CommanderBond.net
  1. Which James Bond Book to Buy?

    By Devin Zydel on 2005-01-23

    For fans of the James Bond 007 series, it’s not just about collecting the novels, short stories, and novelizations, but all the other books that are written about the famous British secret agent. A great many have been written over the years, and CBn looks over a selection of them and gives you a brief review of what’s in store…

    James Bond Movie Posters: the Official Collection

    Buy: Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

    One of the relatively newer James Bond books focusing on the many poster images that have accompanied the series films over the years. “It is a very large format book, the dustjacket is a matt finish with a tactile feel to it, it is suitably heavy, the reproductions of the posters are top notch (save a DAF reproduction). It is without doubt a coffee table book for a flicking through type of reference.” – Read the entire review here.

    James Bond’s London

    James Bond's London

    James Bond’s London

    Buy: Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

    A must for any Bond enthusiast’s shelf. “One of the problems with being a James Bond fan and collector is the overwhelming amount of Bond-related material released. For those of us on a limited income, it can be difficult to decide what to buy and what to pass up. However, there is that rare occasion when something is released that you just can’t pass up. James Bond’s London is definitely one of those items.” – Read the entire review here.

    Be sure to also check out A Glimpse At James Bond’s London and How London Does It.

    The Complete James Bond Lifestyle Seminar

    Buy: Amazon.com

    The Complete James Bond Lifestyle Seminar isn’t a book for everyone. It’s definitely not aimed at the female market but it is aimed at a broad market of people who wish to improve their lifestyle. And I don’t think it quite matters if they’re James Bond fans or not, but lets face it, which male doesn’t wish that at least a part of Bond’s life was a part of their own?” – Read the entire review here.

    James Bond: The Legacy

    James Bond: The Legacy

    James Bond: The Legacy

    Buy:
    Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

    Recently, one of the most in-depth and largest James Bond 007 books was released. Full of information and covering many areas, it’s a definite must. “James Bond: The Legacy is a must buy for all James Bond fans and anyone interested in 20th century popular culture. Again, if you buy just one book about James Bond, make it this one.” – Read the entire review here.

    There is an assortment of books that every Bond aficionado should have in their respective collection, of course the list is headed by Ian Fleming’s literary adventures and expands to include such works as Raymond Benson’s The James Bond Bedside Companion. A new book has now entrenched itself of the list of ‘must haves’, James Bond: The Legacy by John Cork and Bruce Scivally.” – Read the entire review here.

    Bond On Set

    Buy: Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

    The most recent James Bond films have had ‘making of’ books published to coincide with the films cinematic release, and it seemed that Die Another Day would be no different. However, Greg Williams Bond On Set isn’t quite a ‘making of’ book, it’s something more special.” – Read the entire review here.

    Martinis, Girls and Guns: 50 Years of 007

    Martinis, Girls and Guns: 50 Years of 007

    Martinis, Girls and Guns: 50 Years of 007

    Buy: Amazon.co.uk

    The books title is apt as it covers fifty years of James Bond, almost to the day. The first chapter deals with Ian Fleming sitting down to write Casino Royale in 1952 and the last chapter highlights the start of production on the 20th James Bond film, Die Another Day, with details from the press event at Pinewood Studio’s on January 11, 2002. These two events are spaced 50 years apart, bar one day. In approaching the book in such a fashion the authors have presented a history of the world of James Bond, both literary and cinematic. With Fleming’s works overshadowed by James Bond’s cinematic incarnation, it is refreshing to find a book that still deals so heavily with Fleming.” – Read the entire review here.

    Bond Films: Virgin Film

    Buy: Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

    The most interesting sections, and those which make this a successful book, are those which discuss scenes cut from the film, source to screen information, real world influences and parallels, product placement details, critics responses to the film and social references in the film. It is the latter which may prove to be the most interesting to Bond fans as they summarize information which hasn’t previously been made readily available.” – Read the entire review here.

    The Spy Who Thrilled Us

    Buy: Amazon.co.uk
    or Amazon.com

    And I knew, while I couldn’t necessarily say this book must be on every Bond fan’s bookshelf, I can easily say The Spy Who Thrilled Us should be in the pocket of every Bond fan when meeting other fans.” – Read the entire review here.

    Bond Girls Are Forever

    Buy: Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

    For author John Cork the hardest book to follow on from must have been James Bond: The Legacy. And with Maryam d’Abo as co-writer he has done that with Bond Girls Are Forever, but only to an extent. Legacy was such a brilliant work that it is almost impossible to follow on from, especially when trying to generate the same sort of impact.” – Read the entire review here.

    James Bond: The Secret World of 007

    Buy: Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

    James Bond: The Secret World of 007 (picture of cover) offers readers a chance to look at the films by selecting certain scenes in the films up to The World is not Enough and acting some of them out, showing you where the actors and actresses move. It also provides information on the characters, gadgets and other items.

    The Essential Bond: The Authorized Guide to the World of 007

    The Essential Bond

    The Essential Bond

    Buy: Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

    This James Bond book by Lee Pfeiffer and Dave Worrall gives fans an overview for the James Bond films, breaking each of them down into sections such as Villains, Music, Product Placement and more. There are some behind-the-scenes photographs included as well. While more for a beginning Bond fan rather than one looking for hard-to-find information, this book would be a welcomed addition to any fan’s shelf.

  2. "It's Only A Number."

    By Devin Zydel on 2005-01-02

    CBn recently looked at the cinematic 00-agents that are featured in several of the James Bond 007 films. A great many 00-agents are also featured in the many novels by Ian Fleming and continuation novelists that followed after him. The 00 number itself, is awarded to those who had to kill an enemy in ‘cold blood.’

    001

    James Bond fans had to wait a long time to finally see the appearance of 001 in the series (has yet to feature in a Bond film), but Raymond Benson finally placed him in the pages of Doubleshot.

    002

    In James Bond: The Authorized Biography of 007, John Pearson informs fans that 002 was rescued by James Bond from the Portuguese police in Macau, in 1954.

    003

    In James Bond: The Authorized Biography of 007, John Pearson also tells fans that 003 was badly injured once.

    003 1/2

    In The Adventures of James Bond Junior 003 1/2, R. D. Mascott tells us about the exciting life of Agent 007’s nephew.

    004

    004 is based in the UK at the start of Raymond Benson’s The Facts of Death. He also briefly is mentioned near the beginning of The Man With The Red Tattoo.

    005

    Mentioned in Colonel Sun and The Facts of Death he is Stuart Thomas, head of Station G (Greece), before he eventually retires.

    006

    006 is an ex-Royal Marine, who is mentioned in Ian Fleming’s On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.

    007

    You know the name… you know the number.

    008

    According to James Bond: The Authorized Biography of 007, the agent with the 008 number died in 1951. In Ian Fleming’s Moonraker his name is Bill, a junior agent to James Bond, rescued from Berlin. 008 is also mentioned in Goldfinger, when discussing Bond’s assignment.

    009

    In Ian Fleming’s Thunderball, 009 is mentioned as the next in command after James Bond 007. According to James Bond: The Authorized Biography of 007, he died in Hungary in 1955.

    0010

    Raymond Benson introduces 0010, finally, in The Man With The Red Tattoo.

    0011

    In Moonraker, he has been lost in Singapore. And died in 1951 according to James Bond: The Authorized Biography of 007.

    0012

    0012 has an important report stolen from him and is killed in Raymond Benson’s The World is Not Enough.

  3. "Fleming's Way"

    By johncox on 2004-06-01

    Last week many Bond fans were surprised when CBn revealed that a series of fiction spy novels chronicling “the espionage adventures of Ian Fleming” have been on bookstore shelves since 2002. This series–now into its third book–is being penned by the writing team of Chelsea Quinn Yarbro and Bill Fawcett, who work under the pseudonym of “Quinn Fawcett.”

    Now CBn takes a closer look at each of the Fawcett Fleming novels.


    Authors Bill Fawcett & Chelsea Quinn Yarbro

    Death To Spies

    The first Quinn Fawcett Ian Fleming novel, Death to Spies, was published August 2, 2002. In a signed first edition of the book, author Yarbro has crossed out the title “Death to Spies” and has written in “Fleming’s Way”; presumably the original, and preferred, title. (Ironically, had the book been called “Fleming’s Way”, Bond fans may not have overlooked it for so long.) Death to Spies is thus far the only Fawcett title to be available in paperback. It is also available in a large print edition.

    Was Ian Fleming a master spy?

    After years of serving in the intelligence community, Ian Fleming retired—and soon thereafter created James Bond, that debonair, dashing hero of countless novels and films.

    But what if Fleming never really retired from spying? What if his position as an international journalist was really a cover for Cold War cat-and-mouse games?

    In Death to Spies, Ian Fleming, master operative, steps out from the shadow of his creation to take his rightful place in the pantheon of fictional spies.

    Fleming’s idyll on the island of Jamaica is disrupted when a ranking member of British Intelligence shows up with a wild story of purloined nuclear secrets and moles within British Intelligence, then mysteriously disappears, apparently the victim of foul play.

    Investigating, Fleming faces hostility in Los Alamos–where anyone not American is automatically suspect–meets a glamorous, sexy woman with few scruples, and narrowly survives several attempts on his life.

    Hardcover: 400 pages
    Publisher: Forge; 1st edition (August 2, 2002)
    ISBN: 0312869304

    Fawcett has had some success injecting series life into the fictional character of Mycroft Holmes, Sherlock’s smarter brother (The Flying Scotsman, etc.). But Fawcett’s taxidermy skills fail him here, as he tries to turn writer Ian Fleming into a believable fictional character. James Bond’s creator, who was a mid-level agent for British naval intelligence during WWII, did retire to Jamaica and work there as a local journalist before turning some of his own and his colleagues’ adventures into his famous 007 series-which kept him living in fine style until his early death. But Fawcett’s fiction asks us to believe that Fleming let himself be talked back into the espionage game in the early 1950s, traveling from Jamaica to Los Alamos in order to probe leaks of atomic secrets by British scientists. Brand names familiar to Bond fans dot every page-enough Players cigarettes get smoked to qualify as a paid endorsement-but all the details don’t add up to a complete or even an interesting portrait of a fictional Fleming. Nor can the stiff, silly dialogue (“Oh, Ian,” says a Jamaican madam, “so proper and cool, and with the fires of hell seething inside you”) or the inside jokes (the British spymaster who visits Fleming offers an “authorization to kill” if he takes the job) make readers believe they’re in Bond country.

    Publishers Weekly
    Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

    Siren Song

    The second Fawcett Fleming novel, Siren Song, was published July 1, 2003. It is available as a hardcover. There is no date yet set for a paperback release.

    The world knows Ian Fleming best as the creator of that international sensation, James Bond, hero of countless novels and films. The real Ian Fleming was once an operative for British Naval Intelligence, ostensibly retired to a career in journalism after World War II. Rumors have long swirled that Fleming never completely left the spy game.

    Siren Song

    At a posh New Year’s Eve party in London, Fleming falls hard and fast for the glamorous Nora, who mixes brains and beauty in a way Fleming can barely resist. But it’s winter in England, and he longs to return to his sanctuary on the island of Jamaica, and he has a plane to catch. On his way to the airport, Fleming is practically kidnapped by operatives of British Intelligence who offer him a scoop-the name of a powerful American businessman who is secretly a Communist and who may be passing US secrets to Soviet Russia. Suspecting that British Intelligence has its own private reasons for discrediting this man, and unwilling to be their patsy, Fleming will not look at the dossier.

    When Nora unexpectedly turns up in Jamaica, Fleming anticipates a pleasant idyll-particularly when he discovers that this beautiful woman is a tough, adventurous, former war correspondent. Sex appeal, intelligence, and a shared passion for journalism-Fleming sees a new future unfolding before him. Even learning that Nora is investigating the American whose dossier Fleming refused does not dampen the former spy’s ardor. The explosion of a bomb in Nora’s hotel room provokes Fleming, who accompanies Nora to her home base of San Francisco.

    There, Nora plans to expose the businessman’s connections to Soviet Russia and his bigamous marriage. Fleming has his hands full keeping the lady safe-but begins to wonder just why the people trying to kill Nora are so persistent.

    In a world of concealed motives, love is a most dangerous game…

    Hardcover: 368 pages
    Publisher: Forge; 1st edition (July 1, 2003)
    ISBN: 0312869282

    REVIEW from Booklist
    …The second Ian Fleming novel, following Death to Spies (2002), combines the genteel sophistication of Fleming’s James Bond adventures with a gritty, atmospheric evocation of cold war espionage. Fawcett eschews the larger-than-life villainy of the Bond novels for the subtly realistic dangers of betrayal and emotional exploitation.
    Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved.

    Honor Among Spies

    The latest Fawcett Fleming novel, Honor Among Spies, was published on May 1, 2004.

    Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond, was once an operative for British Naval Intelligence. Rumors hold that Fleming’s job occasionally required a bit of “wet work,” slang for assassination, but he never spoke of it, nor of the other secrets of his life during wartime. By the 1950s, Fleming had settled into a routine, spending part of the year in London and the rest on the island of Jamaica, at the estate he called Goldeneye . . .

    Honor Among Spies

    Fleming is recovering from witnessing the death of a woman he had come to love when he receives an urgent message from Prescott, a former colleague in the spy game. Prescott has set up as a private investigator in New Orleans, and his latest case, which began as a simple background check on a wealthy man’s new son-in-law, has turned deadly. The bride has been gruesomely murdered and one of her brothers has disappeared. Prescott himself been threatened, not physically, but with the revelation of his WWII activities, which could endanger not just Prescott, but England herself.

    Investigating, Fleming and Prescott discover that the bride’s murder is connected to a new religious cult run by a mysterious woman from the former spies’ joint past. Before Fleming’s adventure is over, he will have seen the darkest parts of New Orleans’ fabled French Quarter, formed a temporary partnership with a pair of local pool sharks, witnessed perverse sex acts, and met a bewitching voodoo queen.

    Layered with intrigue, packed with concealed truths and hidden identities, Honor Among Spies is another fast-paced adventure in the fictional life of Ian Fleming, in the days before James Bond.

    Hardcover: 352 pages
    Publisher: Forge; (May 1, 2004)
    ISBN: 0312876440

    REVIEW from Booklist
    …New Orleans in the late forties is a murky mixture of racism, voodoo, police corruption, and sexual profligacy. Fawcett, who also writes the Mycroft Holmes series, weaves an arresting fictional persona out of the raw material provided by the life of the James Bond creator. This series improves with each entry, in no small part thanks to the author’s uncanny ability to create a vivid sense of time and place. Wes Lukowsky
    Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved.

    All three Quinn Fawcett Ian Fleming spy novels can be ordered from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.

    Watch for CBn’s reviews of the Fawcett novels in the future.

  4. Ray Of Light

    By @mrpauldunphy on 2004-04-06

    prosopagnosia
    (proso°pag°no°sia) (proso-pag-no¢se-[schwa]) [prosop- + agnosia]

    a form of visual agnosia characterized by an inability to recognize familiar faces, or even one’s own face in a mirror, which occurs as a result of bilateral damage to the medioinferior occipital lobes along the medioventral surfaces of the temporal lobes.
    Called also face or facial agnosia.

    In surely what must be a pivotal moment in his career, author Raymond Benson breaks free of the constraints of writing about one of modern popular culture’s most enduring icons and turns his attention to an edgy, fast-paced thriller in which almost every character has a dark side and in the violent conclusion, the protagonist has to confront her weakness to discover her strength.

    Benson has certainly proved his literary diversity in the six years he has been writing the Bond continuation novels, and with this effort, he unashamedly confirms he can write an efficient noir thriller akin to his previous non-007 novel; EVIL HOURS, too.

    One thing you certainly can’t accuse Benson of is delving into a subject without first doing extensive research, in HIGH TIME TO KILL, for instance, Benson researched high altitude mountain climbing, and ZERO MINUS TEN, saw him writing a detailed Casino Royale-style Mah Jong game that spanned several pages. In FACE BLIND he studied the rare condition, and the result is a tightly crafted plot and a technically accurate depiction of prosopagnosia. The subject of the condition is Hannah McCleary, a woman in her twenties who lost the ability to recognise faces- no matter how previously familiar- after she was assaulted and nearly raped by an unknown aggressor near her New York City apartment. The assailant is, according to the police, locked up, but Hannah believes firmly that he’s still out there somewhere, waiting to finish the job he started. Serving ten years for the assault, Timothy Lane protests his innocence, but Hannah was urged to identify him shortly after the attack, and a feeling in the pit of her stomach tells her pressure from the authorities coupled with her facial agnosia forced her to make the wrong decision.

    The first few chapters of the novel focus on Hannah’s prosopagnosia; introducing the reader to the almost unheard of condition whilst efficiently setting up the characters and plotlines that later, through a combination of coincidence and sheer bad luck find their way back to her.

    Hannah’s weak-spirited, occasional damsel-in-distress may be a realistic depiction of what one suffers when face blind, but easily the most interesting character in the novel is Bill Cutler, an almost sadistic, arrogant, extroverted unsuccessful actor who enjoys using his brother’s medical transcription company to fuel his thirst for sexual conquest and cruelty to those who are in their most vulnerable states. In one instance, he contacts a recently bereaved widow whose husband didn’t take out full life insurance, poses as a telephonist for the company, and pretends that the insurance company made a terrible mistake, granting her a payout. He savours the sound of the widow weeping for joy, and promptly plays a cruel, if hilarious trick on her.
    It’s at this point that I realised that the book would actually make a pretty good film, and the novel begins to pick up pace.

    Cutler comes across Hannah as he transcribes her case for the company, and decides to play on her weakness by posing as several characters who play an integral part in her downfall. The only criticism I would have of Cutler’s predatory character is the rather awkward way Benson wove in another facet to his persona which I feel is revealed a little too early on in the narrative, but the author’s mastery of plot twists and turns makes this a detail quickly forgiven.

    One such twist occurs in the relationship between John Cozzone, Hannah’s distant cousin and employer and his fiery flavour-of-the-month girlfriend, Sophia. A bungled drugs exchange leaves Cozzone and overly-confident mafioso girl Sophia on a crime spree that eventually leads mistakenly to Hannah. An interesting, if maybe overly-analysed point I could make about the mafia out to seek revenge for Sophia’s murders is that they are themselves face blind, as they desperately search for an attractive blonde woman (Sophia wore a wig) attached to Cozzone. They happen to put two and two together and come up with Hannah.

    The book is a fine example of what a good crime thriller should be about; mistaken identity, a dangerous cat-and-mouse game, and more plot twists and turns to shake a Walther at.

    The language used throughout the book does no more than serve the purpose of moving the plot along at a fast pace, which appears to me to be a double-edged sword; on one hand the level of descriptive detail as seen in his earlier work THE MAN WITH THE RED TATTOO for example, would cloud the narrative unneccessarily, but one reads the book with the impression that some more careful deliberation could have gone into the phrasing of certain events (trying not to give too much away plot-wise!) to aid the visualisation for the reader.

    However, this is a minute point, and certainly not a criticism I intend to dwell on, and after reading the book I was left impressed by Benson’s superb gauging of the elements in a noir thriller. He keeps the reader hooked by his interesting characterisation and well-timed plot convolutions, and there are one or two points in there that made the Bond aficionado in me smile a knowing smile.

    Using this as a milestone, I can’t wait to see what Benson comes up with next. If you’re a fan of suspenseful crime thrillers, this is a solid and efficient thriller and well worth a read.

    Related Articles:

    Buy The Book:

    FACE BLIND

    • First published in the UK by Twenty First Century Publishers Ltd.
    • Published Nov 1, 2003.
    • Click here to buy from Amazon UK.
  5. 'Bond Girls Are Forever': A Review

    By daniel on 2003-11-15

    For author John Cork the hardest book to follow on from must have been James Bond: The Legacy. And with Maryam d’Abo as co-writer he has done that with Bond Girls Are Forever, but only to an extent. The Legacy was such a brilliant work that it is almost impossible to follow on from, especially when trying to generate the same sort of impact.

    Bond Girls Are Forever

    Bond Girls Are Forever

    Now, it may seem unfair to compare The Legacy to Bond Girls, perhaps even unprofessional. They are, admittedly, two separate works. Yet, I couldn’t help but compare the two as soon as I picked up Bond Girls. And it isn’t just for John Cork’s name on the cover, but rather the size. The first thing you’ll notice is that this book is in the same coffee table size as Legacy, the second thing you’ll notice is that it is a lot thinner and lighter. I couldn’t help be disappointed by that difference and it seems apparent that the publishers wanted Bond Girls to evoke the memory of Legacy and it does, but not in the positive sense they had hoped for.

    However, that’s not to say that the book itself is bad. Much like Legacy, there I go comparing the two again – sorry but I shan’t stop, the textual content is of a high standard. I’m not really sure who wrote what in the book, I got the feeling that d’Abo wrote a lot less of the content than Cork, but what’s written is quite interesting. While interesting facts can be found throughout, it’s the social analysis that comes across as the most appealing and unique. Bond Girls moves beyond the world of 007 to show how women as a whole were portrayed across time, using figures such as Marylin Monroe to contrast the end of the frigid fifties and the beginning of the sexually charged sixties. In drawing on wider social issues the book aids the reader, and I believe this would be particularly true of the younger one, in their understanding of the world that Ian Fleming introduced the Bond Girl too.

    Sadly, the visual content is not of the same calibre as the textual content. While the pictures are produced in brilliant quality, there are too few that haven’t been seen before. The majority of the images are common, and the use of images from Greg William’s Bond On Set borders on the repetitive. Furthermore, while it is nice to see the 50’s Pan paperback artwork created by Sam Peffer reproduced in such a large format, it again harks back to the notion that these images are not new to Bond fans and as such, the reproduction of three covers across three full pages feels like overkill.

    Despite the lack of photographic gems, the visual layout of Bond Girls is to be commended. The formatting and printing and both clear and crisp and this is particularly evident where large quotes have been included.

    This review may have come across as far too negative as Bond Girls is still of high quality. But its replication of The Legacy in its size, and it’s lack of photographic gems sadly let it down. But at the same time, textual content is still of a high standard. It’s up to the reader to nominate what they prefer. Personally, I favour a coffee table sized book with stunning visuals.

    Buy: Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

  6. 'The Spy Who Thrilled Us'

    By Evan Willnow on 2003-01-22

    I was fully prepared to begin writing my review of Michael Di Leo’s first book, The Spy Who Thrilled Us: A Guide To The Best Of Cinematic James Bond, when my friend Pat came over to hang out for the evening. It wasn’t until later that night that I discovered the true genius of Di Leo’s Book.

    The Spy Who Thrilled Us

    The Spy Who Thrilled Us

    I handed the book to Pat, with whom I have discussed Bond long enough to have conversations like ‘What do you think of Eon planning to bring Jaws back for a second movie?’, and told Pat that I was getting ready to write a review. As he thumbed through the book I explained the various things I planned to say in this review, really more for my benefit than Pat’s. “It’s really quite a fun book,” I told my friend, “but I’m really not sure of its usefulness. Essentially,” I went on, “the book is a series of subjective lists of the best—and sometimes worst—of all of the major elements of the Bond series. The book starts with an ordered list of the nineteen official movies,” (It does not include Die Another Day), “and then the rest of the book is made up of top five lists from different categories such as villain deaths, Bond girl names, cold-blooded killings, sexiest moments; nearly fifty in all. Each listing has a few paragraphs explaining the author’s choices.

    My friend continued to read through the book as I continued to explain that while I enjoyed the book immensely, it was hard to say that it is a book that must be on the shelves of all Bond fans. It does contain a series of insets titled ‘Did you know that?’ with interesting information about the film series placed strategically amongst the book’s lists and black and white photographs, but it’s not really a reference book. Mostly the book is Di Leo’s opinions. And I give serious points to him for not trying to disguise his opinions in a reference book as has annoyed this reviewer with other Bond books. “But,” I asked Pat, “why would a fan need to have a book of lists of another fan’s opinions?

    Engrossed into the book, Pat did not answer. Instead he stated, “I can’t believe he lists The Man With The Golden Gun eighteenth.” (Pat shares my belief that Roger Moore’s second film is vastly underrated.) With that we began to discuss Di Leo’s list of films and how each of us would rank the films in comparison to the book. We then went on to the next list, The Villains, and compared our feelings to the books, reading the author’s explanation of his choices when they either greatly disagreed or were similar to our thoughts. And then we went to the next list. And then the next. And again and again. Sometimes Di Leo, Pat, and I were all on the same page. Other times all of our opinions were off dramatically. (There are three villains that the book in its top five that wouldn’t make my personal top fifteen.) On a couple of occasions, Di Leo even managed to alter our opinions with his arguments. (Most notably that ‘The Stare’ in Goldfinger is one of the great moments of the series. Page 219. Look it up.) At last, we had gone though the entire book only to realise that it was now nearly 1:00am in the morning.

    As Pat said his goodnights, I realised that we had discovered The Spy Who Thrilled Us‘s true genius; the ability to stir a conversation about James Bond and add another well-educated opinion to that conversation. And I knew, while I couldn’t nescarilly say this book must be on every Bond fan’s bookshelf, I can easily say The Spy Who Thrilled Us should be in the pocket of every Bond fan when meeting other fans.

    Buy: Amazon.co.uk
    or Amazon.com

  7. 'Bond Films'

    By daniel on 2002-12-09

    At first Bond Films: Virgin Film, co-authored by Jim Smith and Stephen Lavington, looks simply like a brief outline of each of the James Bond films. However, delving deeper reveals that compiled within the Bond Films is actually quite a wealth of information from a variety of sources.

    Bond Films: Virgin Film

    Bond Films: Virgin Film

    Each film has a standard set of sections devoted to it, which are all discussed in the books introduction. Some of these sections include information on fashion decisions in the films, the advancements of particular continuing characters including M and Miss Moneypenny, the box office returns for the films, award nominations and film trivia. The most interesting sections, and those which make this a successful book, are those which discuss scenes cut from the film, source to screen information, real world influences and parallels, product placement details, critics responses to the film and social references in the film. It is the latter which may prove to be the most interesting to Bond fans as they summarise information which hasn’t previously been made readily available.

    Despite some ‘gem’ sections there are two which could easily have been left out. The first is ‘quotes’, everyone enjoys particular quotes for varying reasons and it seems unnecessary for the authors to attempt to define which are the best of a particular film. Also unnecessary is a section called ‘The One With’; a section that informs you how to remind a friend which film you mean. For instance, The Living Daylights is given as “The One With: the rock of Gibraltar, the milkman and the cello”. Some may find the section interesting, the ‘hardcore’ Bond fan will find it a statement of the obvious.

    It is obvious that a lot of work has gone into summarising material to include in the book, particularly for some of the aforementioned sections.

    It’s good to see areas dedicated to the majority of Bond films, Never Say Never Again included. While 1967’s Casino Royale is included in the book it is disappointing to see that the 1954 version of the book is not. While, admittedly, it was only a telemovie it is undoubtedly an important part in the history of the cinematic James Bond.

    Bond Films, co-authored by Jim Smith and Stephen Lavington, isn’t the best Bond book ever, but it’s obvious that the authors never intended for it to be. They had an intention from the start, stuck to it and in doing so successful created an interesting source of information.

    Buy: Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

  8. 'Martini's, Girls and Guns'

    By daniel on 2002-12-06

    With the world of James Bond currently celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the cinematic James Bond little attention is being paid to the 50th Anniversary of the James Bond series as a whole. However, Martini’s, Girls and Guns: 50 Years of 007, by Martin Sterling and Gary Morecambe, is a recently released book handling such a task.

    The books title is apt as it covers fifty years of James Bond, almost to the day. The first chapter deals with Ian Fleming sitting down to write Casino Royale in 1952 and the last chapter highlights the start of production on the 20th James Bond film, Die Another Day, with details from the press event at Pinewood Studio’s on January 11, 2002. These two events are spaced 50 years apart, bar one day.

    In approaching the book in such a fashion the authors have presented a history of the world of James Bond, both literary and cinematic. With Fleming’s works overshadowed by James Bond’s cinematic incarnation, it is refreshing to find a book that still deals so heavily with Fleming.

    The books chronological format highlights how those involved in the world of James Bond were influenced by events and other people. For instance, Fleming appears several times throughout the book, and not just in the first chapter, with his film set visits, his first meeting with Sean Connery, his legal turmoil with Kevin McClory and subsequently Jack Whittingham and finally his death.

    This style is applied to all aspects of the James Bond world and gives Martini’s, Girls and Guns a unique feel. While James Bond: The Legacy had a similar approach the two books are vastly different and actually compliment each other. The Legacy‘s approach tended to highlight social influences of the Bond films and present some unique pictures. Martini’s, Girls and Guns presents the history of James Bond without presenting many pictures. Sadly, the lack of unique pictures is a downfall for the book as Bond fans worldwide always appreciate ‘fresh’ pictures.

    At times the book is argumentative and there are some unique moments when it is obvious that the authors, and sometimes their sources, disagree. However, these disagreements only add to the books quality. For instance, the authors present the notion that Fleming’s legal case with McClory was the one of the major contributing factors to his death, whereas Sir John Morgan, Fleming’s stepson, believes this to be untrue. The unique material supplied by Sir John is definitely one of the books strong points.

    Sometimes, however, the book does lean too heavily on other people’s opinion. This mostly occurs when the authors quote other ‘Bond book’ authors. While a random quoting isn’t ever a problem it did, at times, feel that there were just too many references to past publications. The authors could have easily posed the same arguments and points in their own words.

    Overall, Martini’s, Girls and Guns is a gem of a book for the history of the world of James Bond, both cinematic and literary.

    Buy: Amazon.co.uk

  9. 'Bond On Set: Die Another Day'

    By daniel on 2002-11-14

    The most recent James Bond films have had ‘making of’ books published to coincide with the films cinematic release, and it seemed that Die Another Day would be no different. However, Greg Williams’ Bond On Set isn’t quite a ‘making of’ book, it’s something more special.

    Bond On Set

    Bond On Set

    Past ‘making of’ books are a mixture of text and pictures, with the latter receiving the least attention. With Bond On Set Williams has reversed that factor and provided a book that is mostly a compilation of pictures.

    At first, the change did cause disappointment. I wanted to read behind the scenes stories, find out little pieces of trivia about Die Another Day, and hear of complications and unexpected successes. However, Williams’ brilliance with a camera, described by producer Michael G Wilson in his ‘forward’, really eclipsed my initial disappointment.

    While promotional pictures from the book have already been circulated across the Internet, some of the best photos are definitely found within the book. Look no further than the Williams’ photos of actress Rosamund Pike to highlight his skill; these are definitely the best photos of Rosamund published to date. Other behind the scenes photos are just as unique, and seem to have definitely benefited from David Tattersall’s cinematography.

    Disappointment aside, Pierce Brosnan’s small introduction really sums up the book, “never before have we seen back stage intimacies of a Bond movie in such a classic book as this.

    Buy: Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

  10. Completely Unique

    By daniel on 2002-10-28

    There is an assortment of books that every Bond aficionado should have in their respective collection, of course the list is headed by Ian Fleming’s literary adventures and expands to include such works as Raymond Benson’s The James Bond Bedside Companion. A new book has now entrenched itself of the list of ‘must haves’, James Bond: The Legacy by John Cork and Bruce Scivally.

    The first thing that anyone will notice about James Bond: The Legacy is its sheer size. Like the Bond legacy itself, this book is big! The only real way to describe it is as a coffee table book, yet it’s still slightly bigger. I sized it up against other coffee table books and it still about an inch or so bigger than any of the others.

    Continuing with physical attributes, the book is put together quite nicely. If you remove the sleeve, which I found tends to crease on the top and bottom edges because of its size, the black cover is embossed with a gold ‘007’ logo, and the spine also has the books title and other details embossed.

    However, its what is in side the James Bond: The Legacy that makes the book such a good buy; pictures. I would seriously buy this book for the pictures alone. When it first arrived, I sat down with the intention of flicking through the pictures, expecting to have seen most of them before now. I hadn’t. Four hours later I finished ‘flicking’ through the pages looking at so many unique photos, including some brilliant shots from Die Another Day. The unique photos extend from Ian Fleming, right through all the films until reaching Die Another Day.

    The book’s content is also unique. Cork and Scivally have put together a book that does not tend to go into filming occurrences in depth, rather, the book tends to mainly highlight social influences. For example, the book speaks of changes to the scripts of a particular Bond film and the social influences that caused such a change. The opposite is also true as James Bond: The Legacy looks at how Bond has influences society.

    Understandably, the book isn’t perfect. Its coverage of Die Another Day is ‘careful’ as the authors purposely try not to give away any spoilers. Moreover, the Die Another Day coverage is already, sadly, outdated due to its publication before the film is released. With the early release date it misses being able to cover an attempted return to Bond-fever, though it does mention the early progress of the new licensing campaign. And it also misses mentioning the real life events currently unfolding with North Korea’s secret nuclear weapons project.

    Despite such ‘problems’, this is still one hell of a James Bond book, and is definitely one of the best released to date.

    Buy:
    Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com