Expert on Bond Books
CmdrAtticus
United StatesPosts: 1,102MI6 Agent
Does anyone know who at present is considered the top expert in the world on the Bond novels?
CmdrAtticus
United StatesPosts: 1,102MI6 Agent
Comments
As in top expert in ALL the Bond books published OR the history of the Bond novels...?...
Yeah, what he said. Are we talking just Fleming, or are you including every Bond continuation novelist from Markham (Amis) through Deaver? Also, What about young Bond, Moneypenny Diaries etc?
DG
"People sleep peacefully in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." Richard Grenier after George Orwell, Washington Times 1993.
Definitely there are those who can help here. If its the Fleming books you need help with there is a plethora of information can be garnered from both members and past articles that have been posted on this site.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/James-Bond-Official-Companion-Flemings/dp/0719568153/ref=sr_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1320349441&sr=1-7
Henry Chancellor's attractive, fairly recent book covers all the Fleming stuff and there's loads of info that was news to me, it is almost as good as a Fleming biography imo.
The others are Kingsley Amis' James Bond Dossier (out of print but surely on ebay etc) and Snelling's 007 Report, which is lesser known but covers much the same ground, both from the early 1960s.
Neither deal with the continuation novels.
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I can't speak for Chancellor's book, but I have nothing but praise for Amis and Snelling. Of the two, Snelling's seems a bit easier to find in the second-hand market. An interesting aspect of Snelling's book is his comparison of Bond to earlier "Clubland Heroes" from the UK such as Bulldog Drummond. It gives you a feel for Bond's literary heritage while also showing how different he was from those who came before.
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I read Chancellor's book when I was writing my Fleming novel reviews and found some of the insight immensely helpful towards understanding some of the background to the stories. It was very informative. Amis' Dossier has always ranked highly among afficinados, but I've not had the pleasure yet.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ian-Flemings-James-Bond-Chronologies/dp/1425931006/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1322785585&sr=1-1
The book contains over 440 pages covering pretty much all aspects of the Fleming books: detailed chronology of the series (including analysis of inconsistencies introduced by Fleming as the series went on), background on the Secret Service at the time of the novels, locations of headquarters and Bond's flat, discussion of the cars, firearms, and gadgets in the series, as well as a detailed chapter on each novel, each of which includes a glossary (covering characters, places, terms, etc.), a day-by-day chronology of the story, maps, diagrams, and some interesting character illustrations by George Almond. There is also information on many of the period and historical background events mentioned by Fleming.
Some of the major incidents throughout the series are given extra attention (for example: sixteen pages (!) on the bridge game against Drax in Moonraker; 11 pages on the golf game against Goldfinger, including hole-by-hole diagrams of the course.
There is also some analysis of the differences between the Fleming manuscripts in the Lilly Library and the published versions.
And, if it matters, a preface by Andrew Lycett and forewords by Zoe Watkins (IFP) and Raymond Benson.
At the amazon link above you can view the table of contents, the entire overview section, and part of the Casino Royale chapter.
"Mr. James?" the man smiled thinly. "I'm Colonel, let's say - er - Johns."
I did, however, find this one he did of Fleming which I hadn't seen before:
http://www.georgealmondillustration.com/021.html
"Mr. James?" the man smiled thinly. "I'm Colonel, let's say - er - Johns."
There are some marvelous Almond illustrations in back issues of Bondage Magazine--and on my wall as he had released a limited print of Ian Fleming via Ian Fleming Foundation.
**I'm expert with the novels and continuation authors if someone has a question.
The Henry Chancellor book was the most entertaining Bond book read since Raymond Benson's Bedside Companion and is worth getting as was written.
As also mentioned, Mr. Griswold's work is also perfect and excellent in every way. We were fortunate to have John visit my Bond Collectors' Weekend 8 to discuss his research with us, in New York.
I'd have to agree with that one, actually. -{