Article by Igor Solarisov If diamonds are forever; then so are sapphires. Armstrong Siddeley Sapphires, that is. If looked after, they last a long time. Such as this 1954 six-window saloon once owned by the creator of James Bond, Ian Fleming. In the spirit of its original owner’s fiction, I have agreed not to reveal…
In this new book by Mark Edlitz, The Many Lives of James Bond offers the largest ever collection of original interviews with actors who have played Bond in different media, as well as in-depth interviews with many of the diverse artists who have contributed their talents to the making of James Bond movies, television shows,…
Gerald Wadsworth returns in… On Her Majesty’s Secret Service! The Inspirations Inspiration for a painting can come from one of those inexplicable and unexpected parts of Fleming’s writing. Normally, we race through a story, relishing the action and adventure, the seduction and rejections, the wealth of detail surrounding our favorite spy, and invariably, we find…
When You Were Young and Your Heart Was an Open Book…. Ian Fleming’s spy takes on flesh-eating sharks and a diabolical criminal mastermind in Live and Let Die, the eighth volume in Folio’s James Bond collection. This adventure plunges MI6’s best into a desperate fight for survival against the unearthly Mr Big, and not everyone…
Noel Coward was one of the 20th Century’s greatest artist’s in every sense of the word. He was also one of Ian Fleming’s closest friends and each played an important role in each other’s lives. While outwardly different in many ways, they shared much in common and such as a love of Empire, music, art,…
This month we are delighted to talk to the San Francisco based artist Michael Gillette, who created a beautiful set of officially licensed James Bond book covers for the Ian Fleming Centenary in 2008, that was published by Penguin Books. 1. What is your favourite Chopping cover and why? I really enjoy them all, Chopping…
In Andrew William’s 2009 novel The Interrogator, which was shortlisted for CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger that year, Ian Fleming appears as a character in the book, in his role as Special Assistant to the Director of Naval Intelligence Admiral Godfrey. Lieutenant Douglas Lindsay is among just a handful of men rescued when his ship,…
Article by Revelator This month we conclude our 7 part series inspired by Ian Fleming’s “Seven Deadlier Sins.” Fleming conceived the idea for a series on the Seven Deadly Sins in the Sunday Times, and though it did not materialize for the paper, a book was published in 1962 that contained essays by some of…
Albert R. ‘Cubby’ Broccoli and Harry Saltzman remain the most successful producing partnership in movie history and together they were responsible for the phenomenally successful James Bond series. Loved and hated in equal measure, respected and feared by their contemporaries, few movie people have loomed as large over the industry as Broccoli and Saltzman, yet…
On 18 March 1959 Fleming had written to Richard Chopping about the cover he had undertaken for Goldfinger, saying that: “The new jacket is quite as big a success as the first one and I do think [Jonathan] Cape have made a splendid job of it”. Once again, Chopping was asked to provide the cover…
Jack Barclay Bentley, the world’s oldest Bentley dealership, is hosting a free James Bond exhibition from 11-16 June in partnership with Peter Harrington Rare Books. The Mayfair dealership will play host to original Bond cars and visitors key objects from the genesis of the James Bond story. The first James Bond cars – from the…
Article by Matt Sherman Dear ALR readers, Mr. Fleming gave us the best possible travelogues, didn’t he? His exciting real-world details filled the spaces between the action scenes, making his Bond and other stories eminently readable. “That’s how it’s done,” to quote Bond author and expert John Cork. I’ve been reading Bond since age 9,…
