, Bond manages to conceal a capsule containing a message to Felix Leiter into the toilet of Goldfinger's private plane, where he hopes it will be found and sent to Pinkertons, where his friend and ex-counterpart Felix Leiter now works.
Operation Grand Slam commences, and it turns out that Leiter has indeed found and acted on Bond's message. A battle commences, but Goldfinger escapes. Tilly, a lesbian, hopes that one of the gang leaders, Pussy Galore (leader of a gang of lesbian burglars), will protect her, but she is killed by Oddjob. Goldfinger, Oddjob and the mafia bosses all escape in the melee. Bond is drugged before his flight back to England and wakes to find he has been captured by Goldfinger, who has managed to hijack a BOAC jetliner. Bond manages to break a window, causing a depressurisation that sucks Oddjob out of the plane; he then fights and strangles Goldfinger. At gunpoint, he forces the crew to ditch in the sea near the Canadian coast, where they are rescued by a nearby weathership.
Characters and themes[edit]
The character of Bond was developed more than in the previous novels; academic Jeremy Black considers that, in Goldfinger, Bond "was presented as a complex character".[2] Continuation author Raymond Benson agrees, and sees Goldfinger as a transitional novel, with Bond becoming more human than in previous books and more concerned with what Benson calls "the mortal trappings of life",[3] which manifest itself with the opening chapter of the book as Bond sits in Miami airport and thinks through his fight with and killing of a Mexican thug. Benson also sees that Bond has developed something of a sense of humour in Goldfinger, verbally abusing Oddjob, to Bond's own amusement.[4]
Auric Goldfinger was described by Raymond Benson as "Fleming's most successful villain to date"[4] and Fleming gives him a number of character flaws that are brought out across the novel. Psychologically Goldfinger is warped, possibly because of an inferiority complex brought on by his shortness,[5] in contrast to a number of Fleming's other over-sized villains[6] and physically he is odd, with a lack of proportion to his body.[6] As with a number of other villains in the Bond novels, there is an echo of World War II, with Goldfinger employing members of the German Luftwaffe, some Japanese and Koreans.[7] For Operation Grand Slam, Goldfinger used the poison GB, now known as Sarin, which had been discovered by the Nazis.[7] Goldfinger has an obsession with gold to the extent that academic Elizabeth Ladenson says that he is "a walking tautology".[8] Ladenson lists both his family name and his first name as being related to gold ("Auric" is an adjective pertaining to gold); his clothes, hair, car and cat are all gold coloured, or a variant thereof; his Korean servants are referred to by Bond as being "yellow", or yellow-faced";[8] and he paints his women (normally prostitutes) gold before sex.[9]
Elizabeth Ladenson thought the character of Pussy Galore to be "perhaps the most memorable figure in the Bond periphery."[8] Galore was introduced by Fleming in order for Bond to seduce her, thereby proving Bond's masculinity of being able to seduce a lesbian.[10] To some extent the situation also reflected Fleming's own opinions, expressed in the novel as part of Bond's thoughts, where "her sexual confusion is attributable to women's suffrage";[11] in addition, as Fleming himself put it in the book: "Bond felt the sexual challenge all beautiful Lesbians have for men."[12] Ladenson points out that, unlike some Bond girls, Galore's role in the plot is crucial and she is not just there as an accessory: it is her change of heart that allows good to triumph over evil. In doing so, "Goldfinger himself...is a mere obstacle, the dragon to be got rid of before the worthy knight can make off with the duly conquered lady."[8]
As with Ladenson's observation that Bond was being depicted as "the worthy knight", Raymond Benson also identifies the Saint George theme in Goldfinger, which he says has run in all the novels, but is finally stated explicitly in the book as part of Bond's thoughts after Goldfinger reveals he will use an atomic device to open the vault:[13] "Bond sighed wearily. Once more into the breach, dear friend! This time it really was St George and the dragon. And St. George had better get a move on and do something".[14] Jeremy Black notes that the image of the "latter-day St. George [is] again an English, rather than British image."[15]
As with other Bond novels, such as Casino Royale, gambling is a theme, with not only golf as part of the novel, but opening with the canasta game as well. Raymond Benson identified times in the novel when Bond's investigation of Goldfinger was a gamble too and cites Bond tossing a coin to decide on his tactics in relation to his quarry.[16] Once more (as with Live and Let Die and Dr. No) it is Bond the British agent who has to sort out what turns out to be an American problem[17] and this can be seen as Fleming's reaction to the lack of US support over the Suez Crisis in 1956 as well as Bond's warning to Goldfinger not to underestimate the English.[7]
Background[edit]
Goldfinger was written in Jamaica at Fleming's Goldeneye estate in January and February 1958 and was the longest typescript Fleming had produced to that time.[18] He initially gave the manuscript the title The Richest Man in the World.[19] Fleming had originally conceived the card game scene as a separate short story but instead used the device for Bond and Goldfinger's first encounter.[20] Similarly, the depressurisation of Goldfinger's plane was another plot device he had intended to use elsewhere, but which found its way into Goldfinger.[20] Some years previously a plane had depressurised over the Lebanon and an American passenger had been sucked out of the window and Fleming, who was not a comfortable airline passenger, had made note of the incident to use it.[20]
As usual in the Bond novels, a number of Fleming's friends or associates had their names used in the novel; the Masterton sisters having their names taken from Sir John Masterman, an MI5 agent and Oxford academic who ran the double cross system during World War II;[21] Alfred Whiting, the golf professional at Royal St George's Golf Club, Sandwich, becoming Alfred Blacking;[21] whilst the Royal St George's Golf Club itself became the Royal St Mark's, for the game between Bond and Goldfinger.[22] In the summer of 1957 Fleming had played in the Bowmaker Pro-Am golf tournament at the Berkshire Golf Club, where he partnered the Open winner Peter Thomson: much of the background went into the match between Bond and Goldfinger.[18] One of Fleming's neighbours in Jamaica, and later his lover, was Blanche Blackwell, mother of Chris Blackwell of Island Records; Fleming used Blanche as the model for Pussy Galore,[23] although the name "Pussy" came from Mrs "Pussy" Deakin, formerly Livia Stela, an SOE agent and friend of his wife's.[21]
Fleming's golf partner, John Blackwell, (a cousin to Blanche Blackwell) was also a cousin by marriage to Ernő Goldfinger and disliked him: it was Blackwell who reminded Fleming of the name. Fleming also disliked what Goldfinger was doing destroying Victorian buildings, replacing them with the architect's modernist designs, particularly a terrace at Goldfinger's own residence at 2 Willow Road.[24] Goldfinger threatened to sue Fleming over the use of the name and, in retaliation, Fleming threatened to add an erratum slip to the book changing the name from Goldfinger to Goldprick and explaining why;[25] the matter was settled out of court after the publishers, Jonathan Cape, agreed to ensure the name Auric was always used in conjunction with Goldfinger.[26] Fleming's golfing friend John Blackwell then became the heroin smuggler at the beginning of the book, with a sister who was a heroin addict.[27]
There were some similarities between Ernő and Auric: both were Jewish immigrants who came to Britain from Eastern Europe in the 1930s[25] and both were Marxists, although they were physically very different.[26] The likely model for Goldfinger was American gold tycoon Charles W. Engelhard, Jr.,[20] who Fleming had met in 1949.[26] Englehard had established a company, the Precious Metals Development Company, which circumvented numerous export restrictions, selling gold ingots directly into Hong Kong.[10] Fleming had reinforced his knowledge of gold by sending a questionnaire to an expert at the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, one of the Livery Companies of the City of London with a list of queries about gold, its properties and the background of the industry, including smuggling.[28] Fleming himself liked gold enough to commission a gold-plated typewriter from the Royal Typewriter Company,[8] although he never actually used it.[20] In 1995, this machine was purchased by the Bond actor, Pierce Brosnan.[29]
Release and reception[edit]
Goldfinger was published on 23 March 1959 in the UK as a hardcover edition by publishers Jonathan Cape; it was 318 pages long and cost fifteen shillings.[30] Richard Chopping again provided the cover art for the first edition: a skull with gold coins for the eyes and a rose in its mouth.[31] The book was dedicated to "gentle reader, William Plomer",[31] the editor of a number of the Fleming novels. Fleming took part in a select number of promotional activities, including appearing on the television programme The Bookman[32] and attending a book signing at Harrods.[33] The novel went straight to the top of the best-seller lists.[34]
Reviews[edit]
Goldfinger received more positive reviews than Fleming's previous novel, Dr. No, which had faced widespread criticism in the British media. Writing in The Observer, Maurice Richardson thought that "Mr. Fleming seems to be leaving realism further and further behind and developing only in the direction of an atomic, sophisticated Sapper."[35] Even when leaving reality behind, however, Richardson considers that Fleming, "even with his forked tongue sticking right through his cheek, ... remains maniacally readable".[35] Richardson picked up on two areas relating to the characters of the book, saying that Goldfinger "is the most preposterous specimen yet displayed in Mr. Fleming's museum of super fiends",[35] whilst, referring to the novel's central character, observed that "the real trouble with Bond, from a literary point of view, is that he is becoming more and more synthetic and zombie-ish. Perhaps it is just as well."[35] Writing in The Manchester Guardian, Roy Perrott observed that "Goldfinger...will not let [Bond's] close admirers down".[36] Perrott thought that overall "Fleming is again at his best when most sportingly Buchan-ish as in the motoring pursuit across Europe";[36] he summarised the book by saying that it was "hard to put down; but some of us wish we had the good taste just to try."[36]
The critic writing for The Times thought that Bond was "backed up by sound writing" by Fleming.[37] Although the plot was grandiose, the critic noted that: "it sounds – and is – fantastic; the skill of Mr. Fleming is to be measured by the fact that it is made not to seem so."[37] For The Times Literary Supplement, Michael Robson considered that "a new Bond has emerged from these pages: an agent more relaxed, less promiscuous, less stagily muscular than of yore."[30] Bond was not the only thing that was more relaxed, according to Robson, as "the story, too, is more relaxed."[30] Robson saw this as a positive development, but it did mean that although "there are incidental displays of the virtuosity to which Mr. Fleming has accustomed us, ...the narrative does not slip into top gear until Goldfinger unfolds his plan".[30] The Evening Standard looked at why Bond was a success and listed "the things that make Bond attractive: the sex, the sadism, the vulgarity of money for its own sake, the cult of power, the lack of standards".[20] The Sunday Times called Goldfinger "Guilt-edged Bond",[20] whilst the Manchester Evening News thought that "Only Fleming could have got away with it...outrageously improbable, wickedly funny, wildly exciting".[20]
Even the "avid anti-Bond and an anti-Fleming man",[38] Anthony Boucher, writing for The New York Times appeared to enjoy Goldfinger, saying "the whole preposterous fantasy strikes me as highly entertaining."[31] Meanwhile, the critic for the New York Herald Tribune, James Sandoe considered the book to be "a superlative thriller from our foremost literary magician."[39]
Legacy[edit]
Anthony Burgess, in Ninety-nine Novels, cited it as one of the 99 best novels in English since 1939. "Fleming raised the standard of the popular story of espionage through good writing — a heightened journalistic style — and the creation of a government agent — James Bond, 007 — who is sufficiently complicated to compel our interest over a whole series of adventures. A patriotic lecher with a tinge of Scottish puritanism in him, a gourmand and amateur of vodka martinis, a smoker of strong tobacco who does not lose his wind, he is pitted against impossible villains, enemies of democracy, megalomaniacs. Auric Goldfinger is the most extravagant of these. All this is, in some measure, a great joke, but Fleming's passion for plausibility, his own naval intelligence background, and a kind of sincere Manicheism, allied to journalistic efficiency in the management of his recit, make his work rather impressive. The James Bond films, after From Russia With Love, stress the fantastic and are inferior entertainment to the books. It is unwise to disparage the well-made popular. There was a time when Conan Doyle was ignored by the literary annalists even though Sherlock Holmes was evidently one of the great characters of fiction. We must beware of snobbishness."[40]
Adaptations[edit]
Main articles: James Bond (comic strip) and Goldfinger (film)
Daily Express serialisation (1959)
Goldfinger was serialised on a daily basis in the Daily Express newspaper from 18 March 1959 onwards.[41]
Comic strip (1960–1961)
 Fleming's original novel was adapted as a daily comic strip which was published in the Daily Express newspaper and syndicated around the world. The adaptation ran from 3 October 1960 to 1 April 1961. The adaptation was written by Henry Gammidge and illustrated by John McLusky.[42] Goldfinger was reprinted in 2005 by Titan Books as part of the Dr. No anthology, which in addition to Dr. No, also included Diamonds Are Forever and From Russia, with Love.[43]
Goldfinger (1964)
 In 1964, Goldfinger became the third entry in the James Bond film series. Sean Connery returned as Bond, while German actor Gert Fröbe played Auric Goldfinger.[44] The film was mostly similar to the novel, but Jill and Tilly Masterton (renamed Masterson for the film) have shortened roles and earlier deaths in the story. The plot of the film was also changed from stealing the gold at Fort Knox to irradiating the gold vault with a dirty bomb. [45]



 Sir Ian McKellen: Goldfinger on BBC Radio 4
BBC documentary (1973)
 The 1973 BBC documentary Omnibus: The British Hero featured Christopher Cazenove playing a number of such title characters (e.g. Richard Hannay and Bulldog Drummond), including James Bond in dramatised scenes from Goldfinger – notably featuring the hero being threatened with the novel's circular saw, rather than the film's laser beam – and Diamonds Are Forever.[46]
Radio adaptation (2010)
 Following its successful version of Dr. No, produced in 2008 as a special one-off to mark the centenary of Ian Fleming's birth, Eon Productions allowed a second Bond story to be adapted. On 3 April 2010, BBC Radio 4 broadcast a radio adaptation of Goldfinger with Toby Stephens (who played villain Gustav Graves in Die Another Day) as Bond,[47] Ian McKellen as Goldfinger and Stephens' Die Another Day co-star Rosamund Pike as Pussy Galore. The play was adapted from Fleming's novel by Archie Scottney and was directed by Martin Jarvis.[48]
See also[edit]

Portal icon James Bond portal
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 Wikiquote has quotations related to: Goldfinger
List of James Bond novels and short stories
Outline of James Bond
References[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b Fleming 2006, p. 222-223.
2.Jump up ^ Black 2005, p. 40.
3.Jump up ^ Benson 1988, p. 114.
4.^ Jump up to: a b Benson 1988, p. 116.
5.Jump up ^ Black 2005, p. 37.
6.^ Jump up to: a b Lindner 2009, p. 40.
7.^ Jump up to: a b c Black 2005, p. 38.
8.^ Jump up to: a b c d e Ladenson, Elizabeth (2003). "Pussy Galore". In: Lindner 2009, chpt. 13
9.Jump up ^ Chancellor 2005, p. 116.
10.^ Jump up to: a b Lycett 1996, p. 329.
11.Jump up ^ Black 2005, p. 106.
12.Jump up ^ Lindner 2009, p. 229.
13.Jump up ^ Benson 1988, p. 231.
14.Jump up ^ Fleming 2006, ch 18.
15.Jump up ^ Black 2005, p. 39.
16.Jump up ^ Benson 1988, p. 115.
17.Jump up ^ Black 2005, p. 38-39.
18.^ Jump up to: a b Benson 1988, p. 17.
19.Jump up ^ Chancellor 2005, p. 128.
20.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h Chancellor 2005, p. 129.
21.^ Jump up to: a b c Chancellor 2005, p. 113.
22.Jump up ^ Macintyre 2008, p. 181-183.
23.Jump up ^ Thomson, Ian (6 June 2008). "Devil May Care, by Sebastian Faulks, writing as Ian Fleming; For Your Eyes Only, by Ben Macintyre". The Independent. Retrieved 7 October 2011.
24.Jump up ^ Macintyre 2008, p. 90-91.
25.^ Jump up to: a b Lycett 1996, p. 328.
26.^ Jump up to: a b c Macintyre 2008, p. 92.
27.Jump up ^ John Ezard (3 June 2005). "How Goldfinger nearly became Goldprick". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 1 September 2008.
28.Jump up ^ Lycett 1996, p. 327.
29.Jump up ^ Welsh, Edward. "Diary". The Times.
30.^ Jump up to: a b c d Robson, Michael (3 April 1959). "On the Seamy Side". The Times Literary Supplement. p. 198.
31.^ Jump up to: a b c Benson 1988, p. 18.
32.Jump up ^ Lycett 1996, p. 345.
33.Jump up ^ "Tea with an Author". The Observer. 5 April 1959. p. 20.
34.Jump up ^ Macintyre 2008, p. 198.
35.^ Jump up to: a b c d Richardson, Maurice (22 March 1959). "Sophisticated Sapper". The Observer. p. 25.
36.^ Jump up to: a b c Perrott, Roy. "Seven days to Armageddon". The Manchester Guardian. p. 8.
37.^ Jump up to: a b "New Fiction". The Times. 26 March 1959. p. 15.
38.Jump up ^ Pearson 1967, p. 99.
39.Jump up ^ Benson 1988, p. 218.
40.Jump up ^ Burgess, Anthony (1984). Ninety-nine Novels. Summit Books. p. 74. ISBN 9780671524074.
41.Jump up ^ "James Bond meets Auric Goldfinger". Daily Express. 17 March 1959. p. 1.
42.Jump up ^ Fleming, Gammidge & McLusky 1988, p. 6.
43.Jump up ^ McLusky et al. 2009, p. 190.
44.Jump up ^ "Goldfinger (1964)". Screenonline. British Film Institute. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
45.Jump up ^ Barnes & Hearn 2001, p. 32.
46.Jump up ^ Radio Times: 74–79. 6–12 October 1973.
47.Jump up ^ Hemley, Matthew (13 October 2009). "James Bond to return to radio as Goldfinger is adapted for BBC". The Stage Online. Retrieved 19 March 2010.
48.Jump up ^ "Goldfinger". Saturday Play. BBC. Retrieved 3 October 2011.
Bibliography[edit]
Pearson, John (1967). The Life of Ian Fleming: Creator of James Bond. London: Jonathan Cape.
Benson, Raymond (1988). The James Bond Bedside Companion. London: Boxtree Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85283-233-9.
Fleming, Ian; Gammidge, Henry; McLusky, John (1988). Octopussy. London: Titan Books. ISBN 1-85286-040-5.
Lycett, Andrew (1996). Ian Fleming. London: Phoenix. ISBN 978-1-85799-783-5.
Barnes, Alan; Hearn, Marcus (2001). Kiss Kiss Bang! Bang!: the Unofficial James Bond Film Companion. Batsford Books. ISBN 978-0-7134-8182-2.
Smith, Jim; Lavington, Stephen (2002). Bond Films. London: Virgin Books. ISBN 978-0-7535-0709-4.
Black, Jeremy (2005). The Politics of James Bond: from Fleming's Novel to the Big Screen. University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 978-0-8032-6240-9.
Chancellor, Henry (2005). James Bond: The Man and His World. London: John Murray. ISBN 978-0-7195-6815-2.
Fleming, Ian (2006). Goldfinger. London: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-14-102831-6.
Macintyre, Ben (2008). For Your Eyes Only. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7475-9527-4.
Ladenson, Elizabeth (2003). "Pussy Galore". In Lindner, Christoph. The James Bond Phenomenon: a Critical Reader. Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-0-7190-6541-5.
Lindner, Christoph (2009). The James Bond Phenomenon: a Critical Reader. Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-0-7190-6541-5.
McLusky, John; Gammidge, Henry; Hern, Anthony; Fleming, Ian (2009). The James Bond Omnibus Vol.1. London: Titan Books. ISBN 978-1-84856-364-3.
External links[edit]
Ian Fleming Bibliography of James Bond 1st Editions


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Dr. No (novel)
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Dr. No
DrNoFirst.jpg
First edition cover, published by Jonathan Cape

Author
Ian Fleming
Cover artist
Pat Marriott
Country
United Kingdom
Language
English
Series
James Bond
Genre
Spy fiction
Publisher
Jonathan Cape

Publication date
 31 March 1958
Media type
Print (hardback & paperback)
Preceded by
From Russia, with Love
Followed by
Goldfinger
Dr. No is the sixth novel in Ian Fleming's James Bond series, first published in the UK by Jonathan Cape on 31 March 1958. The story centres on Bond's investigation into the disappearance in Jamaica of a fellow MI6 operative, Commander John Strangways and his secretary, Mary Trueblood. He establishes that Strangways had been investigating Dr. No, a Chinese operator of a guano mine on the Caribbean island of Crab Key; Bond travels to the island to investigate further. It is on Crab Key that Bond first finds Honeychile Rider and then Dr. No himself.
The novel was originally a screenplay written in 1956 for producer Henry Morgenthau III for what would have been a television show entitled Commander Jamaica. When those plans did not come to fruition, Fleming adapted the ideas to form the basis of the novel, which he originally titled The Wound Man. The book's eponymous villain was influenced by Sax Rohmer's Fu Manchu stories.
Dr. No was the first of Fleming's novels to receive large-scale negative criticism in Britain, with Paul Johnson of the New Statesman writing his review about the "Sex, Snobbery and Sadism" of the story. When the book was released into the American market it was generally received more favourably.
Dr. No was serialised in the Daily Express newspaper in both written and comic strip format. It was also the first James Bond feature film of the Eon Productions series, released in 1962 and starring Sean Connery; the most recent adaptation was a BBC Radio version, broadcast in 2008.


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot
2 Characters and themes
3 Background
4 Release and reception 4.1 Reviews
5 Adaptations
6 See also
7 References
8 Bibliography
9 External links

Plot[edit]
After recovering from tetrodotoxin poisoning inflicted by SMERSH agent Rosa Klebb (see From Russia, with Love) MI6 agent James Bond is sent by his superior, M, on a "rest cure" to Jamaica. Whilst there his task is a simple assignment to investigate the disappearance of Commander John Strangways, the head of MI6 Station J in Kingston, Jamaica, and his secretary.
Bond is briefed that Strangways had been investigating the activities of Dr. Julius No, a reclusive Chinese-German who lives on Crab Key and runs a guano mine; the island is said to be the home of a vicious dragon with a colony of Roseate Spoonbills at one end. The Spoonbills are protected by the National Audubon Society, two of whose representatives had died when their plane crashed on Dr. No's airstrip. On his arrival in Jamaica, Bond soon realises that he is being watched, as his hotel room is searched, a basket of poisoned fruit is delivered to his hotel room (supposedly a gift from the colonial governor) and a deadly centipede is placed in his bed while he is sleeping.
With the help of old friend Quarrel, Bond visits Crab Key to establish if there is a connection between Dr. No and Strangways' disappearance. There he and Quarrel meet Honeychile Rider, who visits the island to collect valuable shells. Bond and Honey are captured by No's men after Quarrel is burned to death by the doctor's "dragon" – a flamethrowing armoured swamp buggy to keep away trespassers.
Bond discovers that Dr. No is also working with the Russians and has built an elaborate underground facility from which he can sabotage American missile tests at nearby Cape Canaveral. No had previously been a member of a Chinese Tong, but after he stole a large amount of money from their treasury, he was captured by the organisation, whose leaders had his hands cut off as a sign of punishment for theft, and then ordered him shot. The Tong thought they shot him through the heart. However, because No's heart was on the right side of his body (dextrocardia), the bullet missed his heart and he survived. Interested in the ability of the human body to withstand and survive pain, No forces Bond to navigate his way through an obstacle course constructed in the facility's ventilation system. He is kept under regular observation, suffering electric shocks, burns and an encounter with large poisonous spiders along the way. The ordeal ends in a fight against a captive giant squid, which Bond defeats by using improvised and stolen objects made into weapons. After his escape he encounters Honey from her ordeal where she had been pegged out to be eaten by crabs; the crabs ignored her and she had managed to make good her own escape.
Bond kills Dr. No by taking over the guano-loading machine at the docks and diverting the guano flow from it to bury the villain alive. Bond and Honey then escape from No's complex in the dragon buggy.
Characters and themes[edit]
Two main themes run through Dr. No: the meaning of power; and the concept of friendship and loyalty. Bond talks about the meaning of power with a number of villains in the series and his conversation with Dr. No shows that No believes that it can only be secured with privacy, quoting Clausewitz's first principle.[1] Of lesser note, as academic Jeremy Black points out, although it is American assets that are under threat, it is British power, through the British agent that concludes the issue and a British warship, HMS Narvick, that is sent with British soldiers to the island at the end of the novel.[2]
The concept of friendship and loyalty is the second major theme. The relationship between Bond and Quarrel, the Cayman Islander, is mutually felt. Quarrel is "an indispensable ally"[3] who had assisted Bond in Live and Let Die. Continuation Bond author Raymond Benson sees no discrimination in the relationship between the two men[4] and acknowledges that Bond feels genuine remorse and sadness at Quarrel's death.[1]
For the first time in the Bond novels, there is friction between Bond and M in Dr. No, brought about because Bond was nearly killed by SMERSH agent Rosa Klebb in From Russia, with Love.[4] M orders Bond to take a new gun and sends him on a holiday assignment, which Bond resents.[5] Benson sees M at his most authoritarian in Dr. No, punishing Bond both in terms of stripping him of his gun and then sending him on what was considered at first to be a "soft" assignment.[6]
Rider is one of three women in the Bond canon who have been scarred by rape (Tiffany Case in Diamonds Are Forever and Pussy Galore in Goldfinger being the others). This follows a pattern where the women Bond comes across are somehow different to the norm,[7] although Jeremy Black points out that this gives Bond an opportunity to help and save both Rider and the others.[8] Rider is described in the book as having buttocks like a boy, which brought a response from Fleming's friend Noël Coward that "I was also slightly shocked by the lascivious announcement that Honeychile's bottom was like a boy's. I know that we are all becoming more broadminded nowadays, but really old chap what could you have been thinking of?"[9]
Benson considers that Dr. No is "a wickedly successful villain",[4] the best since Hugo Drax in Moonraker,[10] while Time magazine thought Dr. No to be "one of the less forgettable characters in modern fiction".[11] The character is like a number of Bond villains, physically abnormal,[12] being six feet six inches tall, with steel pincers for hands, having dextrocardia.[4] Bond considers him to look like "a giant venomous worm wrapped in grey tin-foil."[13]
Background[edit]



 Three Roseate spoonbills: the birds whose protected status Dr. No found troublesome to his guano operation
In March 1956 Ian Fleming and his friend Ivar Bryce accompanied Robert Cushman Murphy (with the American Museum of Natural History) and Arthur Vernay (with the Flamingo Protection Society) on a trip to Great Inagua in the south of The Bahamas to a flamingo colony.[14] The colony was one hundred square miles of inaccessible mangrove swamp and salt flats, home to flamingos, egrets and roseate spoonbills:[15] the location became the background for Dr. No's island of Crab Key.[16] Much of the travel overland on Great Inagua was by a swamp vehicle, a Land Rover fitted with over-large tyres that became the model for the "dragon" used in the story.[17] Fleming's inspiration for the Dr. No character was Sax Rohmer's villain Dr Fu Manchu, the books about whom Fleming had read and enjoyed in earlier years.[18] After returning from his nature trip, in June 1956, Fleming became involved in a project with Henry Morgenthau, III to collaborate on a television series Commander Jamaica, centred in the Caribbean with the main character of James Gunn. Although the project came to nothing, Fleming used the idea as the basis for the Dr. No novel.[18] Fleming wrote the novel in January and February 1957 at his Goldeneye estate in Jamaica[19] and initially gave it the title of The Wound Man.[15]
As he had done in his previous novels, Fleming borrowed names from his friends and associates to use in his book; Ivar Bryce's housekeeper, May Maxwell, became Bond's Scottish "treasure" May.[20] One of Fleming's neighbours in Jamaica, and later his lover, was Blanche Blackwell, mother of Chris Blackwell of Island Records: Fleming named the guano-collecting ship in Dr. No as Blanche.[20] He later used Blackwell as the model for Pussy Galore in his novel Goldfinger[21] and Blackwell gave him a boat called Octopussy, the name of which he used for a later short story.[20]
After Diamonds are Forever was published in 1956 Fleming received a letter from Bond enthusiast and gun expert Geoffrey Boothroyd, criticising his choice of firearm for Bond.[22] Boothroyd suggested that Bond should swap his Beretta for a Walther PPK 7.65 mm, an exchange that made it to the novel.[23] Boothroyd also gave Fleming advice on the Berns-Martin triple draw shoulder holster and a number of the weapons used by SMERSH and other villains.[24] In thanks, Fleming gave the MI6 Armourer the name Major Boothroyd in Dr. No and M introduces him to Bond as "the greatest small-arms expert in the world".[23]
Release and reception[edit]



Dr. No was very cardboardy and need not have been ... The trouble is that it is much more fun to think up fantastic situations and mix Bond up in them.
Ian Fleming[18]
Dr. No was released on 31 March 1958 in the UK as a hardcover edition by publishers Jonathan Cape,[25] priced at 13s 6d.[26] It was released in the US under the name Doctor No in June 1958 by Macmillan.[27] As with his previous four novels, Fleming himself came up with the concept of the front cover design; as he had considered Honeychile Rider to have a Venus-like quality when introduced in the book, he wanted this echoed in the cover, which he commissioned to show her on a Venus elegans shell;[28] the final artwork was undertaken by Pat Marriott.[18]
Prior to the release of Dr. No – and unconnected with the book itself – Bernard Bergonzi, in the March 1958 issue of Twentieth Century attacked Fleming's work, saying that it contained "a strongly marked streak of voyeurism and sado-masochism"[29] and that the books showed "the total lack of any ethical frame of reference".[29] The article also compared Fleming unfavourably to John Buchan and Raymond Chandler in both moral and literary measures.[30]
In 1964 Dr. No was serialised in France Soir for the French market and the year marked the growth of sales in Bond novels for that market, with 480,000 French-language copies of the six Bond novels being sold that year.[31] The largest boost in books sales came in 1962 with the release of the film version of the same name and the subsequent Bond films. In the seven months after the film Dr. No was released, 1.5 million copies of the novel were sold.[32]
Reviews[edit]
For the first time in the series, Fleming encountered some harsh criticism for one of his novels. The most virulent of the criticisms came from Paul Johnson of the New Statesman who opened his review, "Sex, Snobbery and Sadism",[33] with: "I have just finished what is, without doubt, the nastiest book I have ever read".[33] Johnson went on to say that "by the time I was a third of the way through, I had to suppress a strong impulse to throw the thing away",[33] Although Johnson recognised that in Bond there "was a social phenomenon of some importance",[33] this was as a negative element, as the phenomenon concerned three "three basic ingredients in Dr No, all unhealthy, all thoroughly English: the sadism of a schoolboy bully, the mechanical, two-dimensional sex-longings of a frustrated adolescent, and the crude, snob-cravings of a suburban adult."[33] Johnson saw no positives in Dr. No, saying that "Mr Fleming has no literary skill, the construction of the book is chaotic, and entire incidents and situations are inserted, and then forgotten, in a haphazard manner."[33]
“ Perhaps these are superficial excuses. Perhaps Bond's blatant heterosexuality is a subconscious protest against the current fashion for sexual confusion. Perhaps the violence springs from a psychosomatic rejection of Welfare wigs, teeth and spectacles and Bond's luxury meals are simply saying "no" to toad-in-the-hole and tele-bickies. Who can say? Who can say whether or not Dr. Fu Manchu was a traumatic image of Sax Rohmer's father? Who, for the matter of that, cares? ”
— Ian Fleming, [34]

Maurice Richardson, writing in The Observer, summarised the novel, calling it "the usual sado-masochistic free-for-all, plus octopuses."[35] Writing in Richardson's sister paper, The Manchester Guardian, the critic referred to Johnson's 'sex snobbery and sadism' tag, but pointed out that whilst "the casualties take place on a somewhat narrower front than usual, they are heavy".[36] The Manchester Guardian's critic disagreed with part of Johnson's summary, saying that "to regard [the novel] as necessarily being a sign of moral decay would be to oversimplify the relationship between literature and its audience."[36] Instead, they said, "we should be grateful to Mr. Fleming for providing a conveniently accessible safety-valve for the boiling sensibility of modern man."[36] Where the critic was negative about the novel was in the enjoyment of objects because of their exclusivity, which was "pernicious" and "symptomatic of a decline in taste" in British society.[36]
On 1 April 1958 Fleming wrote to The Manchester Guardian in defence of his work, referring to both that paper's review of Dr. No and the "nine-page inquest in The Twentieth Century".[34] Fleming accepted the criticism from the paper concerning the exclusivity of Bond's objects, such as cigarettes and food, but defended it on the basis that "I had to fit Bond out with some theatrical props".[34] These included his cocktail, ("The Vesper"), which Fleming said "I sampled several months later and found it unpalatable"[34] and Bond's diet. Fleming called these devices "vulgar foibles" which he was saddled with,[34] although maybe, he suggested, "Bond's luxury meals are simply saying "no" to toad-in-the-hole and tele-bickies."[34]
Writing in The Times Literary Supplement Philip Stead was more generous to Dr. No, although he thought that Fleming was offering "too opulent a feast"[26] with the book, although he manages to pull this off, where "a less accomplished writer, lacking Mr. Fleming's quick descriptive gift and his powers of making his characters talk with such lucid and natural style, would never have got away with this story."[26]
The critic for Time magazine acknowledged the critical storm around Fleming and Dr. No, but was broadly welcoming of the book, writing that whilst "not all readers will agree that Dr. No ... is magnificent writing, ... pages of it, at least, qualify for Ezra Pound's classic comment on Tropic of Cancer: 'At last, an unprintable book that is readable'."[11] Writing in The New York Times, Anthony Boucher—described by a Fleming biographer, John Pearson as "throughout an avid anti-Bond and an anti-Fleming man"[37]—was again damning of Fleming's work, saying "it's harder than ever to see why an ardent coterie so admires Ian Fleming's tales".[38] Continuation Bond author Raymond Benson described Boucher's critique as "true to form" and "a tirade"[39] as Boucher concluded his review by saying: "it is 80,000 words long, with enough plot for 8,000 and enough originality for 800."[38]
The reviewer for The Washington Post, Book Editor Glendy Culligan also received Dr. No well, calling it "a thin little whodunit which rocked the British Empire and shook the English Establishment",[40] adding "Bully for it!"[40] Culligan admitted that "Confidentially though, we enjoyed Dr. No, and if this be sick, sick, sick, gentlemen, make the most of it." James Sandoe in his book review for the New York Herald Tribune was very positive about Dr. No and thought that it was "the most artfully bold, dizzyingly poised thriller of the decade. You'd much better read it than read about it."[39]
Adaptations[edit]
Main articles: Dr. No (film) and James Bond (comic strip)
Daily Express serialisation (1958)
 The first adaptation of Dr. No was the serialisation in the Daily Express newspaper on a daily basis from 17 March 1958[41] to 1 April 1958.[25]
Comic strip (1960)
 The story serialisation was followed by a further Daily Express adaptation, this time as a daily comic strip. The strip ran from 23 May to 1 October 1960 and was written by Peter O'Donnell and illustrated by John McLusky.[42] The Dr. No comic strip was reprinted in 2005 by Titan Books as part of the Dr. No anthology that also includes Diamonds Are Forever and From Russia, with Love.[43]
Stag serialisation (1962)
 In 1962 Stag magazine serialised the story, renaming it as "Nude Girl Of Nightmare Key".[44]
Dr. No (1962)
 In 1962 Dr. No was the first James Bond novel to be adapted by Eon Productions for the cinema. It introduced Sean Connery as the first actor to portray James Bond on the big screen with Joseph Wiseman portraying Dr. No and Ursula Andress as Honeychile Rider.[45] Although the story follows the same general storyline, there are some changes: the film shows Dr. No to be an operative of SPECTRE and his island fortress is nuclear-powered; No is killed not by the mountain of guano, but by drowning in reactor coolant.[46]
Radio adaptation (2008)
 On 24 May 2008 BBC Radio 4 broadcast a radio adaptation of Dr. No. Actor Toby Stephens, who played Die Another Day Bond villain Gustav Graves, played James Bond, while Dr. No was played by David Suchet.[47]
See also[edit]

Portal icon James Bond portal
Portal icon Novels portal
 Wikiquote has quotations related to: Dr. No
List of James Bond novels and short stories
Outline of James Bond
References[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b Benson 1988, p. 110.
2.Jump up ^ Black 2005, p. 33.
3.Jump up ^ Lindner 2009, p. 67.
4.^ Jump up to: a b c d Benson 1988, p. 112.
5.Jump up ^ Lindner 2009, p. 37.
6.Jump up ^ Benson 1988, p. 113.
7.Jump up ^ Lindner 2009, p. 128.
8.Jump up ^ Black 2005, p. 72.
9.Jump up ^ Lindner 2009, p. 227.
10.Jump up ^ Benson 1988, p. 109.
11.^ Jump up to: a b "Books: The Upper-Crust Low Life". Time. 5 May 1958. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
12.Jump up ^ Lindner 2009, p. 41.
13.Jump up ^ Fleming 2006, p. 206.
14.Jump up ^ Benson 1988, p. 13.
15.^ Jump up to: a b Chancellor 2005, p. 110.
16.Jump up ^ Benson 1988, p. 14.
17.Jump up ^ Chancellor 2005, p. 110-111.
18.^ Jump up to: a b c d Chancellor 2005, p. 111.
19.Jump up ^ Benson 1988, p. 16.
20.^ Jump up to: a b c Chancellor 2005, p. 113.
21.Jump up ^ Thomson, Ian (6 June 2008). "James Bond the Jamaican". Arts & Book Review.
22.Jump up ^ Chancellor 2005, p. 160.
23.^ Jump up to: a b Macintyre 2008, p. 132.
24.Jump up ^ Benson 1988, p. 15.
25.^ Jump up to: a b "Concluding Ian Fleming's latest thriller – 'Doctor No'". Daily Express. 1 April 1958. p. 10.
26.^ Jump up to: a b c Stead, Philip John (11 April 1958). "Old Tricks". The Times Literary Supplement. p. 193.
27.Jump up ^ Benson 1988, p. 231.
28.Jump up ^ Lycett 1996, p. 315.
29.^ Jump up to: a b Bergonzi, Bernard (March 1958). "The Case of Mr Fleming". Twentieth Century: 221.
30.Jump up ^ Lindner 2009, p. 19.
31.Jump up ^ Lindner 2009, p. 22.
32.Jump up ^ Lindner 2009, p. 20.
33.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Johnson, Paul (5 April 1958). "Sex, Snobbery and Sadism". New Statesman: 430.
34.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Fleming, Ian (5 April 1958). ""The Exclusive Bond" Mr. Fleming on his hero". The Manchester Guardian. p. 4.
35.Jump up ^ Richardson, Maurice (30 March 1958). "Crime Ration". The Observer. p. 17.
36.^ Jump up to: a b c d "The exclusive Bond". The Manchester Guardian. 31 March 1958. p. 6.
37.Jump up ^ Pearson 1967, p. 99.
38.^ Jump up to: a b Boucher, Anthony (6 July 1958). "Criminals at Large". The New York Times. p. BR11.
39.^ Jump up to: a b Benson 1988, p. 17.
40.^ Jump up to: a b Culligan, Glendy (6 July 1958). "Much Ado About Not Very Much". The Washington Post. p. E6.
41.Jump up ^ "Honey as James Bond first met her ...". Daily Express. 16 March 1958. p. 3.
42.Jump up ^ Fleming, Gammidge & McLusky 1988, p. 6.
43.Jump up ^ McLusky et al. 2009, p. 160.
44.Jump up ^ Benson 1988, p. 24.
45.Jump up ^ Sutton, Mike. "Dr. No (1962)". Screenonline. British Film Institute. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
46.Jump up ^ Smith & Lavington 2002, p. 19.
47.Jump up ^ "007 villain to play Bond on radio". BBC. 2 May 2008. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
Bibliography[edit]
Pearson, John (1967). The Life of Ian Fleming: Creator of James Bond. London: Jonathan Cape.
Benson, Raymond (1988). The James Bond Bedside Companion. London: Boxtree Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85283-233-9.
Fleming, Ian; Gammidge, Henry; McLusky, John (1988). Octopussy. London: Titan Books. ISBN 1-85286-040-5.
Lycett, Andrew (1996). Ian Fleming. London: Phoenix. ISBN 978-1-85799-783-5.
Smith, Jim; Lavington, Stephen (2002). Bond Films. London: Virgin Books. ISBN 978-0-7535-0709-4.
Black, Jeremy (2005). The Politics of James Bond: from Fleming's Novel to the Big Screen. University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 978-0-8032-6240-9.
Chancellor, Henry (2005). James Bond: The Man and His World. London: John Murray. ISBN 978-0-7195-6815-2.
Fleming, Ian (2006). Dr. No. London: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-14-102827-9.
Macintyre, Ben (2008). For Your Eyes Only. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7475-9527-4.
Lindner, Christoph (2009). The James Bond Phenomenon: a Critical Reader. Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-0-7190-6541-5.
McLusky, John; Gammidge, Henry; Hern, Anthony; Fleming, Ian (2009). The James Bond Omnibus Vol.1. London: Titan Books. ISBN 978-1-84856-364-3.
External links[edit]
Ian Fleming Bibliography of James Bond 1st Editions


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From Russia, with Love (novel)
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From Russia, with Love
RussiaFirst.jpg
First edition cover, published by Jonathan Cape

Author
Ian Fleming
Cover artist
Richard Chopping
 Devised by Ian Fleming
Country
United Kingdom
Language
English
Series
James Bond
Genre
Spy fiction
Publisher
Jonathan Cape

Publication date
 8 April 1957
Media type
Print (hardback & paperback)
Preceded by
Diamonds Are Forever
Followed by
Dr. No
From Russia, with Love is the fifth novel in Ian Fleming's James Bond series, first published in the UK by Jonathan Cape on 8 April 1957. As with the first four books, From Russia, with Love was generally well received by the critics. The story was written at Fleming's Goldeneye estate in Jamaica in early 1956. By the time the book was published, he did not know whether he wanted to write another Bond book or not.
The story centres on a plot by SMERSH, the Soviet counterintelligence agency, to assassinate Bond in such a way as to discredit both him and his organisation, the Secret Service. As bait for the plot, the Russians use a beautiful cipher clerk and the Spektor, a Soviet decoding machine. Much of the action takes place in Istanbul and on the Orient Express.
The novel's sales were aided by an advertising campaign that played upon a visit by British Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden to Fleming's Goldeneye estate and by the publication of a 1961 Life Magazine article, which listed From Russia, with Love as one of US President John F. Kennedy's ten favourite books. There have been four adaptations of the book: a serialisation in the Daily Express newspaper, a subsequent daily comic strip by Henry Gammidge and John McLusky in the same paper, the 1963 film version, and a 2012 BBC radio adaptation of the same name, produced by Jarvis & Ayres and starring Toby Stephens.


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot
2 Characters and themes
3 Background
4 Release and reception 4.1 Reviews
5 Adaptations
6 See also
7 References
8 Bibliography
9 External links

Plot[edit]
The expository first chapters of the book are described entirely from the Soviet point of view, and a large part of the book passes before Bond himself appears onstage. SMERSH, the Soviet counterintelligence agency, plans to commit a grand act of terrorism in the intelligence field. For this, it targets British secret service agent James Bond. Due in part to his role in the defeat of Le Chiffre, Mr. Big and Hugo Drax, Bond has been listed as an enemy of the Soviet state and a "death warrant" has been issued for him. His death is planned to precipitate a major sex scandal, which will run through the world press for months and leave his and his service's reputation in tatters. Bond's killer is to be SMERSH executioner Red Grant, a psychopath whose homicidal urges coincide with the full moon. Kronsteen, SMERSH's chess-playing master planner, and Colonel Rosa Klebb, head of Operations and Executions, devise the operation. They persuade an attractive young cipher clerk, Corporal Tatiana Romanova, to falsely defect from her post in Istanbul, claiming to have fallen in love with Bond after seeing his file photograph. As an added incentive, Tatiana will provide the British with a Spektor, a Russian decoding device much coveted by MI6. She is not told the details of the plan.
An offer of the Spektor is subsequently received by MI6 in London, ostensibly from Romanova, and contains the condition that Bond collects her and the machine in Istanbul. MI6 is unsure of Romanova's story, but the prize of the Spektor is too tempting to ignore and Bond's superior, M, orders him to go to Turkey and meet her. Bond meets and quickly forms a comradeship with Darko Kerim, head of the British service's station in Turkey. Kerim takes Bond to a meal with some Gypsies, in which Bond witnesses a brutal catfight, interrupted by an attack by Soviet agents. In retaliation, Bond helps Kerim assassinate a top Bulgarian agent.
Bond duly encounters Romanova and the two plan their route out of Turkey with the Spektor. He and Kerim believe her story and in due course she, Bond and Kerim board the Orient Express with the Spektor. Bond and Kerim quickly discover three MGB agents on board travelling incognito. Kerim uses bribes and trickery to have the two taken off the train, but he is later found dead in his compartment with the body of the third agent, both having been killed by Grant. At Trieste a fellow MI6 agent, "Captain Nash", arrives on the train and Bond presumes he has been sent by M as added protection for the rest of the trip. Tatiana is suspicious of Nash, but Bond reassures her that Nash is from his own service. After dinner, at which Nash has drugged Romanova, Bond wakes up to find a gun pointing at him and Nash reveals himself to be the killer, Grant. Instead of killing Bond immediately, Grant reveals SMERSH's plan, including the detail that he is to shoot Bond through the heart and that the Spektor is booby-trapped to explode when examined. As Grant talks, Bond slips his metal cigarette case between the pages of a magazine he is holding in front of him and positions it in front of his heart to stop the bullet. After Grant fires, Bond pretends to be mortally wounded and when Grant steps over him, Bond attacks him: Grant is killed, whilst Bond and Romanova subsequently escape.
Later, in Paris, after successfully delivering Tatiana and the Spektor to his superiors, Bond encounters Rosa Klebb. She is captured but manages to kick Bond with a poisoned blade concealed in her shoe; the story ends with Bond fighting for breath and falling to the floor.
Characters and themes[edit]
One of the background aspects of the novel was also a central theme: the Cold War. Academic Jeremy Black points out that From Russia, with Love was written and published at a time when tensions between East and West were on the rise and public awareness was high.[1] 1956 saw both the public exposure of an Anglo-American tunnel into East Berlin to intercept Soviet communications, and a popular uprising in Hungary "brutally repressed" by Soviet forces.[1]
As in Casino Royale, the concept of the loss of British power and influence was also present in the novel.[2] With the British Empire in decline, journalist William Cook observed that "Bond pandered to Britain's inflated and increasingly insecure self-image, flattering us with the fantasy that Britannia could still punch above her weight."[3] In From Russia, with Love, this manifested itself in Bond's conversations with Darko Kerim when he admits in England "we don't show teeth any more – only gums."[4][2]
Following on from the character development of Bond in his previous four novels, Fleming adds further background to Bond's private life in From Russia, with Love, largely around his home life and personal habits, with Bond's introduction to the story seeing him at breakfast with his housekeeper, May.[5] Continuation Bond author Raymond Benson sees aspects of self-doubt entering Bond's mind with the "soft" life he has been leading when he is introduced in the book, as well as the fear he feels when his flight to Istanbul encounters severe turbulence from a storm.[5] Benson also considers the other characters in the book to be well developed, with the Head of Station T, Darko Kerim Bey, "one of Fleming's more colourful characters."[6] Young Bond author Charlie Higson finds Red Grant to be "a very modern villain: the relentless, remorseless psycho with the cold dead eyes of a 'drowned man'."[7]
Background[edit]



 An Enigma machine: the basis for the Soviet Spektor decoding machine
In January 1956 Fleming travelled to his Goldeneye estate in Jamaica to write From Russia, with Love, returning to London in March that year with a first draft manuscript.[8] This was 228 pages long and was eventually heavily altered by Fleming, with a number of significant re-writes.[9] One of the re-writes was Bond's fate at the end of the novel; Fleming had become disenchanted with his books,[10] and decided in April 1956 to alter the ending to make Klebb poison Bond, allowing Fleming to finish the series with the death of Bond if he wanted.[11]
Fleming's trip to Istanbul in June 1955 to cover an Interpol conference for The Sunday Times was a source of much of the background information in the story.[12] In Istanbul Fleming met the Oxford-educated Nazim Kalkavan, who became the model for Darko Kerim;[13] Fleming wrote much of Kalkavan's conversations into a notebook, which he then used verbatim in the novel.[12] Whilst in Istanbul, Fleming wrote an account of the Istanbul Pogroms, "The Great Riot of Istanbul", which was published in The Sunday Times on 11 September 1955.[14]
Other elements of the novel came from people Fleming knew or had heard of: Red Grant, the name of a Jamaican river guide described as "a cheerful, voluble giant of villainous aspect", was used for the half-German, half-Irish assassin,[15][16] while Rosa Klebb was partly based on Colonel Rybkin of Soviet Intelligence.[17] The Spektor machine used as the bait for Bond was not a Cold War device, but had its roots in the World War II Enigma machine, which Fleming had tried to obtain during his time in Naval Intelligence Division.[18]
Using the Orient Express as a plot device came from two sources: Fleming had returned from the Istanbul conference in 1955 on the train, but found the experience drab, partly because there was no restaurant car.[19][20] Fleming also knew of the story of Eugene Karp and his journey on the Orient Express: Karp was a US naval attaché and intelligence agent based in Budapest who, in February 1950, took the Orient Express from Budapest to Paris, carrying a number of papers about blown US spy networks in the Eastern Bloc. Soviet assassins were already on the train. The conductor was drugged and Karp's body was found shortly afterwards in a railway tunnel south of Saltzberg.[21]
Release and reception[edit]



Personally I think from Russia, with Love was, in many respects, my best book, but the great thing is that each one of the books seems to have been a favourite with one or other section of the public and none has yet been completely damned.
Ian Fleming[18]
From Russia, with Love was released on 8 April 1957 in the UK as a hardcover edition by publishers Jonathan Cape, priced at 13s 6d.[22] The American edition was published a few weeks later.[23] In August 1956, Fleming had commissioned Richard Chopping for fifty Guineas to provide the art for the cover, based on Fleming's design; the result won a number of prizes.[23][24] After Diamonds are Forever had been published, Fleming received a letter from a thirty-one-year-old Bond enthusiast and gun expert, Geoffrey Boothroyd, criticising the author's choice of firearm for Bond: his suggestions came too late to be included in From Russia, with Love, but one of Boothroyd's guns – a .38 Smith & Wesson snub-nosed revolver modified with one third of the trigger guard removed – was used as the model for Chopping's image.[25] Fleming later thanked Boothroyd for his suggestions by making him Major Boothroyd, the armourer in Dr. No.[26]
In 1956, Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden visited Fleming's Jamaican Goldeneye estate, to recuperate from a breakdown in his health. This was much reported in the British press,[26] and the publication of From Russia, with Love was accompanied by a promotional campaign that capitalised on this exposure.[27]
Continuation Bond author Raymond Benson analysed Fleming's writing style and identified what he described as the "Fleming Sweep", a stylistic point that sweeps the reader from one chapter to another using 'hooks' at the end of chapters to heighten tension and pull the reader into the next.[28] Benson felt that the "Fleming Sweep steadily propels the plot" of From Russia, with Love and, though it was the longest of Fleming's novels, "the Sweep makes it seem half as long."[29]
The serialisation of the story in the Daily Express in 1957 provided a boost in the sales of the book,[30] although the biggest jump in sales was to follow four years later. In an article in Life Magazine on 17 March 1961, US President John F. Kennedy listed From Russia, with Love as one of his ten favourite books.[31] This accolade, and its associated publicity, led to a surge in sales that made Fleming the biggest-selling crime writer in the US.[32][33]
Reviews[edit]
From Russia, with Love received broadly positive reviews from the critics. Julian Symons, in The Times Literary Supplement, considered that it was Fleming's "tautest, most exciting and most brilliant tale", that the author "brings the thriller in line with modern emotional needs", and that Bond "is the intellectual's Mike Hammer: a killer with a keen eye and a soft heart for a woman".[34] The critic for The Times was less persuaded by the story, suggesting that "the general tautness and brutality of the story leave the reader uneasily hovering between fact and fiction".[35] Although the review compared Fleming in unflattering terms to the crime fiction writer of the 1930s and 1940s, Peter Cheyney, it concluded that From Russia, with Love was "exciting enough of its kind."[35]
The Observer's critic, Maurice Richardson, thought that From Russia, with Love was a "stupendous plot to trap ... Bond, our deluxe cad-clubman agent" and wondered "Is this the end of Bond?"[22] The Oxford Mail declared that "Ian Fleming is in a class by himself",[18] while The Sunday Times opined that "If a psychiatrist and a thoroughly efficient copywriter got together to produce a fictional character who would be the mid-twentieth century subconscious male ambition, the result would inevitably be James Bond."[18]
Writing in The New York Times, Anthony Boucher – described by a Fleming biographer, John Pearson, as "throughout an avid anti-Bond and an anti-Fleming man"[36] – was damning in his review, saying that From Russia, with Love was Fleming's "longest and poorest book".[37] Boucher went on to write that the novel contained "as usual, sex-cum-sadism with a veneer of literacy but without the occasional brilliant setpieces".[37] The critic for the New York Herald Tribune, conversely, wrote that "Mr Fleming is intensely observant, acutely literate and can turn a cliché into a silk purse with astute alchemy".[18] Robert R Kirsch, writing in the Los Angeles Times, also disagreed with Boucher, saying that "the espionage novel has been brought up to date by a superb practitioner of that nearly lost art: Ian Fleming."[38] In Kirsch's opinion, From Russia, with Love "has everything of the traditional plus the most modern refinements in the sinister arts of spying."[38]
Adaptations[edit]
Main articles: From Russia with Love (film) and James Bond (comic strip)
Serialisation (1957)
From Russia, with Love was serialised in the Daily Express newspaper commencing on 1 April 1957;[39] it was the first Bond novel the paper had adapted in such a way.[30]
Comic strip (1960)
In 1960 Fleming's novel was also adapted as a daily comic strip in the Daily Express and was syndicated worldwide. The adaptation ran from 3 February to 21 May 1960,[40] and was written by Henry Gammidge and illustrated by John McLusky.[41] The From Russia, with Love comic strip was reprinted in 2005 by Titan Books in the Dr. No anthology, which also included Diamonds Are Forever and Casino Royale.[42]
From Russia with Love (1963)
The film From Russia with Love was released in 1963, produced by Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, and directed by Terence Young. It was the second James Bond film in the Eon Productions series and starred Sean Connery as Bond.[43] The film version contained some changes to the novel, with the leading villains switching from SMERSH to SPECTRE, a fictional terrorist organisation.[44] In the main, however, it was a faithful adaptation of the novel, Raymond Benson declaring that "Many fans consider it the best Bond film, simply because it is close to Fleming's original story".[45]
Radio adaptation (2012)
The novel was dramatized for radio by Archie Scottney, directed by Martin Jarvis and produced by Rosalind Ayres; it featured a full cast starring Toby Stephens as James Bond and was first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2012. It continued the series of Bond radio adaptations featuring Jarvis and Stephens following Dr. No (2008) and Goldfinger (2010).[46]
See also[edit]

Portal icon James Bond portal
Portal icon Novels portal
 Wikiquote has quotations related to: From Russia, with Love
Outline of James Bond

References[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b Black 2005, p. 28.
2.^ Jump up to: a b Macintyre 2008, p. 113.
3.Jump up ^ Cook, William (28 June 2004). "Novel man". New Statesman. p. 40.
4.Jump up ^ Fleming & Higson 2006, p. 227.
5.^ Jump up to: a b Benson 1988, p. 106.
6.Jump up ^ Benson 1988, p. 108.
7.Jump up ^ Fleming & Higson 2006, p. vii.
8.Jump up ^ Chancellor 2005, p. 101.
9.Jump up ^ Benson 1988, p. 13.
10.Jump up ^ Benson 1988, p. 14.
11.Jump up ^ Lycett 1996, p. 293.
12.^ Jump up to: a b Chancellor 2005, p. 96-97.
13.Jump up ^ Benson 1988, p. 12.
14.Jump up ^ Fleming, Ian (11 September 1955). "The Great Riot of Istanbul". The Sunday Times.
15.Jump up ^ Lycett 1996, p. 282.
16.Jump up ^ Macintyre 2008, p. 90.
17.Jump up ^ Macintyre 2008, p. 93.
18.^ Jump up to: a b c d e Chancellor 2005, p. 97.
19.Jump up ^ Benson 1988, p. 231.
20.Jump up ^ Black 2005, p. 30.
21.Jump up ^ Chancellor 2005, p. 96.
22.^ Jump up to: a b Richardson, Maurice (14 April 1957). "Crime Ration". The Observer. p. 16.
23.^ Jump up to: a b Benson 1988, p. 16.
24.Jump up ^ Lycett 1996, p. 300.
25.Jump up ^ Chancellor 2005, p. 160.
26.^ Jump up to: a b Benson 1988, p. 15.
27.Jump up ^ Lycett 1996, p. 313.
28.Jump up ^ Benson 1988, p. 85.
29.Jump up ^ Benson 1988, p. 105.
30.^ Jump up to: a b Lindner 2009, p. 16.
31.Jump up ^ Sidey, Hugh (17 March 1961). "The President's Voracious Reading Habits". Life (Time, Inc) 50 (11). ISSN 0024-3019. Retrieved 5 October 2011.
32.Jump up ^ Lycett 1996, p. 383.
33.Jump up ^ Fleming & Higson 2006, p. vi.
34.Jump up ^ Symons, Julian (12 April 1957). "The End of the Affair". The Times Literary Supplement. p. 230.
35.^ Jump up to: a b "New Fiction". The Times. 11 April 1957. p. 13.
36.Jump up ^ Pearson 1967, p. 99.
37.^ Jump up to: a b Boucher, Anthony (8 September 1957). "Criminals at Large". The New York Times. p. BR15.
38.^ Jump up to: a b Kirsch, Robert R (28 August 1957). "The Book Report". Los Angeles Times. p. B5.
39.Jump up ^ Fleming, Ian (1 April 1957). "From Russia, with Love". Daily Express. p. 10.
40.Jump up ^ Fleming, Gammidge & McLusky 1988, p. 6.
41.Jump up ^ McLusky et al. 2009, p. 5.
42.Jump up ^ McLusky et al. 2009, p. 135.
43.Jump up ^ Brooke, Michael. "From Russia With Love (1963)". Screenonline. British Film Institute. Retrieved 5 October 2011.
44.Jump up ^ Barnes & Hearn 2001, p. 21.
45.Jump up ^ Benson 1988, pp. 172–174.
46.Jump up ^ "Saturday Drama: From Russia With Love". BBC Radio 4. BBC. Retrieved 15 July 2012.
Bibliography[edit]
Pearson, John (1967). The Life of Ian Fleming: Creator of James Bond. London: Jonathan Cape.
Benson, Raymond (1988). The James Bond Bedside Companion. London: Boxtree Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85283-233-9.
Fleming, Ian; Gammidge, Henry; McLusky, John (1988). Octopussy. London: Titan Books. ISBN 1-85286-040-5.
Lycett, Andrew (1996). Ian Fleming. London: Phoenix. ISBN 978-1-85799-783-5.
Barnes, Alan; Hearn, Marcus (2001). Kiss Kiss Bang! Bang!: the Unofficial James Bond Film Companion. Batsford Books. ISBN 978-0-7134-8182-2.
Lindner, Christoph (2009). The James Bond Phenomenon: a Critical Reader. Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-0-7190-6541-5.
Black, Jeremy (2005). The Politics of James Bond: from Fleming's Novel to the Big Screen. University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 978-0-8032-6240-9.
Chancellor, Henry (2005). James Bond: The Man and His World. London: John Murray. ISBN 978-0-7195-6815-2.
Fleming, Ian; Higson, Charlie (2006). From Russia, with Love. London: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-14-102829-3.
Macintyre, Ben (2008). For Your Eyes Only. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7475-9527-4.
McLusky, John; Gammidge, Henry; Hern, Anthony; Fleming, Ian (2009). The James Bond Omnibus Vol.1. London: Titan Books. ISBN 978-1-84856-364-3.
External links[edit]
Ian Fleming.com Official website of Ian Fleming Publications.
From Russia With Love at BFI Screenonline
From Russia with Love at the Internet Movie Database


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Diamonds Are Forever (novel)
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Diamonds Are Forever
DiamondsAreForeverFirst.jpg
First edition cover

Author
Ian Fleming
Cover artist
Pat Marriott
Country
United Kingdom
Language
English
Series
James Bond
Genre
Spy fiction
Publisher
Jonathan Cape

Publication date
 26 March 1956
Media type
Print (hardback & paperback)
Preceded by
Moonraker
Followed by
From Russia, with Love
Diamonds Are Forever is the fourth of Ian Fleming's James Bond series of novels. It was first published by Jonathan Cape in the UK on 26 March 1956 and the first print run of 12,500 copies sold out quickly. Much of the background research undertaken by Fleming formed the basis for the non-fiction book The Diamond Smugglers, which was published in 1957. The story centres on how James Bond, an agent of the British Secret Service, closes down a diamond smuggling operation, the pipeline of which originates in the diamond mines of Sierra Leone and ends in Las Vegas. Along the way Bond meets and falls in love with one of the members of the smuggling gang, Tiffany Case.
The novel received broadly positive reviews at the time of publication and was serialised in the Daily Express newspaper, firstly in an abridged, multi-part form and then as a comic strip. In 1971 it was adapted into the seventh Bond film in the series and was the last Eon Productions film to star Sean Connery as James Bond.


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot
2 Characters and themes
3 Background
4 Release and reception 4.1 Reviews
5 Adaptations
6 See also
7 References
8 Bibliography

Plot[edit]
British Secret Service agent James Bond, 007 is sent on an assignment by his superior, M. Acting on information received from Special Branch, M tasks Bond with infiltrating a smuggling ring running diamonds from mines in Sierra Leone to the United States. Bond must travel as far as possible down the pipeline to uncover those responsible. Using the identity of Peter Franks, a country house burglar turned diamond smuggler, he meets Tiffany Case, an attractive go-between who developed an antipathy towards men after being gang-raped as a teenager.
Bond discovers that the smuggling ring is operated by "The Spangled Mob", a ruthless American gang run by the brothers Jack and Seraffimo Spang. Bond follows the pipeline from London to New York, where he is instructed by Shady Tree to earn his fee through betting on a rigged horse race in nearby Saratoga. In Saratoga Bond meets Felix Leiter, a former CIA agent working at Pinkertons as a private detective investigating crooked horse racing. Leiter bribes the jockey to ensure the failure of the plot to rig the race. When Bond goes to pay the bribe, he witnesses two homosexual thugs, Wint and Kidd, attack the jockey.
Bond calls Shady Tree to enquire further about the payment of his fee and is told to go to the Tiara Hotel in Las Vegas. The Tiara is owned by Seraffimo Spang and operates as the headquarters of the Spangled Mob. Spang also owns an old Western ghost town, named "Spectreville", restored to be his own private vacation retreat. At the hotel, Bond finally receives payment through a rigged blackjack game where the dealer is Tiffany Case. However, he disobeys his orders by continuing to gamble in the casino after winning the money he is owed. Spang suspects that Bond may be a 'plant' and has him captured and tortured. However, with Tiffany's help he escapes from Spectreville aboard a railway push-car with Seraffimo Spang in pursuit aboard an old Western train. Bond re-routes the train to a side line and shoots Spang before the resulting crash. Assisted by Leiter, Bond and Case go via California to New York, where they board the Queen Elizabeth to travel to London. However, Wint and Kidd observe their embarkation and follow them on board. They kidnap Case, planning to kill her and throw her overboard. Bond rescues her and kills both gangsters; for precaution, he makes it look like a murder-suicide.
Case subsequently informs Bond of the details of the pipeline. It begins in Africa where a dentist would pay miners to smuggle diamonds in their mouths which he would extract during a routine appointment. From there, the dentist would take the diamonds and rendezvous with a German helicopter pilot. Eventually the diamonds would go to Paris, and from there to London. There, after telephone instructions from a contact known as ABC, Case would then meet a person to explain how to smuggle the diamonds to New York City. After returning to London, Bond flies on to Freetown in Sierra Leone and then to where the next diamond rendezvous takes place. With the collapse of the rest of the pipeline, Jack Spang (who turns out to be the mysterious ABC) shuts down his diamond smuggling pipeline by killing its participants. Spang himself is killed when Bond shoots down his helicopter.
Characters and themes[edit]
According to the author of continuation Bond novels, Raymond Benson, the character of Bond develops in Diamonds Are Forever, building on what Fleming had written in the previous three novels.[1] This growth arises through Bond's burgeoning relationship with the book's female lead, Tiffany Case. According to Fleming's biographer, Andrew Lycett, after the novel was completed, "almost as an afterthought, [Fleming] appended four extra chapters, recording what happens on the Queen Elizabeth";[2] and allowing the question of marriage to arise, because Bond falls in love with Case, the first time he has done so since Vesper Lynd in Casino Royale.[1] According to Benson, Tiffany Case is portrayed as tough, but lonely and insecure and "is Fleming's first fully developed female character."[1]
The main theme in the novel is expressed in the title, according to Benson and the theme that diamonds are forever is used to contrast other, less permanent aspects, especially love and life.[3] Towards the end of Diamonds Are Forever Fleming uses the lines "Death is forever. But so are diamonds"[4] and Benson sees diamonds as a metaphor for death "and Bond, who carries the diamonds from London to New York, is the messenger of death."[3]
Academic Jeremy Black points to the theme of travel in Diamonds Are Forever, which was still a huge novelty to most people in Britain at the time.[5] This travel between a number of a locations did exacerbate one of the issues identified by Black: that there was no centre to the story. In contrast to other novels, where Casino Royale had Royale, From Russia with Love had Istanbul and Dr. No had Jamaica, Diamonds Are Forever had multiple locations and two villains and there was "no megalomaniac fervour, no weird self-obsession, at the dark centre of the plot".[6]
Background[edit]



 Goldeneye, where Fleming wrote all the Bond novels, including Diamonds Are Forever.
In 1954 Fleming read a story in The Sunday Times about diamond smuggling from Sierra Leone.[7] He engineered a meeting with Sir Percy Sillitoe, the ex-head of MI5, then working for De Beers diamond traders.[7] The subsequent material went into Diamonds Are Forever; Fleming also subsequently wrote a non-fiction book which contained information from Sillitoe and Sillitoe's deputy, John Collard, who Fleming interviewed in 1957: The Diamond Smugglers.[7] In August 1954 he flew to the US for research, visiting Saratoga Springs after his friend, William Stephenson, sent him a magazine article about the spa town.[8] In the US, Fleming travelled with two friends, Ivar Bryce and Ernest Cuneo, whose name was changed to 'Ernie Cureo' for the role of Bond's taxi-driving ally in Las Vegas (Bryce's name had already been used as an alias for Bond in Live and Let Die).[9]
Whilst at Saratoga Fleming and Cuneo visited a mud-bath: they took the wrong directions and ended up at a run-down establishment, which was used for the Acme Mud and Sulphur Baths scene in the book.[10] Fleming also met a rich socialite, William Woodward, Jr., who drove a Studillac – a Studebaker with a powerful Cadillac engine. According to Henry Chancellor, "the speed and comfort of it impressed Ian, and he shamelessly appropriated this car" for the book.[11] Woodward was killed by his wife shortly afterwards – claiming she mistook him for a prowler – and when Diamonds Are Forever was published, it was dedicated "to Bryce, Cuneo and to 'the memory of W. W. Jr., at Saratoga, 1954 and 55'."[12]
Fleming also visited Los Angeles with Cuneo, going to the Los Angeles Police Intelligence headquarters, where they met Captain James Hamilton, who provided Fleming with information on the Mafia organisation in the US.[13] From Los Angeles the pair travelled to Las Vegas, where they stayed at the Sands Hotel; Fleming interviewed the hotel owner, Jack Entratta, where he learnt the background to the security systems and methods of cheating that he used in the novel.[13]
As well as appropriating the name of Ernie Cuneo in the novel, one of the homosexual villains, 'Boofy' Kidd, was named after one of Fleming's close friends – and a relative of his wife – Arthur Gore, 8th Earl of Arran, known to his friends as "Boofy". Gore heard about the use of his name before publication and complained to Fleming about it, but was ignored and the name was retained for the novel.[14] Fleming wrote Diamonds Are Forever at his Goldeneye estate in Jamaica in the early months of 1955, returning to London with the completed manuscript in March that year.[15]
Release and reception[edit]
Diamonds Are Forever was released on 26 March 1956 by Jonathan Cape[16] with a cover designed by Pat Marriott[17] and cost 12s. 6d.[18] As with the four previous Bond books, the first edition (this time 12,500 copies) sold out quickly;[19] the US edition was published in October 1956.[20] The novel was serialised in the Daily Express newspaper from 12 April 1956 onwards,[18] and the serialisations undertaken by the newspaper had led to an overall rise in the sales of the novels.[21] From November 1956 sales of Diamonds Are Forever, as well as Fleming's other novels, all rose following Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden's visit to Fleming's Jamaican Goldeneye estate, which was much reported in the British press.[20] The book later received a boost in sales in 1971 when the novel was adapted for the cinema by Eon Productions, with Sean Connery cast as Bond.[22]
Reviews[edit]
Julian Symons, writing in The Times Literary Supplement thought that Fleming had some enviable qualities as a writer, including "a fine eye for places ... an ability to convey his own interest in the mechanics of gambling and an air of knowledgeableness".[23] However, Symons also saw defects in Fleming's style, including "his inability to write convincing dialogue";[23] For Symons, Diamonds Are Forever was Fleming's "weakest book, a heavily padded story about diamond smuggling",[23] where "the exciting passages are few."[23]
Milward Kennedy, writing in The Manchester Guardian, thought that Fleming was "determined to be as tough as Chandler, if a little less lifelike",[24] whilst Maurice Richardson, in The Guardian's sister paper, The Observer, thought that Bond was "one of the most cunningly synthesised heroes in crime-fiction".[25] Richardson noted in his review that "Mr. Fleming's method is worth noting, and recommending: he does not start indulging in his wilder fantasies until he has laid down a foundation of factual description."[25] Elements of a review by Raymond Chandler which he wrote for The Sunday Times were used as advertising for the novel: Chandler wrote that it was "about the nicest piece of book-making in this type of literature which I have seen for a long time ... Mr. Fleming writes a journalistic style, neat, clean, spare and never pretentious".[26]
Writing in The New York Times, Anthony Boucher—described by a Fleming biographer, John Pearson as "throughout an avid anti-Bond and an anti-Fleming man"[27]—was mixed in his review, thinking that "Mr. Fleming's handling of American and Americans is well above the British average",[28] although he felt that "the narrative is loose-jointed and weakly resolved",[28] whilst Bond resolves his assignments "more by muscles and luck than by any sign of operative intelligence."[28]
Adaptations[edit]
Main articles: James Bond (comic strip) and Diamonds Are Forever (film)
Comic strip (1959–1960)
Fleming's original novel was adapted as a daily comic strip which was published in the Daily Express newspaper and syndicated around the world. The original adaptation ran from 10 August 1959 to 30 January 1960.[29] The strip was written by Henry Gammidge and illustrated by John McLusky.[30] Diamonds Are Forever was published again in 2005 as part of the Dr. No anthology by Titan Books.[30]
Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
In 1971 the novel was loosely adapted into a film starring Sean Connery as Bond; the film was directed by Guy Hamilton and produced by Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman's Eon Productions.[31] Diamonds Are Forever marked the final Bond film undertaken by Sean Connery with Eon Productions, although he returned to the role of James Bond twelve years later with Kevin McClory's Taliafilm company for Never Say Never Again.[32]
See also[edit]

Portal icon James Bond portal
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 Wikiquote has quotations related to: Diamonds Are Forever
List of James Bond novels and stories
Outline of James Bond
References[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b c Benson 1988, p. 103.
2.Jump up ^ Lycett 1996, p. 268.
3.^ Jump up to: a b Benson 1988, p. 102.
4.Jump up ^ Fleming 2006, p. 289.
5.Jump up ^ Black 2005, p. 25.
6.Jump up ^ Black 2005, p. 27.
7.^ Jump up to: a b c Chancellor 2005, p. 84.
8.Jump up ^ Lycett 1996, p. 258.
9.Jump up ^ Macintyre 2008, p. 93.
10.Jump up ^ Chancellor 2005, p. 84-85.
11.Jump up ^ Chancellor 2005, p. 158.
12.Jump up ^ Lycett 1996, p. 272.
13.^ Jump up to: a b Benson 1988, p. 10.
14.Jump up ^ Macintyre 2008, p. 90.
15.Jump up ^ Pearson 1967, p. 305.
16.Jump up ^ Lycett 1996, p. 289.
17.Jump up ^ Chancellor 2005, p. 85.
18.^ Jump up to: a b Fleming, Ian (12 April 1956). "Diamonds Are Forever". Daily Express. p. 8.
19.Jump up ^ Pearson 1967, p. 333.
20.^ Jump up to: a b Benson 1988, p. 15.
21.Jump up ^ Lindner 2009, p. 16.
22.Jump up ^ Lindner 2009, p. 21.
23.^ Jump up to: a b c d Symons, Julian Gustave (27 April 1956). "Contemporary Pictures". The Times Literary Supplement. p. 251.
24.Jump up ^ Kennedy, Milward (6 July 1956). "Some Matters of Life and Death". The Manchester Guardian. p. 6.
25.^ Jump up to: a b Richardson, Maurice (1 April 1956). "Crime Ration". The Observer. p. 8.
26.Jump up ^ "Display Advertising". The Observer. 1 April 1956. p. 9.
27.Jump up ^ Pearson 1967, p. 99.
28.^ Jump up to: a b c Boucher, Anthony (28 October 1956). "Report on Criminals at Large". The New York Times.
29.Jump up ^ Fleming, Gammidge & McLusky 1988, p. 6.
30.^ Jump up to: a b McLusky et al. 2009, p. 97.
31.Jump up ^ Brooke, Michael. "Diamonds Are Forever (1971)". Screenonline. British Film Institute. Retrieved 17 September 2011.
32.Jump up ^ Barnes & Hearn 2001, p. 152.
Bibliography[edit]
Pearson, John (1967). The Life of Ian Fleming: Creator of James Bond. London: Jonathan Cape.
Benson, Raymond (1988). The James Bond Bedside Companion. London: Boxtree Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85283-233-9.
Fleming, Ian; Gammidge, Henry; McLusky, John (1988). Octopussy. London: Titan Books. ISBN 1-85286-040-5.
Lycett, Andrew (1996). Ian Fleming. London: Phoenix. ISBN 978-1-85799-783-5.
Barnes, Alan; Hearn, Marcus (2001). Kiss Kiss Bang! Bang!: the Unofficial James Bond Film Companion. Batsford Books. ISBN 978-0-7134-8182-2.
Lindner, Christoph (2009). The James Bond Phenomenon: a Critical Reader. Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-0-7190-6541-5.
Black, Jeremy (2005). The Politics of James Bond: from Fleming's Novel to the Big Screen. University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 978-0-8032-6240-9.
Chancellor, Henry (2005). James Bond: The Man and His World. London: John Murray. ISBN 978-0-7195-6815-2.
Fleming, Ian (2006). Diamonds Are Forever. London: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-14-102824-8.
Macintyre, Ben (2008). For Your Eyes Only. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7475-9527-4.
Chapman, James (2009). Licence to Thrill: A Cultural History of the James Bond Films. New York: I.B. Tauris. ISBN 978-1-84511-515-9.
McLusky, John; Gammidge, Henry; Hern, Anthony; Fleming, Ian (2009). The James Bond Omnibus Vol.1. London: Titan Books. ISBN 978-1-84856-364-3.


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Moonraker (novel)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

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Moonraker
MoonRakerFirst.jpg
First edition cover, published by Jonathan Cape

Author
Ian Fleming
Cover artist
Ian Fleming / Kenneth Lewis
Country
United Kingdom
Language
English
Series
James Bond
Genre
Spy fiction
Publisher
Jonathan Cape

Publication date
 5 April 1955
Media type
Print (hardback & paperback)
Preceded by
Live and Let Die
Followed by
Diamonds Are Forever
Moonraker is the third novel by British author Ian Fleming featuring the fictional British Secret Service agent Commander James Bond. The book was first published by Jonathan Cape on 5 April 1955, bearing a cover based on Fleming's own concept. Set completely in England, the story has two halves: the first concerns a battle over a game of bridge in London's clubland between Bond and industrialist Sir Hugo Drax, while the second follows Bond's mission to stop Drax from destroying London with a nuclear weapon. The book played on a number of fears of the 1950s, including the V-2 rocket, the re-emergence of Nazism, the menace of Soviet communism and the 'threat from within'.
There have been a number of adaptations of Moonraker, including a broadcast on South African radio in 1956 starring Bob Holness and a comic strip that appeared in the Daily Express in 1958. The novel's name was also used in 1979 for the eleventh official film in the Eon Productions Bond franchise and the fourth to star Roger Moore as James Bond. However, the story for the film was significantly changed from the novel so as to include excursions into space.


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot
2 Characters and themes
3 Background
4 Release and reception 4.1 Reviews
5 Adaptations
6 See also
7 References
8 Bibliography
9 External links

Plot[edit]
British Secret Service agent James Bond is asked by his superior, M, to join him for the evening at M's club, Blades, where one of the members, the multi-millionaire businessman Sir Hugo Drax, is winning a lot of money playing bridge, seemingly against the odds. M suspects Drax of cheating, but although claiming indifference, he is concerned why a multi-millionaire and national hero, such as Sir Hugo, would cheat at a card game. Bond confirms Drax's deception and manages to "cheat the cheater"—aided by a cocktail of powdered Benzedrine mixed with non-vintage champagne and a deck of stacked cards—winning £15,000 and infuriating the out-smarted Drax.
Drax is the product of a mysterious background, allegedly unknown even to himself. Presumed to have been a British Army soldier during the Second World War, he was badly injured and stricken with amnesia in the explosion of a bomb planted by a German saboteur at a British field headquarters. After extensive rehabilitation in an army hospital, however, he eventually returned home to become a major aerospace industrialist.
After building his fortune and establishing himself in business and society, Drax started building the "Moonraker", Britain's first nuclear missile project, intended to defend the United Kingdom against its Cold War enemies (c.f. the real Blue Streak missile). The Moonraker rocket was to be an upgraded V-2 rocket using liquid hydrogen and fluorine as propellants; to withstand the ultra-high combustion temperatures of its engine, it used columbite, in which Drax had a monopoly. Because the rocket's engine could withstand higher heat, the Moonraker was able to use more powerful fuels, greatly expanding its effective range.
After a Ministry of Supply security officer working at the project is shot dead, M assigns Bond to replace him and also to investigate what has been going on at the missile-building base, located between Dover and Deal on the south coast of England. All of the rocket scientists working on the project were German. At his post on the complex, Bond meets Gala Brand, a beautiful Special Branch agent working undercover as Personal Assistant to Drax. He also uncovers clues concerning his predecessor's death, concluding that the former Security Chief may have been killed for witnessing a submarine off the coast.
Drax's henchman Krebs is caught by Bond snooping through his room. Later, an attempted assassination nearly kills Bond and Gala under a landslide, as they swim beneath the Dover cliffs. Drax takes Gala to London where she discovers the truth about the Moonraker (by comparing her own launch trajectory figures with those in a notebook picked from Drax's pocket), but she is caught. She soon finds herself captive at a secret radio station (intended to serve as a beacon for the missile's guidance system) in the heart of London. While attempting to rescue her in a car chase, Bond is also captured.
Drax tells Bond that he was never a British soldier and has never suffered from amnesia. In fact, he was a German commander of a Skorzeny commando unit and the saboteur (in British uniform) Graf Hugo von der Drache, whose unit had placed the car bomb at the army field headquarters, only to be injured himself in the detonation. The amnesia story was simply a cover he used while recovering in hospital, in order to avoid allied retribution, although it would lead to a whole new British identity. Drax, however, remained a dedicated Nazi, bent on revenge against England for the wartime defeat of his Fatherland and his prior history of social slights suffered as a youth growing up in an English boarding school before the war. He now means to destroy London with the very missile he has constructed for Britain, by means of a Soviet-supplied nuclear warhead that has been secretly fitted to the Moonraker. He also plans to play the stock market the day before to make a huge profit from the imminent disaster.
Brand and Bond are imprisoned under the Moonraker's booster engines so as to leave no trace of them once the Moonraker is launched. Before this first (supposedly un-armed) test firing, Bond and Gala escape. Gala gives Bond the proper coordinates to redirect the gyros and send the Moonraker into the sea. Having been in collaboration with Soviet Intelligence all along, Drax and his henchman attempt to escape by Russian submarine—only to be killed as the vessel flees through the very waters onto which the Moonraker has been re-targeted. After their de-briefing at headquarters, Bond meets up with Gala, expecting her company—but they part ways after Gala reveals that she is engaged to be married to a fellow Special Branch officer.
Characters and themes[edit]
According to continuation Bond author Raymond Benson, Moonraker is a deeper and more introspective book, which allows Fleming to develop the characters further and so Bond "becomes something more than a cardboard figure" than he had been in previous two novels.[1] The start of the book concentrates on Bond at home and his daily routines, which were largely modelled on Fleming's own.[2]
As with Le Chiffre in Casino Royale and Mr. Big in Live and Let Die, Moonraker involved the idea of the "traitor within".[3] Drax, real name Graf Hugo von der Drache, is a "megalomaniac German Nazi who masquerades as an English gentleman";[4] his assistant, Krebbs, bears the same name as Hitler's last Chief of Staff.[5] In using a German as the novel's main enemy, "Fleming ... exploits another British cultural antipathy of the 1950s. Germans, in the wake of World War II, made another easy and obvious target for bad press."[4] Moonraker uses two of the foes feared by Fleming, the Nazis and the Soviets, with Drax being German and working for the Soviets;[6] in Moonraker the Soviets were hostile and provided not just the atomic bomb, but support and logistics to Drax.[7]
Moonraker played on fears of the audiences of the 1950s of rocket attacks from overseas, fears grounded in the use of the V-2 rocket by the Nazis during World War II.[3] The story takes the threat one stage further, with a rocket based on English soil, aimed at London and "the end of British invulnerability".[3]
Background[edit]



 A V-2 rocket launch from summer 1943: the threat remembered from the war was the basis of the novel.
Fleming's own copy bears the following inscription, "This was written in January and February 1954 and published a year later. It is based on a film script I have had in my mind for many years."[8] According to biographer Andrew Lycett, Fleming, writing in early 1954 at his Goldeneye estate in Jamaica, "wanted to make Moonraker his most ambitious and personal novel yet."[9] Because of the subject matter, the author undertook significant homework on the novel, asking fellow Times correspondent Anthony Terry for information on V-2 rockets and the German Werewolves.[10] Fleming also visited the Wimpole Street psychiatrist Dr E.B. Strauss to discuss the traits of megalomaniacs, and came away with information on diastema for the character of Drax.[10] While in a failed negotiation to sell Moonraker's filming rights to the Rank Organisation, Fleming detailed that the novel emerged from a failed attempt to write a film script, and he "had to more or less graft the first half of the book onto my film idea in order to bring it up to the necessary length”.[11]
The early chapters of the novel centre on Bond's private life, with Fleming using his own life as a basis for Bond's. Fleming used further aspects of his private life in the shape of his friends, as he had done in his previous novels: Hugo Drax was named after his acquaintance Admiral Sir Reginald Aylmer Ranfurly Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax,[12] while his friend Duff Sutherland (described as "a scruffy looking chap") was one of the bridge players at Blades.[13] Other elements of the plot came from Fleming's knowledge of wartime operations carried out by T-Force, a secret British Army unit formed to continue the work of 30 Assault Unit, itself created by Fleming.[14]
Moonraker is the only Bond novel that takes place solely in Britain,[15] giving Fleming the chance to write about the England he cherished such as the Kent countryside, including the White Cliffs of Dover,[16] and London clubland.[9] Even though Fleming owned a cottage in St Margaret's at Cliffe, he went to great lengths to get details right, lending his car to his stepson, Raymond O'Neill, to time the journey from London to Deal.[17] Fleming used his experiences of London clubs for the background of the Blades scenes. As a clubman, he enjoyed membership of Boodle's, White's and the Portland Club. A combination of Boodles and the Portland Club is thought to be the model for Blades;[18] author Michael Dibdin found the scene in the club to be "surely one of the finest things that Ian Fleming ever did."[19]
Fleming considered a number of titles for the story; his first choice had been The Moonraker, until Noël Coward reminded him of a novel of the same name by F. Tennyson Jesse.[17] Fleming then considered The Moonraker Secret, The Moonraker Plot, The Inhuman Element, Wide of the Mark, The Infernal Machine,[17] Mondays are Hell[20] and Out of the Clear Sky.[21] George Wren Howard of Jonathan Cape suggested Bond & the Moonraker, The Moonraker Scare and The Moonraker Plan,[20] while William Plomer suggested Hell Is Here;[20][21] the final choice of Moonraker was a suggestion by Wren Howard.[20]
Release and reception[edit]
Moonraker was published in the UK in hardback format on 5 April 1955 with a cover designed by Kenneth Lewis, following the suggestions of Fleming[22] and in the US on 20 September that year. In December 1956 the novel was published in paperback in the US under the title Too Hot to Handle by Permabooks: the edition had been re-written to Americanise the British idioms used and Fleming provided a number of explanatory footnotes, such as the value of English currency against the dollar.[23]
Reviews[edit]
Julian Symons, writing in The Times Literary Supplement found Moonraker "a disappointment",[24] going on to say that "Fleming's tendency ... to parody the form of the thriller, has taken charge in the second half of this story."[24] Maurice Richardson, in his review for The Observer was forthright: "do not miss this",[25] he urged, saying that "Mr. Fleming continues to be irresistibly readable, however incredible".[25] Hilary Corke, writing in The Listener, thought that "Fleming is one of the most accomplished of thriller-writers",[26] going on to say that Moonraker "is as mercilessly readable as all the rest".[26] On the down side, however, Corke warned Fleming away from being over-dramatic, declaring that "Mr Fleming is evidently far too accomplished to need to lean upon these blood-and-thunder devices: he could keep our hair on end for three hundred pages without spilling more blood than was allowed to Shylock."[26]
John Metcalf for The Spectator thought that "It is utterly disgraceful – and highly enjoyable ... without (Moonraker) no forthcoming railway journey should be undertaken",[27] although he also considered that it was "not one of Mr. Fleming's best".[22] Anthony Boucher, writing in The New York Times, was mixed in his review, saying "I don't know anyone who writes about gambling more vividly than Fleming and I only wish the other parts of his books lived up to their gambling sequences".[22] Richard Lister in the New Statesman thought that "Mr. Fleming is splendid; he stops at nothing."[28] Writing for The Washington Post, Al Manola believed that the "British tradition of rich mystery writing, copious description and sturdy heroism all blend nicely"[29] in Moonraker, providing what he considered was "probably the best action novel of the month".[29]
Adaptations[edit]
Main articles: Moonraker (film) and James Bond (comic strip)
John Payne unsuccessfully attempted to option film rights to the book in 1955, but nothing came of the attempt. The Rank Organisation also took up an option to make a film, but this also eventually fell through.[30] The novel was originally not one of Fleming's novels acquired by Eon Productions in 1961. In 1969 Eon acquired the rights and commissioned Gerry Anderson to produce and co-write a screenplay. Anderson and Tony Barwick prepared a 70 page treatment that was never filmed, but some elements were found to be similar to the final screenplay of The Spy Who Loved Me.[31]
Radio adaption (1956)
The first adaption of Moonraker was on South African radio in 1956, with Bob Holness providing the voice of Bond.[32] According to The Independent, "listeners across the Union thrilled to Bob's cultured tones as he defeated evil master criminals in search of world domination".[33]
Comic strip (1959)
Moonraker was adapted as a daily comic strip that was published in the Daily Express newspaper and syndicated worldwide. The adaptation was written by Henry Gammidge and illustrated by John McLusky, and ran from 30 March to 8 August 1959.[34] Titan Books reprinted the strip in 2005 along with Casino Royale and Live and Let Die, as a part of the Casino Royale anthology.[35]
Moonraker (1979)
"Moonraker" was used as the title for the eleventh James Bond film, produced by Eon Productions and released in 1979. Directed by Lewis Gilbert and produced by Albert R. Broccoli, the film featured Roger Moore in his fourth appearance as Bond.[36] The Nazi-inspired element of Drax's motivation in the novel was indirectly preserved with the "master race" theme of the film's plot.[37] Since the screenplay was original, Eon Productions and Glidrose Publications authorised the film's writer, Christopher Wood, to produce his second novelization based upon a film; entitled "James Bond and Moonraker".[38]
Elements used (2002)
Elements of Moonraker were also used in the 2002 film Die Another Day, with Blades being the club in the film. During the DVD commentary, actress Rosamund Pike mentions that her character, Miranda Frost, was originally to have been named Gala Brand.[39]
See also[edit]

Portal icon James Bond portal
Portal icon Novels portal
 Wikiquote has quotations related to: Moonraker
List of James Bond novels and short stories
Outline of James Bond

References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Benson 1988, p. 98-99.
2.Jump up ^ Macintyre 2008, p. 58.
3.^ Jump up to: a b c Black 2005, p. 16.
4.^ Jump up to: a b Black 2005, p. 81.
5.Jump up ^ Black 2005, p. 20.
6.Jump up ^ Black 2005, p. 17.
7.Jump up ^ Black 2005, p. 22.
8.Jump up ^ Barnes & Hearn 2003, p. 130.
9.^ Jump up to: a b Lycett 1996, p. 253.
10.^ Jump up to: a b Lycett 1996, p. 254.
11.Jump up ^ Lycett 1996, p. 281.
12.Jump up ^ Macintyre 2008, p. 88.
13.Jump up ^ Chancellor 2005, p. 113.
14.Jump up ^ Longden 2009, p. 312.
15.Jump up ^ Black 2005, p. 64.
16.Jump up ^ Black 2005, p. 23.
17.^ Jump up to: a b c Lycett 1996, p. 257.
18.Jump up ^ Macintyre 2008, p. 180.
19.Jump up ^ Fleming 2006, p. vi.
20.^ Jump up to: a b c d Griswold 2006, p. 105.
21.^ Jump up to: a b Chancellor 2005, p. 56.
22.^ Jump up to: a b c Benson 1988, p. 11.
23.Jump up ^ Benson 1988, p. 11-12.
24.^ Jump up to: a b Symons, Julian Gustave (20 May 1955). "On the Shady Side". The Times Literary Supplement. p. 265.
25.^ Jump up to: a b Richardson, Maurice (24 April 1955). "Crime off the ration". The Observer. p. 15.
26.^ Jump up to: a b c Corke, Hilary (19 May 1955). "New Novels". The Listener. p. 903.
27.Jump up ^ "Display Advertising". The Listener. 5 May 1955.
28.Jump up ^ "Display Advertising". The Times. 28 April 1955. p. 16.
29.^ Jump up to: a b Manola, Al (16 October 1955). "Coroner's Verdict". The Washington Post. p. E7.
30.Jump up ^ Chapman 2009, p. 98.
31.Jump up ^ p.187 Hearn, Marcus & Archer, Simon What Made Thunderbirds Go!: The Authorized Biography of Gerry Anderson Hearn, Marcus & Archer, Simon BBC, 2002
32.Jump up ^ "Bob Holness on Game Shows". Retrieved 14 September 2007.
33.Jump up ^ Roberts, Andrew (8 November 2006). "The Bond bunch". The Independent. p. 14.
34.Jump up ^ Fleming, Gammidge & McLusky 1988, p. 6.
35.Jump up ^ "The James Bond Omnibus Vol.1 (Paperback)". Amazon.com, Inc. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
36.Jump up ^ Barnes & Hearn 2001, p. 134.
37.Jump up ^ Inside Moonraker (DVD). MGM Interactive Inc.
38.Jump up ^ "007 Magazine: A Complete Bibliography". Retrieved 16 September 2007.
39.Jump up ^ Rosamund Pike, DVD commentary, Die Another Day, MGM Home Entertainment, 2003
Bibliography[edit]
Barnes, Alan; Hearn, Marcus (2003). Kiss Kiss Bang! Bang!: The Unofficial James Bond 007 Film Companion. Batsford. ISBN 978-0-7134-8645-2.
Benson, Raymond (1988). The James Bond Bedside Companion. London: Boxtree Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85283-233-9.
Fleming, Ian; Gammidge, Henry; McLusky, John (1988). Octopussy. London: Titan Books. ISBN 1-85286-040-5.
Lycett, Andrew (1996). Ian Fleming. London: Phoenix. ISBN 978-1-85799-783-5.
Pfeiffer, Lee; Worrall, Dave (1998). The Essential Bond. London: Boxtree Ltd. ISBN 978-0-7522-2477-0.
Barnes, Alan; Hearn, Marcus (2001). Kiss Kiss Bang! Bang!: the Unofficial James Bond Film Companion. Batsford Books. ISBN 978-0-7134-8182-2.
Simpson, Paul (2002). The rough guide to James Bond. Rough Guides. ISBN 978-1-84353-142-5.
Smith, Jim (2002). Bond Films. London: Virgin Books. ISBN 978-0-7535-0709-4.
Bennett, Tony; Woollacott, Janet (2003). "The Moments of Bond". In Lindner, Christoph. The James Bond Phenomenon: a Critical Reader. Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-0-7190-6541-5.
Lindner, Christoph (2003). The James Bond Phenomenon: a Critical Reader. Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-0-7190-6541-5.
Black, Jeremy (2005). The Politics of James Bond: from Fleming's Novel to the Big Screen. University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 978-0-8032-6240-9.
Chancellor, Henry (2005). James Bond: The Man and His World. London: John Murray. ISBN 978-0-7195-6815-2.
Fleming, Ian (2006). Moonraker. London: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-14-102833-0.
Griswold, John (2006). Ian Fleming's James Bond: Annotations And Chronologies for Ian Fleming's Bond Stories. AuthorHouse. ISBN 978-1-4259-3100-1.
Cork, John; Stutz, Collin (2007). James Bond Encyclopedia. London: Dorling Kindersley. ISBN 978-1-4053-3427-3.
Jütting, Kerstin (2007). "Grow Up, 007!" – James Bond Over the Decades: Formula Vs. Innovation. GRIN Verlag. ISBN 978-3-638-85372-9.
Macintyre, Ben (2008). For Your Eyes Only. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7475-9527-4.
Chapman, James (2009). Licence to Thrill: A Cultural History of the James Bond Films. New York: I.B. Tauris. ISBN 978-1-84511-515-9.
Longden, Sean (2009). T-Force: The Forgotten Heroes of 1945. London: Constable & Robinson. ISBN 978-1-84529-727-5.
Caplen, Robert A. (2010). Shaken & Stirred: The Feminism of James Bond. Xlibris. ISBN 978-1-4535-1282-1.
External links[edit]
Moonraker at the Internet Movie Database
Moonraker at Rotten Tomatoes
MGM's official site for Moonraker


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Categories: 1955 novels
James Bond books
Novels by Ian Fleming
Moonraker (film)
British novels adapted into films
Jonathan Cape books








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Live and Let Die (novel)
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Live and Let Die
Original cover
First edition cover, published by Jonathan Cape

Author
Ian Fleming
Cover artist
Devised by Ian Fleming, completed by Kenneth Lewis
Country
United Kingdom
Language
English
Series
James Bond
Genre
Spy fiction
Publisher
Jonathan Cape

Publication date
 5 April 1954
Media type
Print (hardback & paperback)
Pages
234
Preceded by
Casino Royale
Followed by
Moonraker
Live and Let Die is the second novel in Ian Fleming's James Bond series, first published in the UK by Jonathan Cape on 5 April 1954, where the initial print run of 7,500 copies quickly sold out. As with Fleming's first novel, Casino Royale, Live and Let Die was broadly well received by the critics. The novel was written at Fleming's 'Goldeneye' estate in Jamaica before Casino Royale was published and much of the background came from Fleming's own experiences of travel in the US and his knowledge of Jamaica itself.
The story centres on Bond's pursuit of an American criminal, Mr Big, who has links to the American criminal network, the world of voodoo and SMERSH, an arm of the Russian secret service, all of which are a threat to the West. Bond becomes involved in the US through Mr. Big's smuggling of 17th century gold coins from British territories in the Caribbean. Themes that run through the novel include the ongoing East-West struggle of the Cold War, race relations and friendship.
Following an adaptation in 1958–59 by John McLusky in the Daily Express in comic strip format, the novel was adapted in 1973 as the eighth 'official' film in the Eon Productions Bond series and the first to star Roger Moore as James Bond. Major plot elements from the novel were also incorporated into two other Bond films: For Your Eyes Only, released in 1981 and Licence to Kill, released in 1989.


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot
2 Characters and themes
3 Background
4 Release and reception 4.1 Reviews
5 Adaptations
6 See also
7 References
8 Bibliography
9 Further reading
10 External links

Plot[edit]
British Secret Service agent James Bond is sent by his superior, M, to New York City to investigate "Mr. Big", real name Buonaparte Ignace Gallia, an agent of SMERSH and an underworld voodoo leader who is suspected of selling 17th century gold coins to finance Soviet spy operations in America. These gold coins have been turning up in Harlem and Florida and are suspected of being part of a treasure that was buried in Jamaica by the pirate Sir Henry Morgan.
In New York, Bond meets up with his counterpart in the CIA, Felix Leiter. The two decide to visit some of Mr. Big's nightclubs in Harlem, but are subsequently captured. Bond is personally interrogated by Mr. Big, who uses his fortune telling-girlfriend, Solitaire (so named because she excludes men from her life), to determine if Bond is telling the truth. Solitaire lies to Mr. Big, supporting Bond's cover story. Mr. Big decides to release Bond and Leiter and has one of his men break one of Bond's fingers. Bond escapes, killing several of Mr. Big's men in the process, whilst Leiter is released by a gang member, sympathetic because of a shared appreciation of jazz.
Solitaire later contacts Bond and they travel to St. Petersburg, Florida. While Bond and Leiter are scouting one of Mr. Big's warehouses used for storing exotic fish, Solitaire is kidnapped by Mr. Big's minions. Felix later returns to the warehouse by himself, but is either captured and fed to a shark or tricked into standing on a trap door over the shark tank: he survives, but loses an arm and a leg. Bond finds him in their safe house with a note pinned to his chest "He disagreed with something that ate him". After getting Felix to the hospital, Bond investigates the warehouse himself and discovers that Mr. Big is smuggling gold by placing it in the bottom of fish tanks holding poisonous tropical fish. Bond is attacked in the warehouse by Mr. Big's gunman, the "Robber", and the resultant gunfight destroys many of the tanks in the warehouse: Bond tricks the Robber and causes him to fall into the shark tank.
Bond then continues his mission in Jamaica where he meets Quarrel and John Strangways, the head of the MI6 station in Jamaica. Quarrel gives Bond training in scuba diving in the local waters. Bond swims through shark and barracuda infested waters to Mr. Big's island and manages to plant a limpet mine on the hull of his yacht before being captured once again by Mr. Big. The following morning, Mr. Big ties Solitaire and Bond to a line behind his yacht and plans to drag them over the shallow coral reef and into deeper water so that the sharks and barracuda that he attracts in to the area with regular feedings will eat them.
Bond and Solitaire are saved when the limpet mine explodes seconds before they are dragged over the reef: though temporarily stunned by the explosion and injured on the coral Bond and Solitaire are protected from the explosion by the reef, and Bond watches as Mr. Big, who survived the explosion, is killed by the sharks and barracuda. Quarrel then rescues Bond and Solitaire.
Characters and themes[edit]



Fleming did not use class enemies for his villains instead relying on physical distortion or ethnic identity ... Furthermore, in Britain foreign villains used foreign servants and employees ... This racism reflected not only a pronounced theme of interwar adventure writing, such as the novels of [John] Buchan, but also widespread literary culture.
Jeremy Black, The Politics of James Bond[1]
Fleming builds the main character in Live and Let Die to make Bond come across as a more human character[2] than he was in Casino Royale, coming across as "a much warmer, more likeable man from the opening chapter".[2] Similarly, over the course of the book, Felix Leiter develops and also comes across as a more complete and human character and their friendship is evident in the story.[3]
Live and Let Die, like other Bond novels, reflects the changing roles of Britain and America during the 1950s and the perceived threat from the Soviet Union to both nations. Unlike Casino Royale, whose Cold War politics revolve around British-Soviet tensions, in Live and Let Die Bond arrives in Harlem to protect America from the Soviets working through the Black Power movement:[4] America was the Soviet objective and Bond comments "that New York 'must be the fattest atomic-bomb target on the whole face of the world'".[5] Bond's briefing also provides an opportunity for Fleming to offer his views through his characters and "M and Bond ... offer their views on the ethnicity of crime, views that reflected ignorance, the inherited racialist prejudices of London clubland";[6] academic Jeremy Black has pointed out that "the frequency of his references and his willingness to offer racial stereotypes [was] typical of many writers of his age".[7] Writer Louise Welsh observed that "Live and Let Die taps into the paranoia that some sectors of white society were feeling" as the civil rights movements challenged prejudice and inequality.[8]
Friendship is another key element of Live and Let Die, where the importance of male friends and allies shows through in the form of Leiter and Quarrel.[2] The more complete character profiles of the novel also aid the storyline with regards to the shark attack on Leiter and Bond's strengthened motives for chasing Mr Big.[2]
Background[edit]
In January 1953, still four months before Casino Royale was published, Fleming and his wife Ann flew to New York before taking the Silver Meteor train to St. Petersburg in Florida and then on to Jamaica.[9] Once in Jamaica, at his Goldeneye estate, Fleming started work on the second Bond novel; this was intended to be of a more serious tone, a meditation on the nature of evil and the novel's original title, The Undertaker's Wind, reflects this.[10] Fleming conducted research for Live and Let Die and completed the novel before Casino Royale was published:[9] shortly after Live and Let Die was completed, Casino Royale was published, selling out its first two print runs within a month.[11] Sales were successful enough that his publishers, Jonathan Cape, offered him a contract for three further Bond novels.[12]
Much of the novel drew from Fleming's personal experiences: the opening of the novel, with Bond's arrival at New York's Idlewild Airport was inspired by Fleming's own arrivals in 1941 and 1953[6] and the warehouse at which Felix Leiter is attacked by a shark was based on a warehouse Fleming had visited in 1953, as well as much of the journey Fleming and his wife had undertaken.[13] Fleming's friends also had their names used throughout the story, with friend Ivar Bryce giving his name to the alias used by Bond, whilst friend Tommy Leiter found his surname being used for Felix Leiter;[14] Ivar Bryce's middle name of Felix was used for Leiter's Christian name.[15] Fleming's experiences on his first scuba dive with Jacques Cousteau in 1953 provided much of the description of Bond's swim to Mr. Big's boat,[16] whilst the concept of the limpet-mining "may well be based on the extraordinary wartime activities of the 10th Light Flotilla, an elite unit of Italian navy frogmen".[17] Fleming also used, and extensively quoted, information about voodoo from his friend Patrick Leigh Fermor's book The Traveller's Tree.[16]
Release and reception[edit]



It is an unashamed thriller and its only merit is that it makes no demands on the minds of the reader.
Ian Fleming, to Winston Churchill, in a letter accompanying a copy of Live and Let Die[16]
Live and Let Die was published in hardback by Jonathan Cape on 5 April 1954[18] and, as with Casino Royale, Fleming designed the cover, which again featured the title lettering prominently.[16] It had an initial print run of 7,500 copies, which sold out and a re-print was undertaken.[19] Live and Let Die was published in the US in January 1955 by Macmillan; there was only one major change in the book, with the title of Chapter five being changed from "Nigger Heaven" to "Seventh Avenue".[20] Continuation Bond author Raymond Benson analysed Fleming's writing style and identified what he described as the "Fleming Sweep": a stylistic point that sweeps the reader from one chapter to another using 'hooks' at the end of chapters to heighten tension and pull the reader into the next:[21] Benson felt that the "Fleming Sweep never achieves a more engaging rhythm and flow" than in Live and Let Die.[22]
On 8 May 1954, Live and Let Die was banned in Ireland by C. J. O'Reilly, a member of the Irish Censorship of Publications Board.[23] Fleming's biographer, Andrew Lycett, noted that "the banning of Live and Let Die in Ireland in May helped the general publicity".[18]
Reviews[edit]
Philip Day of The Sunday Times noted "How wincingly well Mr Fleming writes",[18] whilst his colleague in his sister paper, The Times, thought that "This is an ingenious affair, full of recondite knowledge and horrific spills and thrills – of slightly sadistic excitements also – though without the simple and bold design of its predecessor"[24] Elizabeth L Sturch, writing in The Times Literary Supplement, observed that Fleming was "without doubt the most interesting recent recruit among thriller-writers"[25] and that Live and Let Die "fully maintains the promise of ...Casino Royale.[25] Tempering her praise of the book, Sturch thought that "Mr. Fleming works often on the edge of flippancy, rather in the spirit of a highbrow".[25] Overall, however, she felt that the novel "contains passages which for sheer excitement have not been surpassed by any modern writer of this kind".[25] The Daily Telegraph felt that "the book is continually exciting, whether it takes us into the heart of Harlem or describes an underwater swim in shark-infested waters; and it is more entertaining because Mr. Fleming does not take it all too seriously himself",[26] whilst George Malcolm Thompson, writing in the Evening Standard, believed Live and Let Die to be "tense; ice-cold, sophisticated; Peter Cheyney for the carriage trade".[16]
Anthony Boucher in The New York Times – described by a Fleming biographer, John Pearson, as "throughout an avid anti-Bond and an anti-Fleming man"[27] – thought that the "high-spots are all effectively described ... but the narrative is loose and jerky".[28] Boucher concluded that Live and Let Die was "a lurid meller contrived by mixing equal parts of Oppenheim and Spillane".[28] In June 1955 Raymond Chandler was visiting the poet Stephen Spender in London when he was introduced to Fleming; Fleming subsequently sent Chandler a copy of Live and Let Die and in response Chandler wrote that Fleming was "probably the most forceful and driving writer of what I suppose still must be called thrillers in England".[29]
Adaptations[edit]
Main articles: James Bond (comic strip) and Live and Let Die (film)
Comic strip adaptation (1958–9)
Live and Let Die was adapted as a daily comic strip which was published in the British Daily Express newspaper and syndicated around the world.[30] The adaptation ran from 15 December 1958 to 28 March 1959.[31] The adaptation was written by Henry Gammidge and illustrated by John McLusky, whose drawings of Bond had a resemblance to Sean Connery, the actor who portrayed Bond three years later.[32]
Live and Let Die (1973)
Live and Let Die, a film based loosely on the novel, was released in 1973. The film was directed by Guy Hamilton, produced by Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman and starred Roger Moore in his first outing as the secret agent. In the film, a drug lord known as Mr. Big plans to distribute two tonnes of heroin free so as to put rival drug barons out of business. Bond is soon trapped in a world of gangsters and voodoo as he fights to put a stop to Mr. Big's scheme.[33]
Scenes used (1981 and 1989)
Some scenes from this novel were depicted in later Bond films, including the keelhauling sequence, which was used in the film adaptation of For Your Eyes Only,[34] whilst Felix Leiter was not fed to a shark until Licence to Kill, which also faithfully adapts Live and Let Die's shoot-out in the warehouse.[35]
See also[edit]

Portal icon James Bond portal
Portal icon Novels portal
List of James Bond novels and stories
Outline of James Bond

References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Black 2005, p. 19.
2.^ Jump up to: a b c d Benson 1988, p. 96.
3.Jump up ^ Benson 1988, p. 96-7.
4.Jump up ^ Black, Jeremy (24 January 2006). "What we can learn from James Bond". George Mason University. Retrieved 13 July 2007.
5.Jump up ^ Black, Jeremy (Winter 2002–2003). "'Oh, James'". National Interest (70): 106. ISSN 0884-9382.
6.^ Jump up to: a b Black 2005, p. 11.
7.Jump up ^ Black 2005, p. 12.
8.Jump up ^ Fleming 2006, p. v.
9.^ Jump up to: a b Benson 1988, p. 6.
10.Jump up ^ Simpson 2002, p. 36.
11.Jump up ^ Lycett 1996, p. 244.
12.Jump up ^ Black 2005, p. 10.
13.Jump up ^ Black 2005, p. 14.
14.Jump up ^ Macintyre 2008, p. 93.
15.Jump up ^ Lycett 1996, p. 222.
16.^ Jump up to: a b c d e Chancellor 2005, p. 43.
17.Jump up ^ Macintyre 2008, p. 104.
18.^ Jump up to: a b c Lycett 1996, p. 255.
19.Jump up ^ Benson 1988, p. 8.
20.Jump up ^ Benson 1988, p. 11.
21.Jump up ^ Benson 1988, p. 85.
22.Jump up ^ Benson 1988, p. 95.
23.Jump up ^ Kelly, James (2004). "The Operation of the Censorship of Publications Board: The Notebooks of C. J. O'Reilly, 1951–55 (Subscription needed)". Analecta Hibernica 38: 320. ISSN 0791-6167. JSTOR 20519909.
24.Jump up ^ "Professional People". The Times. 7 April 1954. p. 10.
25.^ Jump up to: a b c d Sturch, Elizabeth (30 April 1954). "Progress and Decay". The Times Literary Supplement. p. 277.
26.Jump up ^ "Live and Let Die". The Times (Multiple Display Advertisements). 21 August 1954. p. 9.
27.Jump up ^ Pearson 1967, p. 99.
28.^ Jump up to: a b Boucher, Anthony (10 April 1955). "Criminals at Large". The New York Times.
29.Jump up ^ Lycett 1996, p. 270.
30.Jump up ^ Pfeiffer & Worrall 1998, p. 70.
31.Jump up ^ Fleming, Gammidge & McLusky 1988, p. 6.
32.Jump up ^ "The James Bond Films – 2006 onwards". Retrieved 14 June 2007.
33.Jump up ^ Inside "Live and Let Die" Documentary (Live and Let Die Special Edition DVD)
34.Jump up ^ Barnes & Hearn 2001, p. 135.
35.Jump up ^ Barnes & Hearn 2001, p. 176.
Bibliography[edit]
Pearson, John (1967). The Life of Ian Fleming: Creator of James Bond. London: Pan Books.
Benson, Raymond (1988). The James Bond Bedside Companion. London: Boxtree Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85283-233-9.
Fleming, Ian; Gammidge, Henry; McLusky, John (1988). Octopussy. London: Titan Books. ISBN 1-85286-040-5.
Lycett, Andrew (1996). Ian Fleming. London: Phoenix. ISBN 978-1-85799-783-5.
Pfeiffer, Lee; Worrall, Dave (1998). The Essential Bond. London: Boxtree Ltd. ISBN 978-0-7522-2477-0.
Barnes, Alan; Hearn, Marcus (2001). Kiss Kiss Bang! Bang!: the Unofficial James Bond Film Companion. Batsford Books. ISBN 978-0-7134-8182-2.
Simpson, Paul (2002). The rough guide to James Bond. Rough Guides. ISBN 978-1-84353-142-5.
Black, Jeremy (2005). The Politics of James Bond: from Fleming's Novel to the Big Screen. University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 978-0-8032-6240-9.
Chancellor, Henry (2005). James Bond: The Man and His World. London: John Murray. ISBN 978-0-7195-6815-2.
Fleming, Ian (2006). Live and let Die. London: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-14-102832-3.
Macintyre, Ben (2008). For Your Eyes Only. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7475-9527-4.
Further reading[edit]
McCormick, Donald (1993). 17F – The Life of Ian Fleming. London: Peter Owen Ltd. ISBN 978-0-7206-0888-5.
Lindner, Christoph (2003). The James Bond Phenomenon: a Critical Reader. Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-0-7190-6541-5.
Jütting, Kerstin (2007). "Grow Up, 007!" – James Bond Over the Decades: Formula Vs. Innovation. GRIN Verlag. ISBN 978-3-638-85372-9.
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has quotations related to: Live and Let Die
Live and Let Die at the Internet Movie Database
Live and Let Die at Rotten Tomatoes
MGM Official Site: Live and Let Die


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Casino Royale (novel)
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For other uses, see Casino Royale (disambiguation).
Casino Royale
A book cover: down the left and right sides are representations of hearts, four on each side, each one with a drop of blood below them. In the centre of the image is another heart but without the blood drop. This central heart is surrounded by a gold laurel leaf bearing the words "A whisper of Love, A Whisper of Hate". Above the heart / laurel is the title, Casino Royale; below the heart / laurel are the words "by Ian Fleming"
First edition cover, published by Jonathan Cape

Author
Ian Fleming
Cover artist
Ian Fleming (devised)
Country
United Kingdom
Language
English
Series
James Bond
Genre
Spy fiction
Publisher
Jonathan Cape

Publication date
 13 April 1953
Media type
Print (hardback & paperback)
Pages
213
Followed by
Live and Let Die
Casino Royale is Ian Fleming's first James Bond novel. It paved the way for a further eleven novels by Fleming himself, in addition to two short story collections, followed by many "continuation" Bond novels by other authors.
The story details James Bond, Agent 007 of the "Secret Service", travelling to the casino at Royale-les-Eaux in order to bankrupt a fifth-columnist, Le Chiffre, the treasurer of a French union and a member of the Russian secret service. Bond is supported in his endeavours by Vesper Lynd, a member of his own service, as well as Felix Leiter of the CIA and René Mathis of the French Deuxième Bureau.
Since it was first published on 13 April 1953, Casino Royale has been adapted for the screen three times. The first was a 1954 episode of the CBS television series Climax! with Barry Nelson as CIA agent "Jimmy Bond". The first Casino Royale film was a 1967 spoof with David Niven playing "Sir James Bond", with the second being the twenty-first film in the Eon Productions film series starring Daniel Craig as James Bond, released in 2006. Casino Royale has also been adapted as a comic strip in a British national newspaper, the Daily Express.
Casino Royale was written by Fleming in Jamaica over a period of around two months, largely from his own experiences and imagination; he also devised the artwork for the cover. The book was given broadly positive reviews by critics at the time and sold out in less than a month in the UK, although US sales upon release a year later were much slower.


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot
2 Characters and themes
3 Background
4 Release and reception 4.1 Reviews
5 Adaptations
6 See also
7 References
8 Bibliography
9 External links

Plot[edit]
M, the Head of the Secret Service, assigns James Bond, Special Agent 007, to play against and bankrupt Le Chiffre, the paymaster for a SMERSH-controlled trade union, in a high-stakes baccarat game at the Royale-les-Eaux casino in northern France. As part of Bond's cover as a rich Jamaican playboy, M also assigns as his companion Vesper Lynd, personal assistant to the Head of Section S (Soviet Union). The French Deuxième Bureau and the CIA also send agents as observers. The game soon turns into an intense confrontation between Le Chiffre and Bond; Le Chiffre wins the first round, bankrupting Bond. As Bond contemplates the prospect of reporting his failure to M, CIA agent Felix Leiter helps Bond and gives him an envelope with thirty-two million francs and a note: "Marshall Aid. Thirty-two million francs. With the compliments of the USA." The game continues, despite the attempts of one of Le Chiffre's minders to kill Bond. Bond eventually wins, taking from Le Chiffre eighty million francs belonging to SMERSH.
Desperate to recover the money, Le Chiffre kidnaps Lynd and subjects Bond to brutal torture, threatening to kill them both if he does not get the money back. In the midst of the torture session, a SMERSH assassin bursts in and kills Le Chiffre as punishment for losing the money. The agent does not kill Bond, saying that he has no orders to do so, but cuts a Cyrillic 'Ш' (sh) to signify the SHpion (Russian for spy) into Bond's hand so that future SMERSH agents will be able to identify him as such.
Lynd visits Bond every day as he recuperates in the hospital, and he gradually realises that he loves her; he even contemplates leaving Her Majesty's Secret Service to settle down with her. When Bond is released, they spend time together at a quiet guest house and eventually become lovers. One day they see a mysterious man named Gettler tracking their movements, which greatly distresses Lynd. The following morning, Bond finds that she has committed suicide. She leaves behind a note explaining that she had been working as an unwilling double agent for the MVD. SMERSH had kidnapped her lover, a Polish RAF pilot, who had revealed information about her under torture; SMERSH then used that information to blackmail her into helping them undermine Bond's mission, including her own faked kidnapping. She had tried to start a new life with Bond, but upon seeing Gettler – a SMERSH agent – she realised that she would never be free of her tormentors and that staying with Bond would only put him in danger. Bond informs his service of Lynd's duplicity, coldly telling his contact, "The bitch is dead now."
Characters and themes[edit]
The lead character of Casino Royale is James Bond, an agent of the "Secret Service". For his protagonist, Fleming appropriated the name of James Bond, author of the ornithology guide, Birds of the West Indies.[1] Fleming explained to the ornithologist's wife that "It struck me that this brief, unromantic, Anglo-Saxon and yet very masculine name was just what I needed, and so a second James Bond was born".[2] He further explained that:
When I wrote the first one in 1953, I wanted Bond to be an extremely dull, uninteresting man to whom things happened; I wanted him to be a blunt instrument ... when I was casting around for a name for my protagonist I thought by God, (James Bond) is the dullest name I ever heard.[3]
In the first draft of Casino Royale he decided to use the name James Secretan as Bond's cover name while on missions.[4]
According to a Fleming biographer, Andrew Lycett, "within the first few pages Ian [Fleming] had introduced most of Bond's idiosyncrasies and trademarks", which included his looks, his Bentley and his smoking and drinking habits.[5] The full details of Bond's martini were kept until chapter seven of the book and Bond eventually named it "The Vesper", after Vesper Lynd.

'A dry martini,' he said. 'One. In a deep champagne goblet.'
'Oui, monsieur.'
'Just a moment. Three measures of Gordon's, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until it's ice-cold, then add a large thin slice of lemon peel. Got it?'
'Certainly monsieur.' The barman seemed pleased with the idea.
'Gosh, that's certainly a drink,' said Leiter.
Bond laughed. 'When I'm ... er ... concentrating,' he explained, 'I never have more than one drink before dinner. But I do like that one to be large and very strong and very cold, and very well-made. I hate small portions of anything, particularly when they taste bad. This drink's my own invention. I'm going to patent it when I think of a good name.'
— Casino Royale, Chapter 7: Rouge et Noir[6]
Speaking of Bond's origins, Fleming said that "he was a compound of all the secret agents and commando types I met during the war",[7] although Fleming himself gave many of his own traits to the character.[7] Bond's tastes are often taken from Fleming's own,[8] as is some of his behaviour: Fleming used the casino to introduce Bond in his first novel because "skill at gambling and knowledge of how to behave in a casino were seen ... as attributes of a gentleman".[9] Lycett sees much of Bond's character as being much "wish fulfilment" by Fleming.[10] Continuation Bond author, Jeffery Deaver says that Bond "is a classic adventure-story hero. He confronts evil. Simple as that."[11] Deaver also clarifies the point, saying that Bond is not a superhero, but that he is very human, doubting himself and making errors.[12]
Bond's superior, M, was largely based on Fleming's superior officer in Naval Intelligence during the war, Admiral Sir John Godfrey;[13] Godfrey was known for his bellicose and irascible temperament.[14] One of the likely models for Le Chiffre was the influential English occultist, astrologer, mystic and ceremonial magician Aleister Crowley, whose physical features are similar to Le Chiffre's;[15] his tastes, especially in sado-masochism, were also akin to those of Le Chiffre and, as Fleming biographer Henry Chancellor notes, "when Le Chiffre goes to work on Bond's testicles with a carpet-beater and a carving knife, the sinister figure of Aleister Crowley is there lurking in the background."[16]
Casino Royale was written shortly after, and was heavily influenced by, World War II.[9] As the power of British Empire was beginning to decline, journalist William Cook observed that "Bond pandered to Britain's inflated and increasingly insecure self-image, flattering us with the fantasy that Britannia could still punch above her weight."[8] In 1953, when Casino Royale was published, coal and many items of food were still rationed,[8] and Bond was "the ideal antidote to Britain's postwar austerity, rationing and the looming premonition of lost power",[17] according to historian and The Times journalist Ben Macintyre. The communist influence of Le Chiffre, with the overtones of a fifth column struck a chord with the largely British readership as Communist influence in the trade unions had been an issue in the press and parliament at the time.[9] Britain had also suffered from defections to the Soviet Union from two MI5 operatives who were part of the Cambridge Five spy ring that betrayed Western secrets to the Soviets,[18] thus Lycett observes that Casino Royale can be seen as Fleming's "attempt to reflect the disturbing moral ambiguity of a post-war world that could produce traitors like Burgess and Maclean".[19]
The question of Anglo-American relations was also raised within the novel, where Bond and Leiter's warm relationship was not mirrored in the wider US-UK association.[9] Christopher Hitchens observed that "the central paradox of the classic Bond stories is that, although superficially devoted to the Anglo-American war against communism, they are full of contempt and resentment for America and Americans".[20] Fleming was aware of this tension between the two countries, but he did not focus on it too strongly.[9] Academic and writer Kingsley Amis, in his exploration of Bond in The James Bond Dossier, pointed out that "Leiter, such a nonentity as a piece of characterization ... he, the American, takes orders from Bond, the Britisher, and that Bond is constantly doing better than he".[21]
Background[edit]



James Bond is the culmination of an important but much-maligned tradition in English literature. As a boy, Fleming devoured the Bulldog Drummond tales of Lieutenant Colonel Herman Cyril McNeile (aka "Sapper") and the Richard Hannay stories of John Buchan. His genius was to repackage these antiquated adventures to fit the fashion of postwar Britain ... In Bond, he created a Bulldog Drummond for the jet age.
William Cook in New Statesman[8]
During the course of World War II, Ian Fleming had mentioned to friends that he wanted to write a spy novel.[22] It was not until 1952, however, shortly before his wedding to his pregnant girlfriend, Ann Charteris, that Fleming began to write Casino Royale, to distract himself from his forthcoming nuptials.[23] Fleming started writing on his book at his Goldeneye estate in Jamaica on 17 February 1952, typing out 2,000 words in the morning, directly from his own experiences and imagination.[24] He finished work on the manuscript in just over two months,[25] completing it on 18 March 1952.[26] Describing the work as his "dreadful oafish opus",[27] Fleming showed it to an ex-girlfriend, Clare Blanchard, who advised him not to publish it at all, but that if he did so, it should be under another name.[28]
Casino Royale was inspired by certain incidents that took place during Fleming's career at the Naval Intelligence Division of the Admiralty. On a wartime trip to Portugal, en route to the United States, Fleming and the Director of Naval Intelligence, Admiral Godfrey, went to the Estoril Casino. Due to Portugal's neutral status, a number of spies from warring regimes were present. Fleming claimed that while there he was cleaned out by a "chief German agent" at a table playing Chemin de Fer.[19] Admiral Godfrey told a different story: Fleming only played Portuguese businessmen and that afterwards he fantasised about playing against German agents.[29] The references in the novel to "Red Indians" (four times, twice on last page) came from Fleming's own 30 Assault Unit, which he nicknamed his "Red Indians".[19] The failed attempt to kill Bond while at Royale-Les-Eaux was also inspired by a real event: a miscarried assassination against Franz von Papen, Vice-Chancellor of Germany and Ambassador under Adolf Hitler. Both Papen and Bond survived their assassination attempts, carried out by Bulgarians, due to a tree that protected them from a bomb blast.[30]
Release and reception[edit]



"The scent and smoke and sweat of a casino are nauseating at three in the morning. Then the soul erosion produced by high gambling — a compost of greed and fear and nervous tension — becomes unbearable and the senses awake and revolt from it."
Opening lines of Casino Royale
Casino Royale was first released on 13 April 1953 in the UK as a hardcover edition by publishers Jonathan Cape, priced at 10s, 6d each,[31] with a cover devised by Fleming himself.[32] 4,728 copies of Casino Royale were printed, selling out in less than a month;[32] a second print run the same month also sold out,[31] as did a third run of more than 8,000 books published in May 1954.[33] In the US three publishers had turned the book down before Al Hart of Macmillan Publishing Co offered Fleming a deal.[34] Casino Royale was published in 23 March 1954 in the US, but sales in the territory were poor, totalling only 4,000 copies across the entire US during the course of the year.[35] When the novel was released as a paperback in 1955, it was re-titled by publisher American Popular Library; Fleming's suggestions for a new title, The Double-O Agent and The Deadly Gamble, were disregarded in favour of You Asked for It, but this marketing ploy failed to raise the interest.[36] The Popular Library version also changed Bond's name, calling him "Jimmy Bond".[37]
Reviews[edit]
Hugh I'Anson Fausset, writing in The Manchester Guardian, thought that Casino Royale was "a first-rate thriller ... with a breathtaking plot".[38] Although he considered the plot "schoolboy stuff",[38] he felt the novel was "galvanised into life by the hard brilliance of the telling".[38] Alan Ross, writing in The Times Literary Supplement wrote that Casino Royale was "an extremely engaging affair",[39] and that "the especial charm ... is the high poetry with which he invests the green baize lagoons of the casino tables".[39] Concluding, Ross thought that "altogether, Mr. Fleming has produced a book that is both exciting and extremely civilized."[39] For The Listener, Simon Raven believed that Fleming was a "kind of supersonic John Buchan",[40] but he was somewhat dismissive of the plot, observing that it is "a brilliant but improbable notion" that includes "a deal of champagne-drinking, bomb-throwing, relentless pitting of wits etc ... with a cretinous love-affair".[40] Raven also dismissed Bond as an "infantile" creation",[40] but did allow that "Fleming tells a good story with strength and distinction ... his creation of a scene, both visually and emotionally, is of a very high order indeed."[40]
John Betjeman, writing in The Daily Telegraph, considered that "Ian Fleming has discovered the secret of the narrative art ... which is to work up to a climax unrevealed at the end of each chapter. Thus the reader has to go on reading".[30] Publishers Jonathan Cape included many of the reviews on their advertisements for the book, which appeared in a number of national newspapers; the reviews included those from The Sunday Times, which concluded that Fleming was "the best new English thriller-writer since Ambler"[41] and The Observer, which advised their readers: "don't miss this".[41]
Time magazine praised Casino Royale, saying that "Fleming keeps his incidents and characters spinning through their paces like juggling balls."[42] In the review, which also critiqued Raymond Chandler's The Long Goodbye, the Time writer went on to say that "As for Bond, he might be Marlowe's younger brother except that he never takes coffee for a bracer, just one large Martini laced with vodka."[42]
Writing for The New York Times, Anthony Boucher wrote that the book belongs "pretty much to the private-eye school"[43] of fiction. He praised the first part, saying that Fleming "manages to make baccarat clear even to one who's never played it and produced as exciting a gambling sequence as I've ever read. But then he decides to pad out the book to novel length and leads the weary reader through a set of tough clichés to an ending which surprises nobody save Operative 007. You should certainly begin this book; but you might as well stop when the baccarat game is over."[43]
Adaptations[edit]
 CBS television episode (1954)
Main article: Casino Royale (Climax!)
In 1954 CBS paid Ian Fleming $1,000[44] ($8,782 in 2014 dollars[45]) to adapt Casino Royale into a one-hour television adventure as part of its Climax! series. The episode aired live on 21 October 1954 and starred Barry Nelson as secret agent "Card Sense" James 'Jimmy' Bond and Peter Lorre as Le Chiffre.[46]
A brief tutorial on Baccarat is given at the beginning of the show by the presenter of the programme, William Lundigan, to enable viewers to understand a game which was not popular in America at the time. For this Americanised version of the story, Bond is an American agent, described as working for "Combined Intelligence", while the character Felix Leiter from the original novel is British, renamed "Clarence Leiter" and an agent for Station S. René Mathis does not appear as such. His surname is given to the leading lady, named Valérie Mathis, instead of Vesper Lynd.[47][34]
Comic strip adaptation (1958)
Main article: James Bond (comic strip)
Casino Royale was the first James Bond novel to be adapted as a daily comic strip which was published in the Daily Express newspaper and syndicated worldwide.[48] It ran from 7 July 1958 to 13 December 1958,[49] and was written by Anthony Hern and illustrated by John McLusky.[50] To aid the Daily Express in illustrating James Bond, Ian Fleming commissioned an artist to create a sketch of what he believed James Bond to look like. The illustrator, John McLusky, however, felt that Fleming's 007 looked too "outdated" and "pre-war" and thus changed Bond to give him a more masculine look.[51]
Aborted Howard Hawks project (1962)
 According to the biography Howard Hawks: The Grey Fox of Hollywood, by Todd McCarthy, the director of His Girl Friday considered filming a version of Casino Royale in 1962, possibly starring Cary Grant as James Bond, but, ultimately, chose not to.[52]
Casino Royale (1967)
Main article: Casino Royale (1967 film)
In March 1955 Ian Fleming sold the film rights of Casino Royale to producer Gregory Ratoff for $6,000[46] ($52,822 in 2014 dollars).[45] After Ratoff's death, producer Charles K. Feldman represented Ratoff's widow and obtained the rights to make the film.[53] Feldman decided the best way to profit from the film rights was to make a satirical version, which was produced and released in 1967 by Columbia Pictures. The film, which starred David Niven as Bond, was made with five credited directors (plus one uncredited) and a cast that included Peter Sellers, Ursula Andress, Orson Welles and Woody Allen.[54] The 1967 version has been described as an "an incoherent all-star comedy".[55]
Unproduced stage play (1985)
 In 1985, Raymond Benson adapted Fleming's novel into a stage play.[56] Although the play never received a full production, a staged reading was held for an audience off-off-Broadway in New York City in February 1986. The play was submitted to a British agent who recommended that it not be produced. In an interview Benson stated: "She was very elderly and in my opinion she just didn't get it. She recommended that the play not be produced. After further thought, Glidrose shelved it with the ultimate decision that a James Bond stage play simply wouldn't work. The films had Bond in a monopoly and there was no way a play could compete. I disagreed, but it was their property."[57]
Casino Royale (2006)
Main article: Casino Royale (2006 film)
In 1999, following legal action between Sony Pictures Entertainment and MGM/UA, Sony traded the rights to Casino Royale for MGM's partial-rights to Spider-Man, which led to Eon Productions making a version of Casino Royale.[58] The film stars Daniel Craig as Bond, supported by Eva Green as Vesper Lynd and Mads Mikkelsen as Le Chiffre; Judi Dench returns for her fifth Bond film as Bond's superior, M. Casino Royale is a reboot,[59] showing Bond at the beginning of his career as a 00-agent and overall stays true to the original novel.[60] The film had its premiere on 14 November 2006 and on DVD and Blu-ray Disc 13 March 2007.[61][62]
See also[edit]

Portal icon James Bond portal
Portal icon Novels portal
Outline of James Bond
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Macintyre 2008, p. 46.
2.Jump up ^ Caplen 2010, p. 21.
3.Jump up ^ Hellman, Geoffrey T. (21 April 1962). "Bond's Creator (subscription needed)". New Yorker. p. 32. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
4.Jump up ^ O'Brien, Liam (14 April 2013). "'The name's Secretan... James Secretan': Early draft of Casino Royale reveals what Ian Fleming wanted to call his super spy". The Independent on Sunday.
5.Jump up ^ Lycett 1996, p. 257.
6.Jump up ^ Fleming 2006, p. 52-53.
7.^ Jump up to: a b Macintyre 2008, p. 50.
8.^ Jump up to: a b c d Cook, William (28 June 2004). "Novel man". New Statesman. p. 40.
9.^ Jump up to: a b c d e Black 2005, p. 7.
10.Jump up ^ Lycett 1996, p. 223.
11.Jump up ^ Fleming 2006, p. vi.
12.Jump up ^ Fleming 2006, p. vi–vii.
13.Jump up ^ Chancellor 2005, p. 192.
14.Jump up ^ Macintyre 2008, p. 74.
15.Jump up ^ Macintyre 2008, p. 88.
16.Jump up ^ Chancellor 2005, p. 120.
17.Jump up ^ Macintyre 2008, p. 85-6.
18.Jump up ^ Kerr, Sheila (Jan 2011). "Burgess, Guy Francis de Moncy (1911–1963) (Subscription needed)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press). doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/37244. Retrieved 20 September 2011.
19.^ Jump up to: a b c Lycett 1996, p. 221.
20.Jump up ^ Hitchens, Christopher (April 2006). "Bottoms Up". The Atlantic Monthly. p. 101.
21.Jump up ^ Amis 1966, p. 90.
22.Jump up ^ Lycett, Andrew (2004). "Fleming, Ian Lancaster (1908–1964) (subscription needed)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press). doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/33168. Retrieved 7 September 2011.
23.Jump up ^ Bennett & Woollacott 2003, p. 1, ch 1.
24.Jump up ^ Chancellor 2005, p. 4.
25.Jump up ^ "Ian Fleming". About Ian Fleming. Ian Fleming Publications. Retrieved 7 September 2011.
26.Jump up ^ Black 2005, p. 4.
27.Jump up ^ Macintyre 2008, p. 19.
28.Jump up ^ Chancellor 2005, p. 5.
29.Jump up ^ Lycett 1996, p. 127.
30.^ Jump up to: a b Chancellor 2005, p. 25.
31.^ Jump up to: a b Lycett 1996, p. 244.
32.^ Jump up to: a b "The great Bond cover up". The Guardian. 8 May 2008. Retrieved 8 September 2011.
33.Jump up ^ Lindner 2009, p. 14.
34.^ Jump up to: a b Benson 1988, p. 7.
35.Jump up ^ Benson 1988, p. 8.
36.Jump up ^ Pfeiffer & Worrall 1998, p. 203.
37.Jump up ^ Benson 1988, p. 9.
38.^ Jump up to: a b c Fausset, Hugh (17 April 1953). "New Novels". The Manchester Guardian. p. 4.
39.^ Jump up to: a b c Ross, Alan (17 April 1953). "Spies and Charlatans". The Times Literary Supplement. p. 249.
40.^ Jump up to: a b c d Raven, Simon (23 April 1953). "New Novels". The Listener. p. 695.
41.^ Jump up to: a b "Casino Royale". The Times. 9 May 1953. p. 8.
42.^ Jump up to: a b "Books: Murder Is Their Business". Time. 29 March 1954. Retrieved 8 September 2011.
43.^ Jump up to: a b Boucher, Anthony (25 April 1954). "Criminals at Large". The New York Times. pp. BR27.
44.Jump up ^ Black 2005, p. 14.
45.^ Jump up to: a b Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–2014. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
46.^ Jump up to: a b Benson 1988, p. 11.
47.Jump up ^ Black 2005, p. 101.
48.Jump up ^ Lycett 1996, p. 316.
49.Jump up ^ Fleming, Gammidge & McLusky 1988, p. 6.
50.Jump up ^ Jütting 2007, p. 7.
51.Jump up ^ Simpson 2002, p. 21.
52.Jump up ^ Koenig, William (1998). "Howard Hawks' CASINO ROYALE". Retrieved 4 March 2006.
53.Jump up ^ Barnes & Hearn 2001, p. 56.
54.Jump up ^ "Casino Royale (1967)". Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Retrieved 8 September 2011.
55.Jump up ^ Sutton, Mike. "James Bond". BFI Screenonline. British Film Institute. Retrieved 8 September 2011.
56.Jump up ^ "James Bond 007". The Official Raymond Benson Website. Raymond Benson. Retrieved 22 September 2011.
57.Jump up ^ "Casino Royale the 'Lost' Stage Play". Retrieved 6 August 2005.
58.Jump up ^ Shprintz, Janet (29 March 1999). "Big Bond-holder". Variety. Retrieved 5 September 2011.
59.Jump up ^ "IGN: Interview: Campbell on Casino Royale". IGN.com. IGN Entertainment, Inc. 19 October 2005. Retrieved 22 March 2007.
60.Jump up ^ Funnell, Lisa (June 2011). ""I Know Where You Keep Your Gun": Daniel Craig as the Bond–Bond Girl Hybrid in Casino Royale". The Journal of Popular Culture 44 (3): 455–472. doi:10.1111/j.1540-5931.2011.00843.x.
61.Jump up ^ Cork & Stutz 2007, p. 311.
62.Jump up ^ "Casino Royale (2-Disc Widescreen Edition)". Amazon.com. Retrieved 20 June 2007.
Bibliography[edit]
Amis, Kingsley (1966). The James Bond Dossier. London: Pan Books.
Benson, Raymond (1988). The James Bond Bedside Companion. London: Boxtree Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85283-233-9.
Fleming, Ian; Gammidge, Henry; McLusky, John (1988). Octopussy. London: Titan Books. ISBN 1-85286-040-5.
Lycett, Andrew (1996). Ian Fleming. London: Phoenix. ISBN 978-1-85799-783-5.
Pfeiffer, Lee; Worrall, Dave (1998). The Essential Bond. London: Boxtree Ltd. ISBN 978-0-7522-2477-0.
Barnes, Alan; Hearn, Marcus (2001). Kiss Kiss Bang! Bang!: the Unofficial James Bond Film Companion. Batsford Books. ISBN 978-0-7134-8182-2.
Simpson, Paul (2002). The rough guide to James Bond. Rough Guides. ISBN 978-1-84353-142-5.
Bennett, Tony; Woollacott, Janet (2003). "The Moments of Bond". In Lindner, Christoph. The James Bond Phenomenon: a Critical Reader. Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-0-7190-6541-5.
Lindner, Christoph (2009). The James Bond Phenomenon: a Critical Reader. Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-0-7190-6541-5.
Black, Jeremy (2005). The Politics of James Bond: from Fleming's Novel to the Big Screen. University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 978-0-8032-6240-9.
Chancellor, Henry (2005). James Bond: The Man and His World. London: John Murray. ISBN 978-0-7195-6815-2.
Fleming, Ian (2006). Casino Royale. London: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-14-102830-9.
Cork, John; Stutz, Collin (2007). James Bond Encyclopedia. London: Dorling Kindersley. ISBN 978-1-4053-3427-3.
Jütting, Kerstin (2007). "Grow Up, 007!" – James Bond Over the Decades: Formula Vs. Innovation. GRIN Verlag. ISBN 978-3-638-85372-9.
Macintyre, Ben (2008). For Your Eyes Only. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7475-9527-4.
Caplen, Robert A. (2010). Shaken & Stirred: The Feminism of James Bond. Xlibris. ISBN 978-1-4535-1282-1.
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has quotations related to: Casino Royale
Ian Fleming.com Official website of Ian Fleming Publications.
Climax! (1954) at the Internet Movie Database – original broadcast of the TV version
Casino Royale (1967) at the Internet Movie Database
Casino Royale (2006) at the Internet Movie Database
Casino Royale (1967) at Rotten Tomatoes
Casino Royale (2006) at Rotten Tomatoes
30 Commando Assault Unit – Ian Fleming's 'Red Indians'


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List of James Bond novels and short stories
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James Bond novels and short stories
Fourteen Fleming Bond books in a pile, the titles visible on the spines
Ian Fleming's James Bond novels

Author
Ian Fleming
Kingsley Amis (as Robert Markham)
Christopher Wood
John Gardner
Raymond Benson
Sebastian Faulks
Jeffery Deaver
William Boyd
Charlie Higson
Steve Cole
Country
United Kingdom
Language
English
Genre
Spy fiction
Publisher
Jonathan Cape
Published
1953–1966
Media type
Print (hardback & paperback)
No. of books
14
James Bond is the fictional protagonist of a series of novels and short stories, first published in 1953. Bond, often referred to by his code name, 007, is a British Secret Service agent; the character was created by journalist and author Ian Fleming, and first appeared in his 1953 novel, Casino Royale; the books are set in a contemporary period, between May 1951 and February 1964. Fleming went on to write a total of twelve novels and two collections of short stories, all written at his Jamaican home Goldeneye and published annually. Two of his books were published after his death in 1964.
Since Fleming's death a number of other authors have written continuation works. Some of these have been novelizations of episodes in the series of Bond films, produced by Eon Productions, while others were either continuation novels or short stories. The first author was Kingsley Amis, writing under the pseudonym of "Robert Markham" who produced one novel; then came novelist and biographer John Pearson who wrote a fictional biography of Bond. Novelist and screenwriter Christopher Wood wrote two novelizations in the late 1970s. Writer John Gardner was asked to continue the series by copyright holders Ian Fleming Publications and, between 1981 and 1996, he wrote fourteen novels and two novelizations. After Gardner retired due to ill health, American author Raymond Benson continued the stories and wrote six Bond novels, three novelizations and three short stories between 1996 and 2002.
There was a hiatus of six years before Sebastian Faulks was commissioned to write a further Bond novel, which was released on 28 May 2008, the 100th anniversary of Ian Fleming's birth. This was followed in 2011 by a novel by American author Jeffery Deaver and a 2013 book by William Boyd. There has also been a spin-off series of books, Young Bond, based around Bond's adventures whilst a schoolboy at Eton College.


Contents  [hide]
1 Ian Fleming 1.1 Books, by publication sequence
1.2 Short stories
1.3 Fictional chronologies
2 Post-Fleming James Bond novels 2.1 1968–79
2.2 1979–96: John Gardner
2.3 1996–2002: Raymond Benson
2.4 2003–
3 Young Bond
4 References
5 Bibliography
6 External links

Ian Fleming[edit]

signature of Ian Fleming

Ian Fleming's signature
During World War II Fleming had mentioned to friends that he wanted to write a spy novel,[1] but it was not until 17 February 1952 that he began to write his first novel, Casino Royale. He started writing his book at his Jamaican home Goldeneye, typing out 2,000 words in the morning, directly from his own experiences and imagination;[2] he finished work on the manuscript in just over two months,[3] completing it on 18 March 1952.[4] Publishers Jonathan Cape were initially reluctant to publish the book, but were persuaded by Fleming's brother Peter (1907–1971), who had previously published material through them.[5] On 13 April 1953 Casino Royale was released in the UK in hardcover, priced at 10s, 6d,[6] with a cover that had been devised by Fleming himself.[7] The first edition of 4,728 copies of Casino Royale sold out in less than a month;[7] a second print run the same month also sold out,[6] as did a third run of more than 8,000 books published in May 1954.[8] At the time, Fleming was the Foreign Manager for Kemsley Newspapers, an organisation which owned The Sunday Times. Upon accepting the job, Fleming requested that he be allowed three months holiday per year, which allowed him the freedom to write.[1]
The novel centred on the exploits of James Bond, an intelligence officer in the 00 section of the Secret Intelligence Service, commonly known as MI6. Bond was also known by his code number, 007, and was a Royal Naval Reserve Commander. Fleming took the name for his character from that of the American ornithologist James Bond, a Caribbean bird expert and author of the definitive field guide Birds of the West Indies.[9] Fleming based his creation on a number of individuals he came across during his time in the Naval Intelligence Division during World War II, admitting that Bond "was a compound of all the secret agents and commando types I met during the war".[10] After the publication of Casino Royale, Fleming used his annual holiday at his house in Jamaica to write another Bond story;[1] in total, between 1953 and 1966, two years after his death, twelve Bond novels and two short-story collections were published, with the last two books—The Man with the Golden Gun and Octopussy and The Living Daylights—published posthumously.[11]
Books, by publication sequence[edit]

Title
Author
Publisher
Date
Length (first edition)
Plot
Ref.


Casino Royale
Ian Fleming Jonathan Cape 13 April 1953 213 pp James Bond is sent to play against and bankrupt Le Chiffre, the paymaster for a SMERSH-controlled trade union, in a high-stakes baccarat game in France. With help from CIA agent Felix Leiter, Bond wins the game, but is betrayed by Vesper Lynd, a double agent. Lynd falls in love with Bond and, instead of betraying him, commits suicide. [12]
Live and Let Die
Ian Fleming Jonathan Cape 5 April 1954 234 pp Bond is sent to the United States to investigate "Mr. Big", an agent of SMERSH and an underworld voodoo leader who is suspected of selling 17th century gold coins to finance Soviet spy operations in America. Bond's friend and CIA ally, Felix Leiter, is captured and fed to a shark whilst Mr. Big's fortune-telling girlfriend, Solitaire, runs off with Bond. Solitaire is captured by Mr. Big, but Bond saves her and blows up Mr. Big's yacht with a limpet mine. [13]
Moonraker
Ian Fleming Jonathan Cape 5 April 1955 256 pp Bond joins M at Blades to stop a member, Sir Hugo Drax cheating at bridge. Bond is subsequently seconded onto Drax's staff on the "Moonraker", Britain's first nuclear missile project. Bond discovers that Drax is an ex-Nazi, working for the Soviets; he also establishes that the rocket is not a defence, but is to be used by Drax to destroy London. Bond re-coordinates the rocket, sending it into the North Sea, where it kills Drax. [14]
Diamonds Are Forever
Ian Fleming Jonathan Cape 26 March 1956 257 pp Bond follows a diamond smuggling ring to America and establishes it is run by an American gang, "The Spangled Mob". He closes down the pipeline by killing one of the heads of the gang, Seraffimo Spang, in a train crash; he then travels to Sierra Leone to kill the other head of the gang, Jack Spang. [15]
From Russia, with Love
Ian Fleming Jonathan Cape 8 April 1957 253 pp Bond is targeted by SMERSH to be killed in a compromising situation on the Orient Express. He is lured to Istanbul by an attractive young cipher clerk, Corporal Tatiana Romanova, who claims to be defecting and bringing a Spektor, a Russian decoding device much coveted by MI6. Returning to London by train Bond meets SMERSH assassin, Red Grant, pretending to be a fellow British agent. Grant drugs Romanova and attempts to kill Bond, but fails: instead Bond kills Grant. Bond is then nearly killed by Colonel Rosa Klebb, one of the SMERSH planners, before he manages to capture her. [16]
Dr. No
Ian Fleming Jonathan Cape 31 March 1958 256 pp Commander John Strangways, the head of MI6 Station J in Kingston, Jamaica, and his secretary both disappear and Bond is sent to investigate the matter. Bond finds they had been investigating the activities of Dr. Julius No, a reclusive Chinese-German who lives on Crab Key and runs a guano mine. Bond suspects a connection to the disappearances and, with the assistance of his old friend Quarrel, Bond visits Crab Key. He is captured by Dr. No and establishes that No has been sabotaging American missile tests at nearby Cape Canaveral. Bond escapes and kills No. [17]
Goldfinger
Ian Fleming Jonathan Cape 23 March 1959 318 pp Bond investigates the activities of Auric Goldfinger, a gold smuggler who M suspects of being connected to SMERSH and financing their western networks with his gold. Bond is captured by Goldfinger and forced to work as a secretary to oversee "Operation Grand Slam", the stealing of the United States gold reserves from Fort Knox. Bond manages to alert the US authorities through his friend, Felix Leiter, and the plot is foiled. [18]
For Your Eyes Only
Ian Fleming Jonathan Cape 11 April 1960 252 pp "From a View to a Kill" Bond investigates the murder of a motorcycle dispatch-rider and the theft of his top-secret documents by a motorcycle-riding assassin.
 "For Your Eyes Only" Bond avenges the murder of M's closest friends.
 "Quantum of Solace" Bond is told a story of a failed marriage with an emotive twist.
 "Risico" Bond investigates a drug-smuggling operation run by the Russians.
 "The Hildebrand Rarity" Bond helps find a rare fish for an obnoxious millionaire who is subsequently murdered. [19]
Thunderball
Ian Fleming[nb 1] Jonathan Cape 27 March 1961 253 pp An international, non-aligned terrorist organisation, SPECTRE, have hijacked a NATO plane and seized its two nuclear bombs, which it uses to blackmail the western world. Bond is sent to the Bahamas, where he joins forces with Felix Leiter. Bond meets "Domino" Vitali, the sister of the pilot whose bombs were stolen, who is also the mistress of a wealthy treasure hunter, Emilio Largo. Bond and Leiter suspect Largo and, using a nuclear submarine, track him to the bombs: whilst the submarine's crew fight Largo's crew, Bond battles with Largo and is overpowered, but before Largo can finish Bond off, Domino shoots him with a spear gun. [20]
The Spy Who Loved Me
Ian Fleming Jonathan Cape 16 April 1962 221 pp A young woman is alone, working at a motel when two thugs, hired by the owner, turn up to burn it down for the insurance. They are about to rape the woman when Bond turns up and stops them. Later that night, Bond is attacked, but kills both the thugs. [21]
On Her Majesty's Secret Service
Ian Fleming Jonathan Cape 1 April 1963 288 pp Bond continues to search for Ernst Stavro Blofeld after the Thunderball incident. Through contact with the College of Arms in London Bond finds Blofeld based in Switzerland with a co-conspirator, Irma Bunt. After meeting him and discovering his latest plans, Bond attacks the centre where he is based, although Blofeld escapes in the confusion. Bond meets and falls in love with Contessa Teresa "Tracy" di Vicenzo during the story and the pair marry, but Blofeld kills Bond's new wife hours after the ceremony. [22]
You Only Live Twice
Ian Fleming Jonathan Cape 16 March 1964 255 pp After the murder of his wife, Bond begins to let his life slide. M gives him a last chance of redemption, to persuade the Japanese to share radio transmissions captured from the Soviet Union. The Japanese agree, but only if Bond kills Dr. Guntram Shatterhand, who operates a politically embarrassing "Garden of Death" in an ancient castle. Bond recognises Shatterhand and his wife as Blofeld and Bunt and he infiltrates their castle. He kills Blofeld and escapes, although is injured as the castle explodes; his injury leaves him with amnesia and he lives as a Japanese fisherman until he travels to Russia to find out about his past. [23]
The Man with the Golden Gun
Ian Fleming Jonathan Cape 1 April 1965 221 pp Bond returns to London having been brainwashed by the Russians and assigned to kill M: the attempt ends in failure. To re-prove his worth, M sends him to Jamaica with the seemingly impossible mission of killing Francisco "Pistols" Scaramanga, a Cuban assassin who is believed to have killed several British secret agents. Bond uncovers a larger plot to de-stabilise the region using KGB support and, having killed the American gangsters and KGB representative, also completes his mission with the killing of Scaramanga. [24]
Octopussy and The Living Daylights
Ian Fleming Jonathan Cape 23 June 1966 94 pp The first edition contained only two stories: "Octopussy" and "The Living Daylights"; subsequent editions have also contained "The Property of a Lady" and "007 in New York".
"Octopussy" Bond tracks down a World War II hero who had murdered his friend to steal a cache of Nazi gold.
 "The Living Daylights" Bond is assigned sniper duty, but when he sees the sniper is a beautiful woman, he shoots the butt of her rifle instead of killing her.
 "The Property of a Lady" Bond visits Sotheby's to identify a KGB agent.
 "007 in New York" Bond warns a female MI6 employee that her new boyfriend is a KGB agent.
 [25]

Short stories[edit]
In the summer of 1958, the CBS television network commissioned Fleming to write episodes of a television show based on the James Bond character. This deal came about after the success of the 1954 television adaptation of Casino Royale as an episode of the CBS television series Climax![26] Fleming agreed to the deal, and began to write outlines for the series; however, CBS later dropped the idea.[27] In January and February 1959 Fleming adapted four of the television plots into short stories and added a fifth story he had written in the summer of 1958.[28] The stories were originally titled The Rough with the Smooth, although this was changed to For Your Eyes Only for publication, which included the subtitle Five Secret Occasions in the Life of James Bond.[26]
After Fleming's death, a second collection featuring two short stories was released, Octopussy and The Living Daylights.[29] When the paperback edition of the book was published, "The Property of a Lady" was also included[30] and, by 2002, "007 in New York" had been added to the book by Penguin Books.[31]
James Bond short stories

Title
Earliest publication
Date
Ref.

"From a View to a Kill"
Daily Express (as "James Bond and the Murder Before Breakfast") 21 – 25 September 1959 [32]
"Quantum of Solace"
Cosmopolitan May 1959 [33]
"The Hildebrand Rarity"
Playboy March 1960 [34]
"For Your Eyes Only"
For Your Eyes Only 11 April 1960 
"Risico"
Daily Express (as "The Double Take") 11 – 15 April 1960 [35]
"The Living Daylights"[nb 2]
The Sunday Times colour supplement 4 February 1962 [37]
"007 in New York"[nb 3]
New York Herald Tribune October 1963 [41]
"The Property of a Lady"
The Ivory Hammer (Sotheby's annual) November 1963 [40]
"Octopussy"
Posthumously serialised in Daily Express 4 – 8 October 1965 [42]
Fictional chronologies[edit]
Independent scholar John Griswold constructed a "high-level chronology of James Bond's life", based on the logic of depicted events and actual time periods referred to in the books.[43][nb 4] This chronology differs from the publication sequence.[44] Griswold also deliberately discounts the chronological significance of actual historic events mentioned in the novels and stories, arguing that Fleming made such references for effect without synchronising them accurately to his fiction.[45] Fellow Bond-scholar Henry Chancellor also worked through the Bond chronology, which broadly agrees with Griswold, although there are differences. Chancellor noted that "Fleming was always vague about dates", although the novels are supposed to be set in order of publication.[46]
Bond chronologies

Episode
Griswold chronology[47]
Chancellor chronology[48]


Casino Royale
May to July 1951, or May to July 1952 1951
Live and Let Die
January to February 1952 1952
Moonraker
May 1953 1953
Diamonds Are Forever
July to 1 August 1953 1954
From Russia, with Love
June to August 1954 1955
Dr. No
February to March 1956 1956
Goldfinger
April to June 1957 1957
"Risico"
October 1957 October 1957
"Quantum of Solace"
February 1958 October 1957
"The Hildebrand Rarity"
April 1958 April 1958
"From a View to a Kill"
May 1958 May 1958
"For Your Eyes Only"
September to October 1958 October 1958
Thunderball
May to June 1959 1959
"Octopussy"
June 1960 1960
"The Living Daylights"
September to October 1960 October 1959
"The Property of a Lady"
June 1961 June 1961
Chapters 1–5 of On Her Majesty's Secret Service
September 1961 1961
"007 in New York"
end of September 1961 1961
Chapters 10–15 of The Spy Who Loved Me[nb 5]
October 1961 1960
Chapters 6–20 of On Her Majesty's Secret Service
November 1961 to 1 January 1962 1961 to 1 January 1962
You Only Live Twice
August 1962 to April 1963 1962–1963
The Man With the Golden Gun
November 1963 to February 1964 1963

Post-Fleming James Bond novels[edit]
1968–79[edit]
Following Fleming's death in 1964, Glidrose Productions, publishers of the James Bond novels and since renamed Ian Fleming Publications, approached author James Leasor to write a continuation novel, but he declined.[50] Glidrose then commissioned Kingsley Amis, who, under the pseudonym of "Robert Markham", wrote Colonel Sun, which was published on 28 March 1968.[30]
In 1973, Glidrose permitted publication of John Pearson's fictional biography of Bond entitled James Bond: The Authorized Biography of 007. This book, written in the first person, posits that Bond was a real person about whom Ian Fleming wrote a series of adventures. This is the only Bond work where the author shares copyright with Glidrose.
In 1977, the Eon Productions film The Spy Who Loved Me was released and, due to the radical differences between the film and the original novel of the same name, Eon productions authorised a novelization, James Bond, The Spy Who Loved Me. The 1979 film Moonraker was also produced in novel form, as James Bond and Moonraker; both books were written by screenwriter Christopher Wood.[51]

Title
Author
Publisher
Date
Length (first edition)
Plot
Ref.


Colonel Sun
Kingsley Amis, as Robert Markham Jonathan Cape March 1968 255 pp M is kidnapped and Bond follows the trail to a Greek Aegean island, where he, and Ariadne Alexandrou, a Greek Communist agent, plan to rescue him. M is held by Colonel Sun, a member of the Chinese People's Liberation Army who is in league with a former Nazi, Von Ritcher. Bond battles them both with the help of Ariadne and a friend of her father. [52]
James Bond: The Authorized Biography of 007
John Pearson Sidgwick & Jackson 1973 317 pp A fictional biography. Pearson begins the story with his own discovery that James Bond exists; MI6 had assigned Ian Fleming to write novels based upon the real agent. MI6 instruct Pearson to write 007's biography; he is introduced to a retired James Bond — who is in his fifties, yet healthy, sun-tanned, and with Honeychile Ryder, the heroine of Dr. No. Bond tells his life story to Pearson; this includes the death of Bond's parents, his first MI6 missions and Bond's own reaction to Fleming's books and the films about his adventures. [53]
James Bond, The Spy Who Loved Me (novelization)
Christopher Wood Jonathan Cape July 1977 222 pp A novelization of The Spy Who Loved Me. Bond investigates the disappearance of British, American and Soviet ballistic-missile submarines, with the help of KGB agent Major Anya Amasova. The pair identify the culprit as Sigmund Stromberg, a shipping tycoon, scientist and anarchist, whom they battle and beat in his undersea Atlantis base. [54]
James Bond and Moonraker (novelization)
Christopher Wood Jonathan Cape 1979 221 pp A novelization of Moonraker. Bond investigates the theft of a Space Shuttle, leading him to Hugo Drax, the owner of the shuttle's manufacturing firm. Along with space scientist Dr. Holly Goodhead, Bond follows the trail into outer space to prevent a plot to wipe out the world population and to re-create humanity with a master race. [54]

1979–96: John Gardner[edit]
In the 1980s, the Bond series was initially revived with new novels by John Gardner, although initially he almost turned the series down.[55] Between 1981 and 1996, Gardner went on to write sixteen Bond books in total; two of the books he wrote – Licence to Kill and GoldenEye – were novelizations of Eon Productions films of the same name. Gardner stated that he wanted "to bring Mr Bond into the 1980s",[56] although he retained the ages of the characters as they were when Fleming had left them.[57] Even though Gardner kept the ages the same, he made Bond grey at the temples as a nod to the passing of the years.[58] In 1996, Gardner retired from writing James Bond books due to ill health.[59] With the influence of the American publishers, Putnam's, the Gardner novels showed an increase in the number of Americanisms used in the book, such as a waiter wearing "pants", rather than trousers, in The Man from Barbarossa.[60] James Harker, writing in The Guardian, considered that the Gardner books were "dogged by silliness",[60] giving examples of Scorpius, where much of the action is set in Chippenham, and Win, Lose or Die, where "Bond gets chummy with an unconvincing Maggie Thatcher".[60]

Title
Author
Publisher
Date
Length (first edition)
Plot
Ref.


Licence Renewed
John Gardner Jonathan Cape May 1981 272 pp Bond infiltrates the castle of Dr. Anton Murik, a nuclear physicist who is involved with a terrorist named Franco. Murik hired Franco to hijack six nuclear power stations in order to start a meltdown, but the terrorists are prevented from doing so by Bond who, posing as Murik, orders them to abort. [61]
For Special Services
John Gardner Jonathan Cape September 1982 256 pp Bond teams up with CIA agent Cedar Leiter, daughter of Felix, to investigate Markus Bismaquer, who is suspected of reviving SPECTRE. Bond establishes SPECTRE are to take over the NORAD headquarters in order to gain control of America's military space satellite network. Bond foils the plot and finds that Bismaquer's wife, Nena, is the daughter of Blofeld and the head of SPECTRE. [62]
Icebreaker
John Gardner Jonathan Cape July 1983 256 pp Bond is teamed with an alliance of agents from the CIA, the KGB and Mossad to find and stop leader of the National Socialist Action Army (NSAA), Count Konrad von Glöda, an ex-Nazi SS officer who now perceives himself as the new Adolf Hitler. [63]
Role of Honour
John Gardner Jonathan Cape October 1984 224 pp Bond is sacked from MI6 to go undercover and is subsequently hired by SPECTRE. He joins Jay Autem Holy, a SPECTRE agent and becomes involved in a plot to destabilise the Soviet Union and the United States, by forcing them to rid the world of their nuclear weapons: a plot he foils with the help of Miss 'Percy' Proud, a CIA agent. [64]
Nobody Lives for Ever
John Gardner Jonathan Cape June 1986 192 pp A price is put on Bond's head by Tamil Rahani, the current leader of SPECTRE, who is dying from wounds received in Role of Honour. Bond's housekeeper, May, and Moneypenny are both missing and Bond attempts to find them whilst avoiding the assassins who are attempting to kill him. [65]
No Deals, Mr. Bond
John Gardner Jonathan Cape May 1987 224 pp Two women, previously connected to a Cold War mission, are brutally murdered. Bond is subsequently sent by M, "off the record", to find the remaining members of the mission before they suffer the same fate. [66]
Scorpius
John Gardner Hodder & Stoughton July 1988 224 pp Bond is threatened by a cult known as "The Meek Ones", who commit several acts of terrorism including multiple bombings and several assassinations of British politicians. Bond establishes the man behind the cult is an arms dealer, Vladimir Scorpius, who Bond locates and kills. [67]
Win, Lose or Die
John Gardner Hodder & Stoughton 1989 220 pp The Brotherhood of Anarchy and Secret Terrorism infiltrate and destroy a top-secret British Royal Navy aircraft carrier-based summit between American President George H. W. Bush, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Russian Premier Mikhail Gorbachev: Bond breaks their hijack and rescues the three leaders. [68]
Licence to Kill (novelization)
John Gardner Coronet Books 1989 224 pp A novelization of Licence to Kill. Drugs lord Franz Sanchez is caught by Bond and Felix Leiter, but escapes and ambush Leiter and his wife Della: Leiter is maimed by a shark as Della is raped and killed. M orders Bond to a mission in Istanbul but Bond refuses and he is suspended and his 00 licence is revoked. Bond sets out on a revenge mission against Sanchez, surreptitiously helped by MI6 armourer Q. [69]
Brokenclaw
John Gardner Hodder & Stoughton July 1990 192 pp Bond investigates Brokenclaw, a half-Blackfoot, half-Chinese philanthropist and economic terrorist who is trying to start a worldwide economic collapse by attacking the main global currencies. Bond is challenged by Brokenclaw to a torture ritual known as o-kee-pa and kills him using bow and arrows. [70]
The Man from Barbarossa
John Gardner Hodder & Stoughton August 1991 231 pp Bond teams up with Mossad, the French Secret Service and the KGB to infiltrate a Russian terrorist group called the "Scales of Justice" who are attempting to supply Iraq with nuclear weapons before the United Nations-led coalition invades. [71]
Death is Forever
John Gardner Hodder & Stoughton July 1992 224 pp James Bond and CIA agent Elizabeth Zara "Easy" St. John are assigned to track down the surviving members of "Cabal", a Cold War-era intelligence network that received a mysterious and unauthorised signal to disband. [72]
Never Send Flowers
John Gardner Hodder & Stoughton July 1993 256 pp Bond investigates the murder of a member of the Secret Service and connects the death to four political assassinations that take place within a week. Bond discovers a link with a former actor, David Dragonpol, who is responsible for the deaths. [73]
SeaFire
John Gardner Hodder & Stoughton August 1994 247 pp Bond investigates Max Tarn, a billionaire business tycoon who is determined to reunite Germany under a new Fourth Reich. Tarn is also involved in eco-terrorism with a massive oil spill fire in Puerto Rico. Bond averts the ecological damage and kills Tarn. [74]
GoldenEye (novelization)
John Gardner Coronet Books October 1995 218 pp A novelization of GoldenEye. Nine years after a mission which saw the death of his colleague 006, Bond investigates the theft of a prototype Eurocopter Tiger helicopter and its subsequent use in the attack on the Russian command bunker that controls the GoldenEye satellite weapon. Bond finds the crime syndicate behind the theft and attack is run by 006, who is trying to destroy London's financial centre which will cover a large-scale bank theft. [69]
COLD
John Gardner Hodder & Stoughton May 1996 264 pp The crash of a Boeing 747-400 at Dulles International Airport and the supposed death of Bond's friend and former lover, the Principessa Sukie Tempesta leads Bond on a personal revenge mission that uncovers a fanatical society, COLD: the Children of the Last Days. [75]

1996–2002: Raymond Benson[edit]

a bearded man with glasses, wearing a grey jumper, sitting on a sofa

Raymond Benson, continuation Bond author
In 1996, American author Raymond Benson became the writer of the Bond novels. Benson had previously written The James Bond Bedside Companion, first published in 1984.[76] By the time he moved on to other, non-Bond related projects in 2002, Benson had written six Bond novels, three novelizations and three short stories.[77] Benson followed Gardner's pattern of setting Bond in the contemporary timeframe of the 1990s[78] and, according to academic Jeremy Black, had more echoes of Fleming's style than John Gardner.[79] Benson also changed Bond's gun back to the Walther PPK,[80] put him behind the wheel of a Jaguar XK8[81] and made him swear more,[82] which led Black to note that there was an increased level of crudity lacking in either Fleming or Gardner.[79] However, commenting in The Australian, Peter Janson-Smith, Fleming's former literary agent, noted that Benson "has got the Fleming feel ... It's as close to Fleming as I have seen."[83] The Peterborough Evening Telegraph agreed, stating that with Benson's 007, in keeping more with Fleming, "PC-ness goes out the window and it's a more ruthless Bond with bad habits."[84] The Sunday Mercury in 1999 said, "Benson has made Bond less gimmicky, concentrating on the action rather than the gadgets. The result is a slick enough read for dedicated Bond fans who like blazing guns (Walthers, of course) and beautiful women"[85] and Kirkus Reviews called Benson's 007 "a chip off the old block and, if not a gilt-edged Bond, at least a double-A."[86]


Title
Author
Publisher
Date
Length (first edition)
Plot
Ref.


"Blast From the Past" (short story)
Raymond Benson Playboy January 1997 — Bond receives a message, apparently from James Suzuki, his son, asking him to come to New York City on a matter of urgency. When Bond arrives, he finds his son murdered. He learns that James was killed in revenge by Irma Bunt for the murder of Blofeld. Bond meets and kills Bunt. [80]
Zero Minus Ten
Raymond Benson Hodder & Stoughton April 1997 259 pp Ten days before Britain returns Hong Kong, a series of terrorist attacks occur. Bond establishes that behind them is wealthy shipping magnate Guy Thackeray, whose company is taken over by the Chinese. By way of revenge, Thackeray plans to detonate a nuclear weapon in Hong Kong: Bond disarms the bomb and kills Thackeray. [87]
Tomorrow Never Dies (novelization)
Raymond Benson Coronet Books November 1997 213 pp A novelization of Tomorrow Never Dies. Bond investigates media baron Elliot Carver, who is trying to create news by causing a war between Britain and China, which would also allow him broadcasting rights in China. Bond joins forces with Wai Lin, a Chinese agent, to defeat Carver and avoid war. [88]
The Facts of Death
Raymond Benson Hodder & Stoughton May 1998 284 pp Sinister organisation The Decada are behind a series of poisonings aimed at British and Turkish military personnel. Bond tracks the head of the organisation to Greece where he is trying to cause a war between Greece and Turkey, which Bond stops. [89]
"Midsummer Night's Doom" (short story)
Raymond Benson Playboy January 1999 9 pp Bond attends a party at Playboy founder Hugh Hefner's Playboy Mansion in Beverly Hills, California where Ministry of Defence secrets are expected to be sold to a representative of the Russian Mafia. [82]
High Time to Kill
Raymond Benson Hodder & Stoughton May 1999 304 pp A top secret British formula hidden in microfilm, codenamed "Skin 17" was stolen by two traitors who plan to sell it to the terrorist organisation "The Union". The microfilm is on a plane that crashes in the Himalayas and Bond climbs Mount Kangchenjunga to retrieve it. He battles a traitor in the climbing team, but retrieves the secret. [90]
"Live at Five" (short story)
Raymond Benson TV Guide (American edition) November 1999 — On the way to a date with a female television news reporter, 007 recalls how he once helped a Russian figure skating champion defect in full view of television cameras. [91]
The World Is Not Enough (novelization)
Raymond Benson Hodder & Stoughton November 1999 200 pp A novelization of The World Is Not Enough. Bond is tasked with protecting Elektra King after the murder of her father inside the MI6 building. Bond establishes a connection between her head of security and the international terrorist Renard, who is stealing plutonium in order to destroy Istanbul on behalf of Elektra. Bond kills both Renard and Elektra. [88]
DoubleShot
Raymond Benson Hodder & Stoughton May 2000 320 pp After he foiled their plans, terrorist organisation The Union target Bond with a plan to plunge Britain into war and destroy Bond's reputation in the process by having a Bond double kill the British Prime Minister and the Governor of Gibraltar. Bond uncovers the plan and kills the double, preventing the assassinations. [92]
Never Dream of Dying
Raymond Benson Hodder & Stoughton November 2001 320 pp Bond is again in the hunt for The Union and is chasing Le Gerant, the Blind head of the organisation. After a police raid goes wrong René Mathis goes after Le Gerant, followed by Bond. [93]
The Man with the Red Tattoo
Raymond Benson Hodder & Stoughton May 2002 320 pp Bond is in Japan to protect the prime minister at a conference and to investigate mysterious deaths in the McMahon family, who ran pharmaceutical giant CureLab. Bond reunites with Tiger Tanaka to pursue terrorist Goro Yoshida who is using biological weapons to punish Western society and plots an end to western domination. Bond kills him and negates any threats. [94]
Die Another Day (novelization)
Raymond Benson Coronet Books November 2002 245 pp A novelization of Die Another Day. Bond investigates the North Korean Colonel Tan-Sun Moon and tracks his assistant Zao to clinic where his appearance is altered. Bond finds diamonds on Zao bearing the crest of British billionaire Gustav Graves and establishes Graves is the facially-reconstructed Moon, who is attempting to reunite North and South Korea by force, which Bond stops, killing Moon in the process. [88]

2003–[edit]

a bearded man with an open-necked white shirt

Sebastian Faulks, author of Devil May Care
Glidrose twice approached Lee Child, author of the Jack Reacher novels, about writing a Bond novel but he turned them down.[95] Ian Fleming Publications then commissioned Sebastian Faulks to write a continuation novel, which was released on 28 May 2008, the 100th anniversary of Ian Fleming's birth.[96] The book—titled Devil May Care—was published in the UK by Penguin Books and by Doubleday in the US.[97] Faulks ignored the timeframe established by Gardner and Benson and instead reverted to that used by Fleming and Amis, basing his novel in the 1960s;[78] he also managed to use a number of the cultural touchstones of the sixties in the book.[98] Faulks was true to Bond's original character and background too, and provided "a Flemingesque hero"[78] who drove a battleship grey 1967 T-series Bentley.[81]
American writer Jeffery Deaver was then commissioned by Ian Fleming Publications to produce Carte Blanche, which was published on 26 May 2011.[99] The book updated Bond working for a post-9/11 agency, independent of MI5 or MI6.[100] On 26 September 2013 the novel Solo, by William Boyd was published in the UK and by HarperCollins in Canada and the US; the book was once again be set in the 1960s.[101][102]


Title
Author
Publisher
Date
Length (first edition)
Plot
Ref.


Devil May Care
Sebastian Faulks Penguin May 2008 295 pp Bond investigates Julius Gorner, a businessman who is producing heroin that threatens England, as well as wanting to attack the Soviets, who will retaliate against Britain. Bond foils the plot and kills Gorner. [97]
Carte Blanche
Jeffery Deaver Hodder & Stoughton May 2011 448 pp Bond investigates the activities of Severan Hydt, a waste-disposal magnate. Hydt had been tasked by an American pharmaceutical company to detonate a device at a British university to kill a researcher who was on the verge of creating a drug to cure cancer. Bond foiled the plot and a second plot to use food aid to give the Sudanese government a pretext to go to war with rebels and prevent Southern Sudan from seceding. [100]
Solo
William Boyd Jonathan Cape September 2013 336 pp Bond tries to stop a civil war in the fictional country of Zanzarim. Although the civil war finishes without Bond's help, he is shot and left for dead by a mercenary, Kobus Breed and Efua Blessing Ogilvy-Grant, who Bond thought was the MI6 representative in the country. Bond traces the pair to the USA, and goes on a revenge mission to kill them; he is picked up by the CIA who inform him Ogilvy-Grant is a CIA operative. He meets Ogilvy-Grant, who informs him that she shot to wound, not kill. Bond traces Breed, who has been smuggling heroin into the country. [102]

Young Bond[edit]

a smiling man wearing glasses faces the camera

Charlie Higson, author of the Young Bond series
The Young Bond series of novels was started by Charlie Higson[103] and, between 2005 and 2009, five novels and one short story were published.[104] The first Young Bond novel, SilverFin was also adapted and released as a graphic novel on 2 October 2008 by Puffin Books.[105] Comic book artist Kev Walker illustrated Higson's novel.[106] Young Bond is set in the 1930s, which would fit the chronology with that of Fleming.[107]



I deliberately steered clear of anything post Fleming. My books are designed to fit in with what Fleming wrote and nothing else. I also didn't want to be influenced by any of the other books ... for now my Bible is Fleming.
Charlie Higson[108]
Higson stated that he was instructed by the Fleming estate to ignore all other interpretations of Bond, except the original Fleming version.[109] As the background to Bond's childhood, Higson used Bond's obituary in You Only Live Twice as well as his own and Fleming's childhoods.[110] In forming the early Bond character, Higson created the origins of some of Bond's character traits, including his love of cars and fine wine.[109]
In October 2013 Ian Fleming Publications announced that Stephen Cole would continue the series, with the first edition scheduled to be released in Autumn 2014.[111] The title was later confirmed as Shoot to Kill with a release date of 6 November 2014, and it was further confirmed that Cole will be credited as Steve Cole for the release.[112]


Title
Author
Publisher
Date
Length (first edition)
Plot
Ref.


SilverFin
Charlie Higson Puffin Books March 2005 372 pp Bond meets Lord Randolph Hellebore, an arms dealer and father of fellow Etonian George Hellebore; Hellebore has a castle near to Bond's new home in Scotland and, whilst on holiday, Bond investigates the disappearance of local boy Alfie Kelly. Bond soon finds out that Hellebore is involved in creating a pill to create better and stronger soldiers by manipulating the endocrine system and had tested this pill on Alfie, but that Alfie had died. With help, Bond brings an end to the tests. [113]
Blood Fever
Charlie Higson Puffin Books January 2006 384 pp Whilst on a school trip to Sardinia, Bond comes up against the Millenaria, a secret Italian society that has plans to restore the Roman Empire. Bond meets Count Ugo Carnifex, the head of the Millenaria who tortures him by using mosquitoes. Bond escapes, rescuing the sister of a fellow Etonian in the process and Carnifex's castle is destroyed by an embittered employee. [114]
Double or Die
Charlie Higson Puffin Books January 2007 389 pp A master from Eton is kidnapped and sends a letter back to his boys with cryptic clues about his kidnap. Bond's room mate Pritpal Nandra solves most of the clues whilst Bond and fellow school friend Perry Mandeville go in search of the missing master. Bond finds the master, who has been kidnapped by the Russians in order to build a prototype computer and, with help, manages to rescue him. [115]
Hurricane Gold
Charlie Higson Puffin Books September 2007 372 pp Bond is on holiday with his aunt when the house in which he is staying is violently burgled and two children are kidnapped. Bond give chase and is captured, but convinces them he is a local street thug and they allow him to join the gang. One of the children is ill and a villain has a change of heart and smuggles him away to a local hospital: Bond eventually rescues the second child. The pair then chase the one remaining gangster to an island retreat for villains where Bond runs La Avenida de Muerte in order to escape. [116]
By Royal Command
Charlie Higson Puffin Books September 2008 354 pp Bond travels to Kitzbühel, Austria on an Eton school trip, but is under surveillance for the journey. On his return to Eton Bond foils a plot to assassinate King George V. Still under surveillance, Bond falls in love with a communist maid at Eton and they are eventually forced to flee back to Austria, from where the plot originated. [117]
SilverFin
Charlie Higson & Kevin Walker Puffin Books October 2008 155 pp The graphic novel of SilverFin: Bond battles Lord Randolph Hellebore and stops Hellebore's research into creating mutant soldiers; he also finds out the fate of a missing local boy in the process—killed during the testing process of Hellebore's drug. [118]
"A Hard Man to Kill" (short story)
Charlie Higson Puffin Books October 2009 64 pp Bond and his Aunt Charmian are travelling back from the Caribbean on the SS Colombie but come across a villain named Emil Lefebvre and a mysterious hooded convict named Caiboche. [119]
Shoot to Kill
Steve Cole Random House November 2014 TBA TBA [120]

References[edit]
Notes
1.Jump up ^ Based on a screen treatment by Kevin McClory, Jack Whittingham and Fleming
2.Jump up ^ Fleming originally titled "The Living Daylights" as "Trigger Finger",[36] although when it first appeared, in the The Sunday Times colour supplement of 4 February 1962,[37] it was under the title of "The Living Daylights".[38] It was also published in June 1962 issue of the American magazine Argosy under the name "Berlin Escape".[39]
3.Jump up ^ Originally titled "Reflections in a Carey Cadillac",[40] it was changed to "Agent 007 in New York" for publication in the New York Herald Tribune but was subsequently renamed as "007 in New York" for the 1964 US editions of Thrilling Cities.[41]
4.Jump up ^ Griswold's work, Ian Fleming's James Bond: Annotations and Chronologies for Ian Fleming's Bond Stories, is classed as an approved reference book by Ian Fleming Publications, the family company of Ian Fleming and holders of the copyright to all Fleming's works. The work has been accepted by Raymond Benson, continuation author of Bond novels from 1997 to 2003 and writer of The James Bond Bedside Companion as a serious source and has been cited in academic works, such as Biddulph, Edward "Bond Was Not a Gourmet": An Archaeology of James Bond's Diet Source: Food, Culture and Society: An International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, Volume 12, Number 2, June 2009.
5.Jump up ^ James Bond is entirely absent from chapters 1–9 of The Spy Who Loved Me, the events of which extend back some years, overlapping in time with much of the earlier Bond fiction. Bond does not appear until chapter 10, whereupon and thereafter he figures as a central character.[49]
Footnotes
1.^ Jump up to: a b c Lycett, Andrew. "Fleming, Ian Lancaster (1908–1964) (subscription needed)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press). doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/33168. Retrieved 3 December 2011. (subscription or UK public library membership required)
2.Jump up ^ Chancellor 2005, p. 4.
3.Jump up ^ "Ian Fleming". About Ian Fleming. Ian Fleming Publications. Retrieved 7 September 2011.
4.Jump up ^ Black 2005, p. 4.
5.Jump up ^ Lycett 1996, p. 226.
6.^ Jump up to: a b Lycett 1996, p. 244.
7.^ Jump up to: a b "The great Bond cover up". guardian.co.uk. 8 May 2008. Retrieved 8 September 2011.
8.Jump up ^ Lindner 2009, p. 14.
9.Jump up ^ Caplen 2010, p. 21.
10.Jump up ^ Macintyre, Ben (5 April 2008). "Bond – the real Bond". The Times. p. 36.
11.Jump up ^ Black 2005, p. 75.
12.Jump up ^ "Casino Royale". The Books. Ian Fleming Publications. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
13.Jump up ^ "Live and Let Die". The Books. Ian Fleming Publications. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
14.Jump up ^ "Moonraker". The Books. Ian Fleming Publications. Archived from the original on 27 December 2010. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
15.Jump up ^ "Diamonds are Forever". The Books. Ian Fleming Publications. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
16.Jump up ^ "From Russia, with Love". The Books. Ian Fleming Publications. Retrieved 20 January 2013.
17.Jump up ^ "Dr. No". The Books. Ian Fleming Publications. Archived from the original on 27 December 2010. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
18.Jump up ^ "Goldfinger". The Books. Ian Fleming Publications. Archived from the original on 27 December 2010. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
19.Jump up ^ "For Your Eyes Only". The Books. Ian Fleming Publications. Archived from the original on 27 December 2010. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
20.Jump up ^ "Thunderball". The Books. Ian Fleming Publications. Archived from the original on 27 December 2010. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
21.Jump up ^ "The Spy Who Loved Me". The Books. Ian Fleming Publications. Archived from the original on 27 December 2010. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
22.Jump up ^ "On Her Majesty's Secret Service". The Books. Ian Fleming Publications. Archived from the original on 27 December 2010. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
23.Jump up ^ "You Only Live Twice". The Books. Ian Fleming Publications. Retrieved 20 January 2013.
24.Jump up ^ "The Man with the Golden Gun". The Books. Ian Fleming Publications. Archived from the original on 27 December 2010. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
25.Jump up ^ "Octopussy and The Living Daylights". The Books. Ian Fleming Publications. Archived from the original on 27 December 2010. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
26.^ Jump up to: a b Benson 1988, p. 17.
27.Jump up ^ Chancellor 2005, p. 146.
28.Jump up ^ Benson 1988, p. 18.
29.Jump up ^ Lycett 1996, p. 445.
30.^ Jump up to: a b Benson 1988, p. 31.
31.Jump up ^ "Octopussy & The living daylights / Ian Fleming". The British Library Catalogue. British Library. Retrieved 4 December 2011.
32.Jump up ^ Gilbert 2012, p. 268.
33.Jump up ^ Gilbert 2012, p. 288.
34.Jump up ^ Chancellor 2005, p. 149.
35.Jump up ^ Gilbert 2012, p. 269.
36.Jump up ^ Chancellor 2005, p. 241.
37.^ Jump up to: a b Lycett 1996, p. 396.
38.Jump up ^ Fleming, Ian (4 February 1962). "The Living Daylights". The Sunday Times (London). p. 23 (S).
39.Jump up ^ Benson 1988, p. 24.
40.^ Jump up to: a b Chancellor 2005, p. 240.
41.^ Jump up to: a b Griswold 2006, p. 381.
42.Jump up ^ Gilbert 2012, p. 443.
43.Jump up ^ Griswold 2006, pp. 2–13.
44.Jump up ^ Griswold 2006, p. 2.
45.Jump up ^ Griswold 2006, p. 6.
46.Jump up ^ Chancellor 2005, p. 98.
47.Jump up ^ Griswold 2006, p. 13.
48.Jump up ^ Chancellor 2005, p. 98-99.
49.Jump up ^ Griswold 2006, pp. 350–352.
50.Jump up ^ "Obituary: James Leasor". The Times. 22 September 2007. p. 77.
51.Jump up ^ Benson 1988, p. 223.
52.Jump up ^ "Colonel Sun". The Books. Ian Fleming Publications. Archived from the original on 27 December 2010. Retrieved 23 December 2011.
53.Jump up ^ "John Pearson". The Books. Ian Fleming Publications. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
54.^ Jump up to: a b "Christopher Wood". The Books. Ian Fleming Publications. Retrieved 14 November 2012.
55.Jump up ^ Simpson 2002, p. 58.
56.Jump up ^ Black 2005, p. 185.
57.Jump up ^ Benson 1988, p. 61.
58.Jump up ^ Benson 1988, p. 149.
59.Jump up ^ Ripley, Mike (2 November 2007). "Obituary: John Gardner: Prolific thriller writer behind the revival of James Bond and Professor Moriarty". The Guardian. p. 41. Retrieved 26 December 2011.
60.^ Jump up to: a b c Harker, James (2 June 2011). "James Bond's changing incarnations". guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 26 December 2011.
61.Jump up ^ "Licence Renewed". The Books. Ian Fleming Publications. Archived from the original on 27 December 2010. Retrieved 23 December 2011.
62.Jump up ^ "For Special Services". The Books. Ian Fleming Publications. Archived from the original on 27 December 2010. Retrieved 23 December 2011.
63.Jump up ^ "Ice Breaker". The Books. Ian Fleming Publications. Archived from the original on 27 December 2010. Retrieved 23 December 2011.
64.Jump up ^ "Role Of Honour". The Books. Ian Fleming Publications. Archived from the original on 27 December 2010. Retrieved 23 December 2011.
65.Jump up ^ "Nobody Lives Forever". The Books. Ian Fleming Publications. Archived from the original on 27 December 2010. Retrieved 23 December 2011.
66.Jump up ^ "No Deals Mr Bond". The Books. Ian Fleming Publications. Archived from the original on 27 December 2010. Retrieved 23 December 2011.
67.Jump up ^ "Scorpius". The Books. Ian Fleming Publications. Retrieved 23 December 2011.
68.Jump up ^ "Win, Lose Or Die". The Books. Ian Fleming Publications. Archived from the original on 27 December 2010. Retrieved 23 December 2011.
69.^ Jump up to: a b "John Gardner (1926 – 2007)". The Books. Ian Fleming Publications. Retrieved 14 November 2012.
70.Jump up ^ "Brokenclaw". The Books. Ian Fleming Publications. Archived from the original on 27 December 2010. Retrieved 23 December 2011.
71.Jump up ^ "The Man From Barbarossa". The Books. Ian Fleming Publications. Archived from the original on 27 December 2010. Retrieved 23 December 2011.
72.Jump up ^ "Death is Forever". The Books. Ian Fleming Publications. Archived from the original on 12 July 2011. Retrieved 23 December 2011.
73.Jump up ^ "Never Send Flowers". The Books. Ian Fleming Publications. Archived from the original on 27 December 2010. Retrieved 23 December 2011.
74.Jump up ^ "Seafire". The Books. Ian Fleming Publications. Archived from the original on 27 December 2010. Retrieved 23 December 2011.
75.Jump up ^ "Cold". The Books. Ian Fleming Publications. Archived from the original on 27 December 2010. Retrieved 23 December 2011.
76.Jump up ^ Raymond Benson. "Books—At a Glance". RaymondBenson.com. Retrieved 24 December 2011.
77.Jump up ^ "Raymond Benson". The Books. Ian Fleming Publications. Archived from the original on 27 December 2010. Retrieved 24 December 2011.
78.^ Jump up to: a b c Dugdale, John (29 May 2011). "Spy another day". The Sunday Times. p. 40.
79.^ Jump up to: a b Black 2005, p. 198.
80.^ Jump up to: a b Simpson 2002, p. 62.
81.^ Jump up to: a b Davis, Kylie (23 November 2007). "A Bond with the devil". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 8.
82.^ Jump up to: a b Simpson 2002, p. 63.
83.Jump up ^ Hamilton, Sebastian (8 October 1996). "Bond reverts to type". The Australian.
84.Jump up ^ Crampton, Tracey (26 April 1997). "Review: Zero Minus Ten". Peterborough Evening Telegraph.
85.Jump up ^ Williamson, Richard (13 June 1999). "Book reviews: Latest novel maintains 007's licence to thrill". Sunday Mercury. p. 40.
86.Jump up ^ "Zero Minus Ten". Kirkus Reviews. 1 April 1997.
87.Jump up ^ "Zero Minus Ten". The Books. Ian Fleming Publications. Archived from the original on 27 December 2010. Retrieved 25 December 2011.
88.^ Jump up to: a b c "About Raymond". Retrieved 14 November 2012.
89.Jump up ^ "The Facts of Death". The Books. Ian Fleming Publications. Archived from the original on 27 December 2010. Retrieved 25 December 2011.
90.Jump up ^ "High Time To Kill". The Books. Ian Fleming Publications. Archived from the original on 27 December 2010. Retrieved 25 December 2011.
91.Jump up ^ Simpson 2002, p. 64.
92.Jump up ^ "Doubleshot". The Books. Ian Fleming Publications. Archived from the original on 27 December 2010. Retrieved 25 December 2011.
93.Jump up ^ "Never Dream Of Dying". The Books. Ian Fleming Publications. Archived from the original on 27 December 2010. Retrieved 25 December 2011.
94.Jump up ^ "The Man With The Red Tattoo". The Books. Ian Fleming Publications. Archived from the original on 27 December 2010. Retrieved 25 December 2011.
95.Jump up ^ Sachs, Andrea (11 June 2007). "Q&A Author Lee Child". Time. Retrieved 25 December 2011.
96.Jump up ^ "Faulks pens new James Bond novel". BBC News. 11 July 2007. Retrieved 25 December 2011.
97.^ Jump up to: a b "Sebastian Faulks". The Books. Ian Fleming Publications. Archived from the original on 27 December 2010. Retrieved 25 December 2011.
98.Jump up ^ Weisman, John (22 June 2008). "Close to 007 original, but not quite". The Washington Times.
99.Jump up ^ "James Bond book called Carte Blanche". BBC News. 17 January 2011. Retrieved 25 December 2011.
100.^ Jump up to: a b "Carte Blanche". The Books. Ian Fleming Publications. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
101.Jump up ^ "William Boyd takes James Bond back to 1960s in new 007 novel". BBC News (London). BBC. 12 April 2012. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
102.^ Jump up to: a b "Solo". The Books. Ian Fleming Publications. Retrieved 11 October 2013.
103.Jump up ^ Smith, Neil (3 March 2005). "The name's Bond – Junior Bond". BBC News. Retrieved 1 November 2011.
104.Jump up ^ "Charlie Higson". Puffin Books – Authors. Penguin Books. Retrieved 1 November 2011.
105.Jump up ^ "SilverFin: The Graphic Novel". Puffin Books. Penguin Books. Retrieved 1 November 2011.
106.Jump up ^ "SilverFin The Graphic Novel released in UK". The Young Bond Dossier. Retrieved 2 October 2008.
107.Jump up ^ "Young Bond books". The Books. Ian Fleming Publications. Archived from the original on 27 December 2010. Retrieved 27 November 2011.
108.Jump up ^ Cox, John. "The Charlie Higson CBn Interview". CommanderBond.net. Retrieved 27 November 2011.
109.^ Jump up to: a b Turner, Janice (31 December 2005). "Man and boy". The Times. p. 14.
110.Jump up ^ Malvern, Jack. "Shaken and stirred: the traumatic boyhood of James Bond". The Times. p. 26.
111.Jump up ^ "New Young Bond Series in 2014". Ian Fleming Publications. 9 October 2013. Retrieved 11 October 2013.
112.Jump up ^ "New Young Bond Title and Cover Art Revealed". The Book Bond. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
113.Jump up ^ "Young Bond: SilverFin". Puffin Books: Charlie Higson. Penguin Books. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
114.Jump up ^ "Young Bond: Blood Fever". Puffin Books: Charlie Higson. Penguin Books. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
115.Jump up ^ "Young Bond: Double or Die". Puffin Books: Charlie Higson. Penguin Books. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
116.Jump up ^ "Young Bond: Hurricane Gold". Puffin Books: Charlie Higson. Penguin Books. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
117.Jump up ^ "Young Bond: By Royal Command". Puffin Books: Charlie Higson. Penguin Books. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
118.Jump up ^ "SilverFin: The Graphic Novel". Puffin Books: Charlie Higson. Penguin Books. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
119.Jump up ^ "Danger Society: The Young Bond Dossier". Puffin Books Australia. Penguin Books. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
120.Jump up ^ "New Young Bond Title and Cover Art Revealed". The Book Bond. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
Bibliography[edit]
Benson, Raymond (1988). The James Bond Bedside Companion. London: Boxtree Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85283-233-9.
Black, Jeremy (2005). The Politics of James Bond: from Fleming's Novel to the Big Screen. University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 978-0-8032-6240-9.
Caplen, Robert (2010). Shaken & Stirred: The Feminism of James Bond. Bloomington, Indiana: Xlibris. ISBN 978-1-4535-1282-1.
Chancellor, Henry (2005). James Bond: The Man and His World. London: John Murray. ISBN 978-0-7195-6815-2.
Gilbert, Jon (2012). Ian Fleming: The Bibliography. London: Queen Anne Press. ISBN 978-0-9558189-6-7.
Griswold, John (2006). Ian Fleming's James Bond: Annotations And Chronologies for Ian Fleming's Bond Stories. AuthorHouse. ISBN 978-1-4259-3100-1.
Lindner, Christoph (2009). The James Bond Phenomenon: a Critical Reader. Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-0-7190-6541-5.
Lycett, Andrew (1996). Ian Fleming. London: Phoenix. ISBN 978-1-85799-783-5.
Simpson, Paul (2002). The Rough Guide to James Bond. Rough Guides. ISBN 978-1-84353-142-5.
External links[edit]
Penguin007.com Official website for Devil May Care and the 2008 Centenary events.
The Young Bond Dossier Website for the Young Bond series.


[hide]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
James Bond novels and short stories


James Bond series



Ian Fleming

Casino Royale (1953) ·
 Live and Let Die (1954) ·
 Moonraker (1955) ·
 Diamonds Are Forever (1956) ·
 From Russia, with Love (1957) ·
 Dr. No (1958) ·
 Goldfinger (1959) ·
 For Your Eyes Only (1960) ·
 Thunderball (1961) ·
 The Spy Who Loved Me (1962) ·
 On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1963) ·
 You Only Live Twice (1964) ·
 The Man with the Golden Gun (1965) ·
 Octopussy and The Living Daylights (1966)
 


Kingsley Amis

Colonel Sun (1968)
 


John Gardner

Licence Renewed (1981) ·
 For Special Services (1982) ·
 Icebreaker (1983) ·
 Role of Honour (1984) ·
 Nobody Lives for Ever (1986) ·
 No Deals, Mr. Bond (1987) ·
 Scorpius (1988) ·
 Win, Lose or Die (1989) ·
 Brokenclaw (1990) ·
 The Man from Barbarossa (1991) ·
 Death is Forever (1992) ·
 Never Send Flowers (1993) ·
 SeaFire (1994) ·
 COLD (1996)
 


Raymond Benson

Zero Minus Ten (1997) ·
 The Facts of Death (1998) ·
 High Time to Kill (1999) ·
 DoubleShot (2000) ·
 Never Dream of Dying (2001) ·
 The Man with the Red Tattoo (2002)
 


Sebastian Faulks

Devil May Care (2008)
 


Jeffery Deaver

Carte Blanche (2011)
 


William Boyd

Solo (2013)
 


Novelizations



Christopher Wood

James Bond, The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) ·
 James Bond and Moonraker (1979)
 


John Gardner

Licence to Kill (1989) ·
 GoldenEye (1995)
 


Raymond Benson

Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) ·
 The World Is Not Enough (1999) ·
 Die Another Day (2002)
 


Spin-off works



R. D. Mascott

The Adventures of James Bond Junior 003½ (1967)
 


John Pearson

James Bond: The Authorized Biography of 007 (1973)
 


Young Bond series
Charlie Higson

SilverFin (2005) ·
 Blood Fever (2006) ·
 Double or Die (2007) ·
 Hurricane Gold (2007) ·
 By Royal Command (2008)
 


Young Bond series, continued
Steve Cole

Shoot to Kill (announced November 2014)
 


The Moneypenny Diaries
Samantha Weinberg

Guardian Angel (2005) ·
 Secret Servant (2006) ·
 Final Fling (2008)
 


Uncollected short stories



Raymond Benson

"Blast From the Past" (1997) ·
 "Midsummer Night's Doom" (1999) ·
 "Live at Five" (1999)
 


Samantha Weinberg

"For Your Eyes Only, James" (2006) ·
 "Moneypenny's First Date with Bond" (2006)
 


Charlie Higson

"A Hard Man to Kill" (2009)
 


Unofficial works
"Some Are Born Great" (1959) ·
 Alligator (1962) ·
 "Bond Strikes Camp"" (1963) ·
 "Holmes Meets 007" (1964) ·
 "Toadstool" (1966) ·
 Take Over (1970) ·
 The Killing Zone (1985) ·
 "License to Hug" (1995) ·
 "Your Deal, Mr. Bond" (1997)
 

Unpublished works
Per Fine Ounce (1966) ·
 "The Heart of Erzulie" (2002)
 

Related works
Double O Seven, James Bond, A Report (1964) ·
 The James Bond Dossier (1965) ·
 The Book of Bond (1965) ·
 The James Bond Bedside Companion (1984) ·
 The Battle for Bond (2007) ·
 Danger Society: The Young Bond Dossier (2009)
 

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Categories: James Bond books
Works about Ian Fleming







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This page was last modified on 7 August 2014 at 15:08.
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