Author Profile: David Leigh

The last of three videos in which William Boyd discusses his new James Bond novel, Solo. Also see part 1 and part 2. Buy Solo online Amazon UK: Hardback | Kindle Amazon US: Hardback | Kindle

Solo is written by William Boyd and published in 2013. It is 1969 and James Bond is about to go solo, recklessly motivated by revenge. A seasoned veteran of the service, 007 is sent to single-handedly stop a civil war in the small West African nation of Zanzarim. Aided by a beautiful accomplice and hindered […]

The second video in which William Boyd talks about James Bond, Ian Fleming and Solo. Find the first video here.

William Boyd talks about his first experiences of the James Bond novels, his fascination with Ian Fleming and his new 007 novel, Solo.

Take a journey back to James Bond’s sophomore outing with this special collectors issue of MI6 Confidential, celebrating the second 007 film, From Russia With Love, as it marks its 50th anniversary in 2013. With double the budget of the debut outing and filming commencing before Dr No was released in the USA, this issue is […]

Last week the Daily Mail published a piece by Baz Bamigboye in which he claimed Bond 24 director Sam Mendes – along with Daniel Craig and producers Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli – liked Naomie Harris so much her character, Eve Moneypenny, would have a much larger role in Bond 24. Rather than being […]

The third in the 007 Fragrance line that launched earlier this year has gone on general UK release today. “Quantum” comes in the now familiar 007 packaging and sports a red cap, the fragrance smelling of juniper berries, bergamot and sandlewood. Buy online The Fragrance Shop

Barbara Broccoli told reporters at an event in Ireland “we’ll come here. Ireland is gorgeous. I’d love to come here and make a Bond film.” Broccoli and John Logan, who co-wrote Skyfall and is currently involved on Bond 24, attended an Institute of Directors event at the weekend in support of the film industry in […]

The Daily Mail is reporting that Naomie Harris is to get more of the action in Bond 24. According to Baz Bamigboye an unnamed “executive close to the production” told him that Moneypenny is to be more of a sidekick to 007 rather than be desk bound as Sam Mendes, Daniel Craig and the producers, […]

The Lotus Esprit adapted for use in the underwater shots for Roger Moore’s third outing as 007, The Spy Who Loved Me, sold at auction in London this evening for £550,000. Opening at £100,000, the bidding quickly rose in £50,000 increments until resistance to the £500,000 barrier when bidding stood at £450,000. However, after breaching […]

When it comes to James Bond video games, the one that tends to stand out among gamers is Rare’s 1997 release for Nintendo, Goldeneye. One of the game’s fans, composer Rich Douglas, has recently released an album of many of the tracks from the original game and re-orchestrated them to sound like a modern Bond […]

Ken Wallis, who designed Little Nellie (seen below at a car show in Barcelona in 2003) and flew her in the aerial scenes of You Only Live Twice, died this week at the age of 97. Wallis flew a number of missions during the Second World War, including secondment to the US Strategic Air Command […]

A new plot summary of Solo has been posted on the website of the the author’s agent, Curtis Brown, revealing further details of William Boyd’s forthcoming book. The summary reveals further details than those already on Amazon.com, although the Amazon UK website still has scant information about the book. The Curtis Brown website says: It […]

Amazon.com has updated its description of William Boyd’s new James Bond novel to include an overview of the plot. It says of Solo, which will be published in the UK on September 26th and the US on October 8th: It’s 1969, and, having just celebrated his forty-fifth birthday, James Bond—British special agent 007—is summoned to […]

Daniel Craig and wife Rachael Weisz, who are appearing together on Broadway in Harold Pinter’s Betrayal, were recently interviewed (separately) by Vulture.com and, naturally, one of the subjects that came up with Craig was James Bond. He talks briefly about Skyfall, in particular the use of humour, and says that he’d like more of the […]

The Dorchester hotel in London is offering “Breakfast With Bond” in Saturday 28th September to coincide with the publication of William Boyd’s James Bond novel Solo. The breakfast appears to be scrambled eggs and bacon from the photo accompanying the announcement on the Dorchester’s website, a meal that 007 eats at any time of the […]

The Telegraph visited the display of 100 Aston Martin cars in an exhibition celebrating the centenary of the company at Kensington Gardens in London recently.

The UK artwork for both the dustjacket and inside cover of William Boyd’s forthcoming James Bond novel, Solo, was revealed today on the website of Ian Fleming publications, as well as the news that that the audiobook version will be read by Dominic West. The artwork has been designed by Suzanne Dean, Creative Director at […]

The Walther air pistol originally used in promotional photography for From Russia With Love sold recently at action for $300,000. When it was realised that a prop PPK had not been sent along for the photo shoot with Sean Connery an air pistol belonging to the photographer was used instead, with the idea of airbrushing […]

Sean Connery so much loved The Bahamas when filming Thunderball that he decided to move there and still has a house at Lyford Cay. The territory, which until 1973 was part of the British Empire, is comprised of 700 islands of varying sizes and most of them uninhabited, spread over 650 miles from the east […]