Ian Fleming
Ian Fleming was a British author of spy thrillers, most notably the James Bond books. Fleming also wrote one children’s book, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. For a good biography of Ian Fleming, we recommend Ian Fleming: The Complete Man by Nicholas Shakespeare.
Books by Ian Fleming
The Spy Who Loved Me
by Ian Fleming
The Spy Who Loved Me is the tenth James Bond book, published in 1962, and different from the others in that the main protagonist (and narrator) is a Canadian woman who is travelling down the East Coast of the US to get away from her life in London. It's one of the shorter Bond books (just 164 pages) and Bond himself does not appear till the third part of the book. The setting is a motel in the Adirondacks in New York State, 10 miles west of Lake George. It's not a bad plot—featuring American gangsters—and the descriptions of a 1960s American motel and its mod-cons take you back into the past.
Moonraker
by Ian Fleming
Moonraker is the third James Book book, published in 1955, with most of the action taking place on the south coast of England. Bond is asked to look into the industrialist Hugo Drax, seemingly a model citizen. In vintage Fleming style, M's suspicions are raised only because Drax cheats while playing cards at his private club.
Live and Let Die
by Ian Fleming
Live and Let Die is the second James Bond book, published in 1954. There is more plot than in Casino Royale, and the story takes Bond to the United States and the Caribbean.
Diamonds Are Forever
by Ian Fleming
Diamonds Are Forever is the fourth of Ian Fleming's books featuring British spy James Bond, published in 1956. As the title suggests, it's about diamond smuggling and the book opens in Africa. Most of the action, however, takes place in the United States. As with most James Bond books, the pace is slow but you're drawn into the story. It's a really nice snapshot of the US in the 1950s (including New York City's Diamond District, racing at Saratoga Springs and gambling in Las Vegas), told through the eyes of an observant and interested Brit with a feel for the sensual.
“This is the one where James Bond has to go out to Jamaica and investigates the disappearance of Strangways, the head of Station J in Kingston. What I really like about all his books is the attention to detail. It was all based on his experiences when he worked for naval intelligence during the war.” Read more...
Pete Winner, Military Historians & Veteran
“I think it’s the best of them, and it’s wonderful because it reveals what I think is the essential Bond. The film Bond is very, very different from the character that Ian Fleming invented. The real character was unknowable. There’s something rather creepy and peculiar about the original James Bond and you get that in buckets in Casino Royale. He’s a tough man and he’s absolutely ruthless.” Read more...
Ben Macintyre, Journalist
“It is not complete fiction. There was a man called Biffy Dunderdale whom Fleming knew and who was the MI6 Head of Station in Paris in the 1930s. He was a man of great sangfroid and style who liked fast cars and pretty women and was quite an important figure. He travelled under the name of John Green, and was a glamorous figure a bit like Bond. On the other hand, one of the reasons he was in the Service was because he spoke Russian like a native, as well as other languages, which was definitely something you needed – and still do – and something James Bond never seemed to be able to do.” Read more...
Interviews where books by Ian Fleming were recommended
The best books on The Secret Service, recommended by Keith Jeffery
The author of the only authorized history of MI6, Keith Jeffery, tells us about the evolution of the secret intelligence services, their representation in fiction, and the man Fleming may have had in mind when he created James Bond
The best books on The SAS, recommended by Pete Winner
Pete Winner spent 18 years in the SAS, the special forces unit of the British Army that has a reputation for being only for the toughest of the tough. Here he recommends some of the best books that give a feel for what it’s like to be in the SAS or ‘Special Air Service.’
The best books on Writing a Great Thriller, recommended by James Twining
Best-selling author says the elements you need to write a perfect thriller are a brilliant central character, some link to reality, and an inanimate object around which the human story revolves.
The best books on Spies, recommended by Ben Macintyre
The British public-school system, with its hidden homosexuality and feelings of loneliness, encouraged subterfuge and led to a generation of great spy writers and spies, suggests author and journalist Ben Macintyre. He picks the best books on spies.
