Exclusive Interview with Professor James Chapman, author of ‘’Licence To Thrill: A Cultural History of the James Bond Films”

This week we welcome Professor James Chapman in from the cold. James is known for many things not least his work on British popular culture and cinema and television in their historical contexts. He is interested in the role of the media as propaganda, the representation of war and history, and the cultural politics of popular fictions.…

Richard Chopping's 'The Redcurrant Kiss'

Richard Chopping’s ‘The Redcurrant Kiss’

Sold at Christies in 2011 for 500 pounds ($799), this is a beautiful example of Chopping’s Trompe l’oeil style. Not much is known about this painting unfortunately, but perhaps more information will come to light. Several Chopping motifs are present however, including the wood background and the natural world. Botanists out there might be able…

The Three Ages of Bond: Part 3 – Suffering Bond (1961-1964)

Article by Revelator After For Your Eyes Only Bond was no longer a wonderful machine. Nor was he a fully-dimensional, complex human being—that would involve surrendering his role as a male-fantasy projection—but he was considerably more human than before. Why? Because Ian Fleming failed. He explained why in an interview with Counterpoint: Now, you’ll notice that…

Anthony Burgess on Fleming’s Golden Words

Writer Anthony Burgess, author of A Clockwork Orange, provided an unlikely footnote to Bond lore. In 1975, he was commissioned by Albert R Broccoli to write a screenplay for The Spy Who Loved Me. Fleming’s original novel was considered unsuitable for adaptation but the title was retained with the aim of building a new story around it. Broccoli and…

Nigel West

Exclusive Interview With Nigel West

We are delighted to bring Nigel West in from cold and ask him a few questions about his Historical Dictionary of Ian Fleming’s World of Intelligence. This book, published in 2009, is a chronology of hundreds of cross-referenced dictionary entries on actual cases of espionage, real-life spies, MI5, SIS, CIA, KGB, and more. It also contains entries…

Ian Fleming on Desert Island Discs

On Monday, August 5 1963, Roy Plomley’s castaway was writer Ian Fleming. The clip – not the full broadcast – is the only extract the BBC have, but it is crystal clear and one of the best audio recordings of Fleming’s voice and thoughts on topics ranging from intelligence work during the war, his stint at The…

Occult Connections: The Strange Case of Ian Fleming, World War II, and Aleister Crowley

Words by Benjamin Welton Who doesn’t love a good conspiracy theory? From the pseudo-science of ancient astronauts to Alex Jones’s favorite hobby horse the Illuminati, conspiracy theories surround us, especially within the cold confines of the internet. Just last year, Jesse Walker, an editor at the libertarian Reason magazine, released The United States of Paranoia:…