Features

We all know that James Bond will return. After all, we’ve been told as much by 23 movies. 007 originated in 1953’s novel Casino Royale and has been off and on the page ever since. For the most part, one adventure followed another and Bond slowly aged throughout the series. After 2002’s The Man With […]

A secret agent? You wouldn’t think so from some of the films, when Bond’s name and reputation appear to be widely known. So, just how did 007 become the world’s most famous secret agent? The first chapter of Casino Royale is titled The Secret Agent and, in introducing the world to James Bond, Ian Fleming explains the […]

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 […]

One of the best loved characters from the James Bond films is Miss Moneypenny, whose first flirtatious encounter with 007 we see in Dr No after being called in for a briefing by M during a night on the town. From then on she became a fixture of every Bond film until Die Another Day […]

One of my favourite and most frequently used culinary insights from the James Bond books is the recipe for scrambled eggs from 007 in New York, originally from the US edition of Fleming’s collection of travel writing, Thrilling Cities. Author of the new Bond book Solo, William Boyd, writes his book having been inspired by the […]

William Boyd’s explanation of his decision to give Bond’s age as 45 in 1969 has prompted me to write up some thoughts on the tricky subject of Bond’s age. Boyd offers his contention that as You Only Live Twice was the last Bond novel published in his lifetime, Fleming’s statement, via M’s premature obituary, that Bond […]

Writing a Bond novel must be pretty tough. After all, many have tried to take on the heavy yoke of expectation that surrounds anything even loosely associated with Britain’s cold war master spy, James Bond, 007. In 2012, Sam Mendes’ latest cinematic effort, Skyfall seemed to suggest that Daniel Craig et al were just getting […]

Today sees the release of the new James Bond novel – Solo – by William Boyd. It is a special year for Bond books, as 2013 is the 60th Anniversary of the original publication of Casino Royale in 1953. I got the chance to go along to The Dorchester for the launch yesterday to hear […]