Article by Graham Thomas John Betjeman (1906 -1984) was Poet Laureate, a lover of English churches but was not a spy and, so far as is known, did not come across Fleming during the War. (Unlike other literary figures.) Eventually, he and Fleming did become good friends and while there is now little in the…
Review by Revelator This is a wonderful book, a long overdue one. For anyone who cares about Ian Fleming’s work, The Man With the Golden Typewriter will be a must-have reference, deserving to rest on the same shelf as Fleming’s biographies, Kingsley Amis’s Bond Dossier, Matthew Parker’s Goldeneye, and Henry Chancellor’s James Bond: The Man…
While working for The Sunday Times, Ian Fleming came up with the idea to have a variety of esteemed writers to write about The Seven Deadly Sins, with each choosing the sin of their choice. This never materialized while Fleming was working there, but in 1962 the idea flowered and The Seven Deadly Sins was published featuring contributions…
We are delighted to get the chance to put some questions to legendary book jacket artist, Bill Botten. Bill’s work has adorned hundred’s of famous author’s novels including Kingsley and Martin Amis, Ian McEwan, William Plomer, Salman Rushdie, Kurt Vonnegut, Michael Crichton and J.G. Ballard. For James Bond fans, Bill’s work is most recognizable from…
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 During his career as the author of the James Bond novels, Ian Fleming received hundreds of letters from his readers. Readers wrote to express their admiration for the latest novel or to point out errors or an incorrect reference to some luxury product. Some readers simply wrote to ask for Fleming’s…
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…
Artistic Licence Renewed 