Ian Fleming: A Personal Memoir - Hardcover

Harling, Robert

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1849549354 ISBN 13: 9781849549356

Publisher: The Robson Press, 2016

Synopsis

This is Robert Harling's account of his close and enduring friendship with one of the twentieth century's most iconic writers; a friendship forged on the front line of the Second World War.

Their paths met in the early 1940s upon the creation of 30 Assault Unit, a British Commando unit Ian Fleming founded and ran. While Fleming was based in London, Harling, his second-in-command, operated on the front. The war made the men fast friends, and Fleming would later write Harling into his Bond novels Thunderball and The Spy Who Loved Me.

Despite the pair's friendship, this book is a searching psychological investigation. This is Fleming, warts and all: his magnetism and charm often tempered by bouts of depression, failing health, and a deep-rooted misogyny dooming his relationships with women to end in failure and recrimination.

Harling brings a unique and authoritative perspective to a compelling subject. Ordered by the author not to be published in his lifetime, this extraordinary memoir offers a fascinating and unprecedented insight into the mind and life of Fleming, from one of those who knew him best.

Robert Harling’s postwar career included twenty-eight years as editor of House & Garden magazine, and almost forty as the Sunday Times’s celebrated typographic adviser. He was the author of some eighteen books of fiction and nonfiction. He died in 2008.

About this title

About the Author:

Robert Harling: Robert Harling’s post-war career included twenty-eight years as editor of House & Garden magazine and almost forty as the Sunday Times’s celebrated typographic adviser. He was the author of some eighteen books of fiction and non-fiction. He died in 2008.

Review:

'Robert Harling was a man of many talents, who worked with Ian Fleming in naval intelligence and journalism, as well as being a thriller writer himself. He has produced a memoir of his close friend that is full of fascinating anecdotes, and that, without glossing over the imperfections of its subject, manages to be affectionate, humorous and insightful. The result is a wonderful treat - a welcome addition to the literature about 007's creator.' - Andrew Lycett; 'Searingly, almost painfully honest, this picture of the sex-and-danger-saturated relationship between Harling and Fleming is as gripping and as challenging as the best of the Bond novels.' - Anna Blundy; 'Anyone seriously interested in the melancholic Old Etonian Scot who created James Bond will fall on this long-lost memoir with genuine joy. Robert Harling's authentic book is funny and frank and revealing about Ian Fleming and his social milieu, with real sadness under all the banter.' - Nicholas Rankin; 'This book not only explains the extraordinary success of Ian Fleming; it is an eyewitness account of the growth of design and fashion after the Second World War by the man whose genius created both.' - Nicolas Barker; "Harling brings a unique and authoritative perspective to a compelling subject." - Literary 007

About this edition

• Publisher: The Robson Press
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 1849549354
• ISBN 13: 9781849549356
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 384