The Life of Ian FlemingFrom the author of All the Money in the World and The Profession of Violence comes the definitive biography of James Bond's creator, Ian Fleming. It is now over fifty years since the premiere of Dr No, the very first Bond film, with Sean Connery introducing 007 as the glamorous secret agent who would become the single most profitable movie character in the history of cinema. But James Bond was invented by one man, Ian Fleming, a wartime intelligence officer and Sunday Times newspaper man who lived to see only the very beginning of the Bond cult. Pearson, who worked with Fleming at the Sunday Times, based this biography on his own memories of Fleming, on Fleming's private papers, and on a series of interviews with an extraordinary collection of Fleming's contemporaries – family, friends, enemies, teachers, colleagues, mistresses, and former spies from around the world. First published in 1966, John Pearson's famous biography remains the definitive account of how only Ian Fleming could have dreamed up James Bond, for he led a life as colourful as anything in his fiction, which in turn became a covert autobiography. Charming, debonair and a ruthless womaniser, globetrotting from wartime Algiers to beachside Jamaica, Fleming was as elusive and opaque as his imaginary creation. In his new introduction to this edition, Pearson examines the extent to which Fleming's character informs the movie portrayals of Bond, from Sean Connery through to Daniel Craig, and how Bond himself has achieved immortality beyond Fleming's wildest dreams. |
Contents
Victor Ludorum | |
The Golden Time | |
The Girl in Geneva | |
The Watcher at the Trial | |
The Solitary and the Cercle | |
The Beginnings of Bond | |
The Golden Typewriter | |
The BestSeller Stakes | |
The Ten Best Novels in the World | |
Enter Chandler | |
The Iron Crab | |
Not Saying | |
Eden at Goldeneye | |
Private and Public | |
Flemings | |
The Life for Treats | |
Falling Mercury | |
Tough Men are Very Rare | |
The Literary Cell | |
Marriage | |
Golf and Gold | |
Thunderball Backfires | |
The Hollow Victory | |
Footnotes | |
A Note on the Author | |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
Admiral Godfrey Admiralty agents already American Anne arrived asked Beaverbrook become began Bond’s British called Casino Royale Chandler Commander diamond Diamonds Are Forever dream enjoyed Eton everything excitement fantasy feel felt film Fleming seems Fleming wrote Fleming’s Forbes Dennis Foreign friends German girl going Goldeneye golf Hotel Ian Fleming Ian’s idea Ivar Bryce Jamaica James Bond Kemsley House Kemsley’s Kevin McClory Kitzbühel knew Lady later letter Live and Let London look Lord Kemsley lunch Maugham McClory Moonraker morning Moscow Naval Intelligence never newspaper night Noël Coward novel once Oracabessa Peter Peter Fleming play Reuters Robert Fleming Room 39 Russia says Secret Service soon sort Stephenson story Street success Sunday Tennerhof things thought thriller Thunderball told took trouble Valentine Fleming Victoria Square wanted weeks William Plomer women writing York young