This week we welcome Nicholas Anderson in from the cold. Nicholas (his nom de plume of course) is a 19-year veteran of the UK’s Secret Intelligence Service (known also as MI6). In 2002-2007 he was recalled a second time to active duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. He is now retired and resides in the French…
If you like to listen to James Bond’s adventures while working or relaxing, then check out these BBC radio play productions on YouTube, not to mention the priceless Desert Island Discs interview with Ian Fleming. Sadly, not the whole broadcast. From Russia, With Love: In writer Archie Scottney’s brilliantly evocative ‘radio screenplay’, we see another…
In 1967, this rare Playboy article was written by famous children’s author Roald Dahl. Dahl in fact, worked with Ian Fleming in the BSC during WW2 with the secret intelligence group informally known as The Irregulars. According to Donald Sturrock, author of Storyteller – The Life of Roald Dahl: “[Roald Dahl] had known Ian Fleming well. Both…
Artistic License Renewed is very proud to have as a guest, one of the best James Bond narrators of all time, Simon Vance! Simon has narrated all the Ian Fleming novels and short stories as well as some of the continuation work and we asked for his memories of the experience and take on Fleming’s…
There seems to be a never-ending cycle of Bond and Ian Fleming documentaries and docu-dramas but finding a good one can be tough. Many have missed the mark in terms of accuracy and acting. Making this task even more difficult is the availability of some of them. Well, after exhaustive research and picking up the…
President John F. Kennedy was a fan of Fleming’s books. In March 1961, Hugh Sidey, published an article in Life Magazine, on President Kennedy’s top ten favourite books. It was a list designed to show that Kennedy was both well-read and in tune with popular taste. It included Fleming’s From Russia With Love. Up until this time, Fleming’s books had…
Oswald Frederick Snelling, “Freddie” or O.F to his friends, worked in Sotheby’s Rare Book Department and was highly regarded in the rare book trade. He was also a cartoonist, critic, journalist, soldier, and biographer with a particular interest in boxers’ lives. He became Chief Clerk until the firm was closed in 1981. It was there he met author Ian Fleming,…
1.Can you tell how how John acquired Richard Chopping for ‘License Renewed’ and how closely did John get to work with Richard? JG did not have anything to do with getting Chopping to do the cover for LR. From what I remember it was (what was then) Glidrose (now IFP) and Jonathan Cape. The budget…
Artistic License Renewed was delighted to sit down with Raymond Benson to discuss his memories of Fleming’s favorite comrades Ernest Cuneo and Ivar Bryce, during the researching of his essential James Bond Bedside Companion. 1. Did Cuneo and Bryce have a favorite Fleming novel? Ernest Cuneo, it seemed to me, couldn’t have cared less about…
This just in. Stride and Son Auction House in Chichester, West Sussex has several first edition Bond novels up for grabs and ‘The James Bond Dossier‘ They include: You Only Live Twice The Spy Who Loved Me The Man With The Golden Gun Octopussy & The Living Daylights Thunderball Kingsley Amis’, The James Bond Dossier
First edition copies of Ian Fleming’s 007 books are among the top lots in an auction being held in Benton. The titles, including For Your Eyes Only, From Russia With Love and Dr No, went under the hammer with Village Auctions on Saturday August 17 and were expected to fetch up to £1,000 in total. Auctioneer Malcolm Barry said: “I was…
