For Your Eyes Only - Hardcover

Ben Macintyre

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0747595275 ISBN 13: 9780747595274

Publisher: Bloomsbury UK, 2008

Synopsis

Published to coincide with the 2008 Imperial War Museum exhibition of the same name, this is a thrilling stand-alone book that looks into the entwined worlds of James Bond and Ian Fleming. The book and exhibition will explore how Fleming's 007 emerged against the background of the Second World War and the Cold War, and how Bond's world was based on the realities (and fantasies) of Fleming's life as a wartime spy-master and peacetime bon viveur. They will show how the film version of Bond evolved for a later age, and answer a question that has obsessed generations of Bond fans over the years: where does the world of Ian Fleming end, and that of James Bond begin? Stylishly illustrated, For Your Eyes Only will incorporate a treasure-trove of gadgets, costumes, props, and storyboards from the films - Daniel Craig's blood-stained shirt from Casino Royale, the Aston Martin DB5, complete with weaponry - as well as memorabilia from Fleming's personal archive: his smoking jacket, the manuscript for Casino Royale, his golden typewriter, his guns, and much more. Alongside this array of extraordinary visuals, Ben Macintyre tells the story of how Fleming created the most popular legend of all time. On the centenary of Fleming's birth, he looks at the real people on whom the writer based his fictional creations - friends, colleagues, lovers, and of course, the notorious villains. Exploring the tradition of spy fiction past and present - with specific attention to the Cold War - Macintyre explains the astonishing legacy of the Bond books and the enduring appeal of a fictional secret agent who not only lived twice, but proved to be immortal.

About this title

About the Author:

Ben Macintyre is a columnist and Associate Editor on The Times. He has worked as the newspaper's correspondent in New York, Paris and Washington. He now lives in London with his wife and three children. Agent Zigzag, the true story of a WWII double-agent, was a recent Sunday Times bestseller.

From School Library Journal:

Adult/High School—This thoroughly researched, intelligently written, and beautifully presented book explores in detail the connections between a super-successful writer and his marvelously engaging creation. Fictional characters, even one as exotic, sexy, and talented as Bond, seldom emerge from the pure, unaltered imagination of the author. Bond has deep roots in Fleming's life, in the places where the author lived and visited, the people he knew and worked with, and in the family, social, and love life he experienced. Macintyre also investigates the real-life roots of other major characters, such as Miss Moneypenney, M, and supervillain Ernst Stavro Biofeld. He examines the plot origins of several of the stories, as well as the real-world gadgets and gizmos that show up so famously in the books and movies. Where does the "Bond girl" come from? And what should we make of Bond's life of luxury? These and other questions are answered here, revealing Macintyre's convincing reverence for and fascination with the intertwining worlds of these figures. The volume is lavishly illustrated with black-and-white and color photographs.—Robert Saunderson, Berkeley Public Library, CA
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About this edition

• Publisher: Bloomsbury UK
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0747595275
• ISBN 13: 9780747595274
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 224