To round off the year that was 2020, Gerald Wadsworth brings some colour to our lives in his latest homage to James Bond! A writer is always looking for some literary device to give their characters their own “voice” as well as an identity that will differentiate them from the other characters in the book.…
Article by Paul Dettman Patrick Leigh Fermor, known widely as Paddy, was friends with the Mitford sisters, Ian Fleming, and numerous high ranking celebrities. Many of those names have not made it through to our generation, but I believe Paddy’s crowning achievement is that he was immortalised on the silver screen by none other than…
Today marks the anniversary of the death of Ian Fleming and the birthday of his only son – Caspar. We pay tribute to them both. 1952 was a momentous year for Ian Fleming. He had begun Casino Royale in January and completed a rough draft six days before marrying Ann O’Neill on March 24. Last…
Article by Benjamin Welton Although the Bond novels officially began with Casino Royale, 1954’s Live and Let Die is the true beginning of the Bond canon. The novel has all the right elements — Jamaica, a whiff of Caribbean culture and superstitions, a larger-than-life villain, and an enchanting female who is Bond’s equal in more…
Casino Royale stands out as among the best of all the Bond novels and often assumed that it created the narrative template for the series. It certainly laid the ground and introduced Bond to the world but it can be argued that it does not conform to the familar conventions that Ian Fleming developed over…
Shortly after handing over an early manuscript of Moonraker to William Plomer, Ian Fleming told him: “In my opinion, it isn’t much of a book, but it should make a good film.” How wrong he was to be as it turned out. A film version never materialized in his lifetime and when it did, it…
Article by Edward Biddulph Fleming is famous the world over for his writing, and there is increasing appreciation of his experiences during the Second World War. Fleming’s interest in books, however, is not so widely known, despite his listing of ‘first edition collecting’ under ‘Recreations’ in Who’s Who, and his founding of The Book Collector…
