Features

While James Bond is well known for his love of vodka martinis, in Ian Fleming’s books he more often drank whisky. And although this was sometimes scotch, from Live And Let Die onwards Bond prefers bourbon instead. However, when you think of James Bond’s background that seems a little curious. As is well known, his father was […]

Kingsley Amis was a big fan of Ian Fleming’s 007 books and sat down in 1964 with the aim of writing a 5,000 word article about the Bond phenomenon, which at the time was based mainly around the books. The author soon found that his modest idea had morphed into something far larger because, as […]

This week’s favourites from our social media channels. The news on 007 is getting far less frequent as the days go on and the last few days have been dominated by the announcement that Adele will perform at the Oscars. Given that this can only continue, this weekly feature will cease until the build up […]

Many years ago my family used to spend the summer with friends who owned an old farmhouse in the hills near Manresa in Catalonia. When they bought the house it was quite derelict, but a great deal of time, effort and, no doubt, expenditure turned it into something quite special. The house is miles from […]

We’re at the end of another week and so it’s time to take a look at the social media highlights of the week, this time staring Quentin Tarantino, Adele, Sean Connery and Judi Dench, while Aston Martin celebrates 100 years. Skyfall Shoots Ahead As The Critics’ Choice For Best Action Movie Quentin Tarantino: Why Skyfall […]

In this video we take a look at The Book of Bond, written by Kingsley Amis and published in 1965 under the pseudonym Lt-Col William Tanner.

Here are the week’s top picks we’ve shared on our social media channels, judged by response from followers or own personal interest. This week much of the talk was about the Oscars and other showbiz awards: Oscars ceremony to pay tribute to 50 years of James Bond films A special sequence will be shown during […]

Just before Christmas I received a review copy of All About Bond, with contributions by a variety of people such as Godfrey Smith, who worked with Ian Fleming at the Sunday Times, Goldfinger actress Honor Blackman and GQ Editor Dylan Jones.

I’ve been a fan of Timothy Ferriss ever since he published The 4-Hour Work Week back in 2007, and while I can understand why he might not be to everyone’s taste, his books do actually make you stop and think about things that you may have been taking granted for years; that can never be […]

After taking a weeklong break from “Picks of the Week” due to the holidays combined with me simply forgetting, here are the best stories shared through social media: GQ names Daniel Craig the year’s most stylish man Javier Bardem on how he brought a personal touch to Skyfall villain Former Bond Timothy Dalton: ‘Skyfall Deserves […]