Features

In this second of three articles Kathryn Smith shares her thoughts and impressions of five more James Bond books by Ian Fleming. Read part 1 here At the end of From Russia, with Love Bond was poisoned by Rosa Klebb, leaving the series on a cliff hanger. But while he looked death in the face, […]

In the first of three articles Kathryn Smith pens her thoughts and impressions of Ian Fleming’s 007 books. Like many people around the world I enjoy the exploits of Britain’s greatest secret agent. But during 2019 I set myself the task of reading all of Ian Fleming’s James Bond books. Many of you must be […]

Eoghan Lyng reviews The Many Lives of James Bond by Mark Edlitz. Roger Moore was louche, George Lazenby brittle, two brilliant men with very different attitudes, philosophies and approaches to how James Bond could and should be presented. In a part deliciously malleable, many men have taken to playing him on and off screen and many […]

Eoghan Lyng reviews a book looking at Timothy Dalton’s two outings as 007. Finally, someone gets the Timothy Dalton films. Through Cary Edwards’ monograph, readers are invited on a methodological study through the narratives, strengths, virtues and zeitgeists presented throughout the two Dalton films. Sharply written, sharply presented, sharply edited, it sharply delves into the […]

While the films had only a simple alteration in the chronological continuity in 2006 with the reboot given by Casino Royale, starring Daniel Craig as James Bond, the novels’ continuity after Raymond Benson stopped writing for the Ian Fleming estate has been more irregular. In 2008, to celebrate Ian Fleming’s centenary, we had Sebastian Faulks […]

Seventy-five years ago today – May 20, 1941 – Lt Commander Ian Fleming checked into the swanky Palacio Hotel in Estoril, Portugal’s version of the Côte d’Azur.

A truly comprehensive look at the James Bond films that belongs on every Bond fan’s bookshelf. Available from Amazon UK and Amazon.com After receiving a copy of Some Kind of Hero: The remarkable history of the James Bond films my first response was to joke on Twitter that I’d be using it as a door stop. What struck […]

When I recently received a review copy of Blood Sweat and Bond: behind the scenes of SPECTRE it was a while before I was able to take a proper look.  Available online from Amazon UK and Amazon.com Normally it goes something like this. I pick up a package from the post office, drive home and unwrap […]

Robert Harling’s recently published memoir of Ian Fleming sheds further light on James Bond’s creator. Buy from Amazon UK One book that seems to have largely flown beneath the radar over the last few weeks is Robert Harling’s personal memoir of Ian Fleming. Harling was a typographer, designer, journalist and novelist who knew Fleming well. They […]

Although not expecting much from this slender volume, it turns out to over-deliver. A handy pocket companion for all Bond fans. Buy from Amazon UK or Amazon.com. Back in the 1980s I once bought a Bluffer’s Guide. It was fun, but very superficial.  Short. It covered modern art, just a sentence or two for each […]