Casino Royale (1953)
Le Chiffre has lost 50 million Francs of his nation’s money on a private venture, and unless he can recoup his losses, a SMERSH assassin lies in wait. James Bond 007 is sent to beat Le Chiffre – a dangerous agent from the USSR – at the casino and ensure his death comes at the hands of his own people.
Live and Let Die (1954)
Mr Big is a Harlem gangster, who controls his empire with superstitious fear. He has discovered a lost treasure beneath a Jamaican Island and is smuggling the gold into America. Bond’s mission to stop him is made more urgent by the suspicion that he is also an agent of SMERSH.
Moonraker (1955)
Bond is asked, as a personal favour to M, to expose a member of the exclusive gentlemen’s club, Blades, who is suspected of cheating at cards. The man is Hugo Drax, head of Britain’s Moonraker rocket program. The stakes are increased as a security officer looking into Drax’s work is murdered, and Bond takes his place in an effort to discover the truth behind Drax’s motives and his past.
Diamonds are Forever (1956)
Bond’s assignment is to infiltrate a diamond smuggling operation, which is running from Africa to America, and identify the gangsters behind it. Once there, he discovers the American gangs are more efficient and ruthless than he had expected.
The Diamond Smugglers (1957)
The Diamond Smugglers is the true story of an operation responsible for smuggling millions of pounds worth of precious gems out of Africa. Ian Fleming, creator of James Bond, drew on interviews with the reluctant hero of the diamond companies’ counter-attack to explore the world of the real master criminals of his time.The result rivals Fleming’s greatest spy novels.
From Russia With Love (1957)
SMERSH selects the British Secret Service as the target for a ‘konspiratsia’ – their agent James Bond is to be implicated in a scandal, and then killed. M hears of a Russian woman wishing to defect, and the trap is set.
Dr. No (1958)
James Bond is sent on an easy assignment to Jamaica, to tidy up a minor mystery surrounding Dr No and his island, Crab Key. Once there he meets the alluring Honeychile Rider, uncovers a maniacal plot, and has to fight for their lives as the island unleashes its darkest threats.
Goldfinger (1959)
James Bond is faced with Goldfinger, a millionaire who cheats at cards and golf. He discovers evidence that Goldfinger is the treasurer of SMERSH, and as the game is played out, 007 finds that the real stakes are greater still.
For Your Eyes Only (1960)
The destruction of a Russian hideout at SHAPE headquarters near Paris; the planned assassination of a Cuban thug in America; the tracking of a heroin ring from Rome to Venice and beyond; for Bond it is just routine. For anyone else – certain death.
Thunderball (1961)
A new criminal organisation has been formed, by the name of SPECTRE. They steal two atomic weapons, and blackmail the governments of Britain and America with the threat of their use.
The Spy Who Loved Me (1962)
Vivienne Michel is a young woman hired to watch over an empty motel, overnight. Trouble starts when two men come out of the night – Sol Horror and Sluggsy Morant. It soon becomes obvious they have criminal intentions, and that she isn’t meant to come out alive. Then a third man arrives by the chance of a flat tyre: Bond – James Bond.
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1963)
James Bond is on a mission to track down Blofeld – the evil mastermind behind SPECTRE. 007 discovers evidence that Blofeld is hiding in a mountain retreat and goes undercover to smoke him out. In the process he meets, and falls in love, and marries Tracy di Vicenzo.
Thrilling Cities (1963)
Thrilling Cities is a collection of non-fiction travel memoirs of the creator of James Bond, originally written for The Sunday Times between 1959 -1960 whilst Ian Fleming was writing “Goldfinger” and the short stories contained within “For Your Eyes Only“. At the behest of Times travel editor Leonard Russell, Fleming’s travels took in thirteen cities around the world including Hong Kong, Tokyo, Los Angeles, New York and Monte Carlo.
You Only Live Twice (1964)
James Bond suffers a breakdown and becomes a security risk after the murder of his wife. M, granting him one final chance, sends him on a vital diplomatic assignment to the Japanese Secret Service. There, he must go to impossible lengths to complete his mission and avenge Tracy.
The Man With the Golden Gun (1965)
Having disgraced his Service, James Bond is sent by M on a mission to eliminate Francisco Scaramanga – a job which will almost certainly mean his own death. Scaramanga is the most lethal assassin in the World, and has caused widespread damage to the Secret Service.
Octopussy & The Living Daylights (1966)
Bond is sent to arrest an ex-British Army Officer for murder; It is up to Bond to identify the top Soviet spymaster in London at the auction of a fabulous Fabergé egg; A British agent is escaping from Russia, but a sniper awaits him at the crossing-point in Berlin. Bond is ordered to kill the assassin first; Bond must warn a former SIS agent in New York that her partner is a Russian spy.
Incidental Intelligence
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The Best James Bond Novels: Ranking the Fleming Originals
Artistic Licence Renewed 