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James Bond, agent 007 of Her Majesty’s Secret Service. Named
after an obscure ornithologist and plunged into a fantasy world of cold
war intrigue with fast cars, exotic locations and beautiful femme
fatales, James Bond has created a lasting impression on a world of
fans. But who is this character? Many people are familiar with the film
incarnations of 007, but some may not have looked past the celluloid to
the literary character created by Ian Fleming in 1953’s Casino
Royale.
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This pathfinder is intended for a wide audience. Those who have seen James Bond movies may wish to read the books and find out the background of this character. Some people may want to learn more about Ian Fleming, the author whose interesting life experiences led him to create such a timeless character. People with more academic interests may be interested in the geopolitical and cultural implications of the literary and film James Bond. Still, other people will want to learn about the movie productions and the actors and filmmakers involved in bringing 007 to the silver screen. A note for the non-UNC student (as well as non-Triangle inhabitants) - while all of the sources listed are linked either to UNC libraries, local public libraries or other North Carolina locations (for inter-library loan purposes), they can most likely be found in your "neck of the woods", either at a public library, university collection, or at a video rental store.
Library of Congress Subject Headings:
Literary and Film:
James Bond (fictitious character).
James Bond films.
James Bond films – History and criticism.
Spy stories, English.
Spy stories, English - 20th century - Bibliography.
Spy stories, English - Bibliography.
Spy stories, English - Bio-bibliography.
Spy stories, English - Bio-bibliography - Dictionaries.
Spy stories, English - Dictionaries.
Spy stories, English - Film and video adaptations.
Spy stories, English - Handbooks, manuals, etc.
Spy stories, English - History and criticism.
Authors:
Fleming, Ian, 1908-1964.
Fleming, Ian, 1908-1964 -- Biography.
Fleming, Ian, 1908-1964 -- Characters -- James Bond.
Fleming, Ian, 1908-1964 -- Correspondence.
Fleming, Ian, 1908-1964 -- Criticism and interpretation.
Fleming, Ian, 1908-1964 -- Film and video adaptations.
Fleming, Ian, 1908-1964 -- Friends and associates.
Fleming, Ian, 1908-1964. Goldfinger.
Fleming, Ian, 1908-1964 -- Library.
Fleming, Ian, 1908-1964 -- Political and social views.
Markham, Robert, 1922-1995.
Amis, Kingsley
Gardner, John E.
Benson, Raymond, 1955-.
Actors:
Connery, Sean.
Connery, Sean -- Criticism and interpretation.
Lazenby, George.
Moore, Roger, 1927-.
Brosnan, Pierce.
The following books are the original James Bond stories penned by Ian Fleming listed in publication order and include locations and call numbers for retrieval purposes (the Undergraduate Library at UNC-CH will be designated as “UL). The call numbers are linked to the library catalogs where the items can be found. I suggest that you write down or copy the call numbers for easier item-searching.
Fleming, Ian, Casino Royale.
Fleming, Ian, Live and Let Die.
Fleming, Ian, Moonraker.
Fleming, Ian, Diamonds Are Forever.
Fleming, Ian, From
Fleming, Ian, Doctor No.
Fleming, Ian, Goldfinger.
Fleming, Ian, For Your Eyes Only:
Five Secret Exploits of James Bond.
Fleming, Ian, Thunderball.
Fleming, Ian, The Spy Who Loved Me.
Fleming, Ian, On Her Majesty's Secret
Service.
Fleming, Ian, You Only Live Twice.
Fleming, Ian, The Man With The Golden Gun.
Fleming, Ian, Octopussy:
The Last Great Adventures of James Bond 007.
Anything in the vicinity of this LoC Call Number: PR6056 [7th Floor, Davis Library, UNC-CH] is where to find James Bond books and related materials
Amis, Kingsley. The James Bond Dossier.
- This is really the first work to seriously examine the Ian Fleming novels (excluding the posthumously published Octopussy short story set). Aspects such as women, politics, and physical descriptions paint a clear picture of the literary 007 from a contemporary’s perspective.
Benson, Raymond. The James
Bond Bedside Companion.
- This work, penned by the current author of the James Bond novels, is considered by many fans to be an important reference to the James Bond world (at least up until 1984). Benson provides a brief biographical sketch of Ian Fleming, an overview of James Bond’s literary characteristics (ie: personal habits, appearance, tastes), an overview of the books from Fleming to John Gardner’s Icebreaker, and a rundown of the Bond films through 1983’s “Octopussy”. Benson also includes appendices for a bibliography, Bond’s literary weaponry, and injuries that the literary Bond has sustained over the years.
Encyclopedias and Dictionaries:
Mystery and Suspense Writers: The Literature of Crime, Detection, and Espionage Vol 1; Robin W. Winks, Editor in Chief; Maureen Corrigan, Associate Editor; Charles Scribner’s Sons, NY; 1998 [Davis PR830.D4 M97 1998, v.1]
- This two volume work covers 68 mystery and suspense authors, articles on themes and subgenres, and appendices on pseudonyms, characters, subgenres, and prizewinners. Max Allan Collins writes an excellent overview of Fleming’s life and his work on the James Bond novels. Collins also provides a list of Fleming’s works as well as a bibliography of biographies and critical studies.
The Espionage Filmography:
- This source provides an alphabetical listing of spy films and includes the James Bond movies up the “The World Is Not Enough”. Each listing includes the year of release, duration, color/BW, cast and crew involved, a synopsis and a comments section. The back of the book provides indexes for cast and crew so you can see how many other spy movies a particular actor starred in or that a director/editor were involved in. This source is an excellent way to catch up with the James Bond films as well as to find other interesting spy movies worth seeing.
- The entry on Ian Fleming includes a brief listing of vital statistics, followed by a bibliography of Fleming’s works, media adaptations (that describes which Bond films relate to which books), and a bibliography of critical studies. The entry is rounded out by an essay by George Grella which discusses Fleming’s literary style and influences. An author nationality index, title index and further reading list are also provided.
[
- This resource breaks spy authors into pre- and post-1940 sets, with Ian Fleming being in the latter. Found alphabetically, Fleming’s entry provides a brief biography of the author, interspersing brief remarks on the success of the James Bond novels with events in Fleming’s life. The entry then reverts to an alphabetical bibliography of Fleming’s works, providing publishing information and brief content blurbs for some of the entries. Other Bond authors Kingsley Amis and John Gardner are also included in this work. A pseudonym appendix at the end of the book is helpful, especially in finding that Robert Markham, author of the Bond book Colonel Sun, was the pen-name of Kingsley Amis. Another appendix provides a useful guide to real-world intelligence and terrorist organizations that are mentioned in spy books. Finally, another appendix provides a guide to “spookspeak”, or spy jargon. An index of authors and titles is also provided in this work.
Interestingly enough, all of the journal entries found relate to the political implications of the literary and film James Bond. The linked-text will take you to the UNC Library E-Journals page, where you can find these journal articles by plugging in the pertinent information.
Black, Jeremy. “Oh, James” National Interest; Winter2002/2003 Issue 70, p106
This article discusses the Cold War socio-political climate of the James Bond books and films.Black notes that the literary James Bond was shone in an atmosphere of a decline in Anglo-American international relations, in which Bond uses his wits rather than resources to help American allies who don't always pool their intelligence with their neighbors "across the pond". Black contrasts this characterization with the cinematic Bond who he says is a "Batmanesque comic book fantasy" character who (in a "deus ex machina" fashion) unrealistically bails America out of trouble and eases Cold War tensions between the US and USSR (like in "Dr. No" or "You Only Live Twice").
Dodds, Klaus. “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” Geographical; Dec2002, Vol. 74 Issue 12, p17
- This article includes discussion of the geopolitical implications of the James Bond films – especially the topicality of political issues in the films.
Mulvihill, Jason. “James Bond’s Cold War Part I”. International Journal of Instructional Media. 2001, Vol. 28 Issue 3
Mulvihill, Jason. “The Golden Age of Bond – Creation of a Cold War Popular Hero” (1962-1965) Part II. International Journal of Instructional Media. 2001, Vol. 28 Issue 4
- These two articles provide an interesting in-depth look at the marriage of Cold War politics and popular culture of the James Bond films.
Olijnyk, Zena. “Live and Let Lie”.
Canadian Business;
- This article provides an interesting description of Ian Fleming’s Jamaican estate. Fleming wrote all of the James Bond novels here, so it is interesting to see the environment which provided inspiration for the author.
It is probably the most fitting to have a biography of the literary creator of James Bond as well as the man responsible for the movie version of the secret agent.
Lycett, Andrew. Ian Fleming.
- This book chronicles
the life of Ian Lancaster Fleming, the creator of the James Bond
character. Lycett discusses Fleming’s
childhood, his tenure as a spy in
Broccoli, Albert R. When the Snow Melts.
- Written near the end of his life, this autobiography of Albert R. “Cubby” Broccoli describes the life of the producer of the James Bond films.
The following are the 20 “official” James Bond
films and where they can be borrowed (ULMRC=
Dr. No [ULMRC 65- DVD988]
From
Goldfinger [ULMRC 65- DVD989]
Thunderball [ULMRC 65-V905]
You Only Live Twice [ULMRC 65-V906]
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service [ULMRC 65-V5267]
Diamonds Are Forever [ULMRC 65-V2138]
Live and Let Die [ULMRC 65-V5241]
The Man with the Golden Gun [ULMRC 65- DVD990]
The Spy Who Loved Me [ULMRC 65- DVD991]
Moonraker [Z Smith
Reynolds Library, Wake
For Your Eyes Only [ULMRC 65-FH72]
Octopussy [
A View to a Kill [
The Living Daylights [Z Smith Reynolds Library,
Wake
Licence to Kill [ULMRC
65-DVD992]
GoldenEye [ULMRC
65-DVD993]
Tomorrow Never Dies [ULMRC 65-DVD994]
The World is Not Enough [ULMRC 65-V7731]
Die Another Day [Z
Smith Reynolds Library, Wake
These are the “unofficial films” that haven’t been produced by EON production co.:
Casino Royale [UNC-Wilmington PN1995.9.C55 C364 1995]
- This is the American telecast where the American actor Barry Nelson plays “Jimmy Bond”, an Americanized 007 and Peter Lorre plays the villain LeChiffre.
Never Say Never Again [
- This remake of Thunderball marks the one-time return of Sean Connery to the James Bond character.
These James Bond books (not including movie adaptations) were written after Ian Fleming’s death, and new James Bond books are still written to this day (listed publication date order):
Markham, Robert [aka
Kingsley Amis] Colonel Sun: A James Bond Adventure.
Gardner, John E. License Renewed.
Gardner, John E. For
Special Services.
Gardner, John E. Icebreaker.
Gardner, John E. Role of Honor.
Gardner, John E. Nobody Lives Forever.
Gardner, John E. No Deals, Mr. Bond.
Gardner, John E. Scorpius.
Gardner, John E. Win, Lose, Or Die.
Gardner, John E. The Man From Barbarossa.
Gardner, John E. Never Send Flowers.
Gardner, John E. Seafire.
Benson, Raymond. Zero
Minus Ten.
Benson, Raymond. The
Facts of Death.
Benson, Raymond. High
Time to Kill. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1999. [
Benson, Raymond. Doubleshot.
Benson, Raymond. Never Dream of Dying.
Benson, Raymond. The Man With the Red Tattoo.
The following websites contain interesting
information on James Bond. While most fan sites are devoted to the film
character, some include references to the literary genesis of 007 as
well as some other interesting Bond-related tidbits.
http://www.klast.net/bond/ - This comprehensive website run by a fan named Kimberly Last provides a substantial amount of information on James Bond, the literary and film character, as well as Bond music and other merchandising. Of special note is the “Literary 007” section which includes excellent Raymond Benson synopses of James Bond books.
http://www.artofjamesbond.com/index.htm - This site explores the art of the James Bond world ranging from book covers over the years to concept art for the films.
http://www.blofeldscat.com/ohmss/ohmss.html - This is a fan tribute site to the film “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service”. I think this was a great film and this site provides interesting tidbits and trivia on this underrated film.
http://www.mrqe.com/lookup?James+Bond
– The Movie Review Query Engine provides links to reviews of the
various James Bond movies. The reviews range in quality and most focus
on the DVD releases of the films. However, seeing the critical insight
or myopia of many reviewers is an interesting exercise in and of itself.