Author Profile: David Leigh

Whitstable Literary Festival will this year focus on Ian Fleming and his Kent connections, as well as thrilling contemporary spy stories and tales of real life espionage from Guy Burgess to Bletchley Park. The highlight of WhitLit 2016 will be a special Ian Fleming evening on Friday 13th May with his biographers Andrew Lycett and Matthew Parker as well as Fleming’s step-daughter, Fionn […]

Today we learnt of the sad news that Guy Hamilton, who directed Goldfinger and three other James Bond films, died yesterday at the age of 93. Hamilton was born in Paris on 16 September 1922, where his English parents were living. His first exposure to the film industry came in 1938 when he was the clapper […]

One of the best scenes in SPECTRE takes place after Lucia Sciarra returns to her villa following her husband’s funeral. First we see her  shows her car arriving (around 30:56 into the film) and switching on the light in her classically decorated house. She turns on some music and pours and drink, walking through the house to the […]

I was sad to read Raymond Benson’s Facebook post that Ian Fleming’s literary agent, Peter Janson-Smith, has died at the age of 93. Janson-Smith became Fleming’s literary agent in 1956 and was tasked with the foreign translation rights of the James Bond books. As well as acting as agent to Fleming, Janson-Smith also represented thriller […]

I first started reading Casino Royale when I was just eight years old after finding my dad’s paperback copy. After that I never looked back and read the James Bond novels whenever I could my hands on them. Sign up for Audible’s free trial: UK or US However, maybe you don’t like reading much. Or perhaps you […]

Today BAFTA announced that Barbara Broccoli has been appointed Vice President for Film. Following the recent appointment of Greg Dyke as BAFTA’s Vice President for Television, Barbara Broccoli will join Dyke in co-chairing BAFTA’s Council, supporting the Academy’s President, HRH The Duke of Cambridge, and assuming an ambassadorial role for the charity. Previous Vice Presidents […]

MI6 Confidential, the full-colour magazine celebrating the world of James Bond 007, returns with its thirty-fourth issue. The multi-million dollar SPECTRE opened in cinemas late last year to a raft of expectation and a record-breaking first week at the box office. Although, as time would tell, the financial takings did not top its predecessor, the […]

Fans of the Young Bond books will be interested to learn more about Steve Cole’s next novel in the series  after details emerged on Amazon UK. Buy from Amazon UK | Amazon.com In addition to the title and cover work of Heads You Die being added t the Amazon listing there is also a brief  synopsis: James’s Cuban holiday […]

This last weekend SPECTRE finally broke the $200 million barrier in North America. While that is well behind Skyfall’s $305 million box office an article in the Wall Street Journal looks at Sony’s decision to keep on playing the latest Bond film to finally break through the physiologically important $200 million ceiling.

I’ve just seen on the BBC News website the sad news that Ken Adam has died. The legendary production designer worked on a number of the early films, starting with Dr No, and is responsible the distinctive look of the sets. These include the interior of Fort Knox from Goldfinger and Blofeld’s volcano lair in You Only […]

Today the internet lit up with the sad news that George Martin has died at the age of 90.  Sometimes known as “the fifth Beatle”, Martin is best known for signing The Beetles to EMI, and as producer he helped shape their sound. As well as working with The Beatles and many other artists, Martin also […]

A brand new book on the music of James Bond themes has just kicked off a crowdfunding campaign on Unbound. The Complete James Bond Themes is written by Nick Parkhouse, who wrote a fantastic series on the Bond movie soundtracks for The James Bond Dossier. As well as offering early pledgers a number of rewards, Nick is offering readers £5 off […]

The cover of the UK paperback edition of the most recent James Bond novel has just been revealed by Amazon UK. Pre-order from Amazon UK | Amazon.com The Orion edition of the book will be published in the UK on 19th May and is available to pre-order online now.The US paperback is due from Harper […]

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Click the play button to visit Q’s workshop then begin your tour by using the controls in the top left hand corner of the video to navigate.

Tradecraft London, planned for the weekend of 19th-22nd May, aims to offer an unforgettable three-days of lectures and private tours related to spycraft and counter-espionage from past, present and future. Staying at Dukes Hotel, whose bar Ian Fleming is said to have sometimes frequented, you’ll be instructed by expert guides from the fields of intelligence, government, hacking, […]

As the first of its kind, the non-commercial charity James Bond Fan-documentary A Bond For Life portrays the devoted fan-love of director Benjamin Lind that began almost exactly twenty years ago. When he saw his first Bond film GoldenEye in cinema in 1996, it was love at first sight. From then on, the films accompanied him […]

Last night SPECTRE became only the second James Bond film to pick up an Oscar for best original song. Sam Smith and Jimmy Napes won the Academy Award gong for Writing’s on the Wall three years after Adele won the award for Skyfall. The song is also the first ever Bond theme to make the number 1 spot […]

To celebrate the release to the small screen of SPECTRE N Peal are showcasing their fabulous sweaters that were designed for James Bond. As a special winter treat, place your order before the 28th February 2016, quoting code BOND1 and they will deliver your items for FREE in complimentary gift wrap. As featured in the official […]

To celebrate the release of the 24th 007 film SPECTRE on Digital HD, Blu-ray and DVD, Eaglemoss Ltd, EON Productions and Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd are making their 1:8 scale replica of the Goldfinger Aston Martin DB5 available for purchase as a completed model. The replica DB5 was originally released as a build-up kit that was […]