Features

Ian Fleming describes James Bond’s cigarette case as holding fifty on at least two occasions, in Casino Royale and in the short story Octopussy.

From the word go Ian Fleming established James Bond as an expert card player when M sends him to Royale-les-Eaux in an attempt to bankrupt SMERSH operative Le Chiffre at the baccarat tables. Judged to be the best card player in the service, we learn that he spent two months in Monte Carlo before the […]

By the time of Thunderball, Ian Fleming tells us that Bond’s daily intake of spirits is around half a bottle. Like his creator, James Bond drinks a lot, hence his much needed stay in a health farm ordered by M. However, unlike the popular belief that Bond drinks nothing but vodka martinis – shaken, not […]

While James Bond’s appearance hardly varies throughout the books, it is also true to say that Ian Fleming scarcely describes him in any detail at all. Fleming tells us that Bond is around six feet tall and has black hair, a comma of which is permanently out of place; he has blue-grey eyes with a […]

One of James Bond’s greatest pleasures is cigarettes and he usually smokes sixty per day of a special Balkan and Turkish mixture with three gold bands. The cigarettes are specially made for him by Morland’s and carried in a wide, thin cigarette case of black gunmetal that can hold fifty; even in smoking James Bond […]

James Bond has been entertaining the public in one form or other for more than 60 years now, a remarkably long time for any character to endure. From his origins in the pages of Ian Fleming’s novels and short stories, James Bond grew with the Eon film series (and others), comics, board games, computer games, […]

Last year was relatively busy considering there was no new 007 film in production, with Skyfall released on DVD/Blu-Ray, the Designing 007 exhibition opening in Shanghai and Melbourne, and a new James Bond novel, Solo. For a while this year we can expect a lull in any 007 related news, although probably there will be […]

In the novel On Her Majesty’s Secret Service we get to share Christmas Day with 007 after his narrow escape from Piz Gloria. He visits M’s house to report on Blofeld’s activities and is served roast turkey, plum pudding, a small  glass of old Marsala and most of a bottle of a bad Algerian wine that M […]

Recently I was looking for information on 007’s cars from John Gardner’s books and was surprised to find that a definitive list doesn’t appear to exist. While the Saab 900 Turbo is well known from this era, it is a long way from being the only car Bond drives and the “Silver Beast” itself only […]

A look at the most recent release of the James Bond audio books. These days, with a large proportion of people owning smartphones and tablet computers, the choices for consuming content is much more varied. Yes, we can read the James Bond novels and short stories in book form, but they are also available for […]