The James Bond Film Guide

IAN FLEMING

Setting out to write the spy story to end all spy stories, Ian Fleming created one of literature s best-loved agents, then saw his dreams realized with James Bond s magnificent leap to the big screen.

In creating the character of James Bond, Ian Fleming redefined the spy thriller fiction genre. His 12 novels and nine short stories featuring the British agent became the standard against which all other spy fiction would be measured. Fleming is, without doubt, one of the most influential authors of popular literature, and has garnered a readership of more than 100 million to date.

Born in Mayfair, London, on 28 May 1908, to Valentine and Evelyn, Ian Lancaster Fleming was the second of four sons. His older brother Peter would go on to become a world-renowned adventurer and writer. Their father, a barrister and officer in the Oxfordshire Yeomanry, was elected Member of Parliament for Henley in 1910. Life for the family changed tragically when Valentine, whose regiment had mobilized on the outbreak of World War I, was killed in action on the Western Front in May 1917 just days before his second son s ninth birthday. A framed copy of The Times obituary of his father, a warm tribute written by his friend and comrade-in-arms Winston Churchill, hung in Fleming s bedroom all his life.

Fleming attended Durnford preparatory school in Dorset and then continued on to Eton where he excelled at athletics, twice winning the victor ludorum (champion of the games). His energetic lifestyle, however, incurred the disapproval of his housemaster, and Fleming left Eton before the final term to prepare for entry into the Royal Military College at Sandhurst.

A year later, feeling that he was unsuited to a career in the military, Fleming left Sandhurst and looked to a future in the Foreign Office. He

Will Lawrence is a freelance writer and a contributing editor on the film magazine Empire. He has written for many international newspapers, websites and magazines. He writes extensively on the Bond series, has worked closely with Eon Productions on all the Daniel Craig films, and authored the book Blood, Sweat and Bond: Behind the Scenes of Spectre.

From the back cover
The authorized guide to all 25 official James Bond films, from Dr. No to No Time to Die.

Illustrated throughout with iconic imagery, poster art, and film stills from the filmmaker s archive. Includes vehicles and equipment form each movie. Featuring profiles of the Bond actors and producers who brought 007 to the big screen.