In the original dustsheet. Brown cloth binding with gilt title on the spine.

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The definitive biography of author Ian Fleming and the perfect read for anyone enjoying the Sky Atlantic biopic starring Dominic Cooper. Ian Fleming’s life was just as dramatic as that of his fictional creation, James Bond. Andrew Lycett’s direct access to Fleming’s family, friends and contemporaries has enabled him to reveal the truth behind the complicated facade of this enigmatic and remarkable man. With an extraordinary cast of characters, this is biography at is best – part history, part gossip and part an informed reassessment of one of this century’s most celebrated yet mysterious personalities.

Review: Ian Fleming had a domineering and manipulative mother, worked as a journalist, and had his mother to thank for his attachment to Reuters, and later, having a go as a stockbroker. All that followed his failed attempt in Sandhurst, following his distinguished father’s footsteps. After the war, he spent more time in his home in Jamaica, a house he named ‘Goldeneye’ after one of his clandestine projects in World War II. He loved women and had affairs with various ladies but never settled down until much later in life. He had been having an affair with his boss’ wife, Ann Rothermere for some time but only married her, after her divorce from Esmond Rothermere, when she became pregnant with Fleming’s child, who they named Caspar. Fleming was very much like the James Bond he created, or should we say, Bond was much like Fleming? Ian Fleming had a colourful life, spending an exciting time in the Naval Intelligence Department, at a time when the British intelligence services could be said to be far more advanced and superior to their American counterparts. Lycett extolls Fleming’s many adventures in the Second World War.

Fleming’s first book, Casino Royale was a success in England, but not in America. His next two books were ‘The Undertaker’s Wind’, renamed ‘Live and Let Die’, and Moonraker. The book gets even more exciting in the later chapters when Fleming’s books were made into the famous Bond movies, and alas, Fleming’s health was not good, and he died on 12 August 1964. This is a fascinating biography filled with details that a master spy would have covered. Andrew Lycett garners the facts and details well, and blends Fleming and Bond in perfect symmetry.