Meet the man

Ian Lancaster Fleming is born in London on 28th May 1908, the second of four boys, to Valentine and Evelyn Fleming. Valentine is MP for Henley and the son of wealthy Scottish financier and philanthropist, Robert Fleming.

In the early morning of 20th May 1917, Ian’s father Valentine is hit by a shell and killed instantly. News of the tragedy reach the family just before Ian’s ninth birthday.

Anne Charteris Harmsworth and Ian are married in March 1952, after a long term affair. Ian jokes that he starts Casino Royale, his first novel, in Feb 1952 to distract himself from his looming nuptials. He describes 'a marvellous honeymoon among hummingbirds and barracudas.'

In August 1952 Anne gives birth to Ian’s only child, a son, Caspar. A few weeks after the birth, Ian writes to a friend, ‘If it were possible to make a better man out of me, he is certainly assisting the process.’

Started in February 1952, Ian's first James Bond novel is released on 13th April 1953 by Jonathan Cape in the UK. An instant success, it has three print runs in quick succession and provokes rave reviews such as Time Magazine’s, ‘Casino Royale introduces a brand new mystery writer, Briton Ian Fleming, and a hard-shelled British secret service operative, James Bond, who should be prowling the international underground for some books to come.’

Bond's second adventure has a deeply authentic feel, with Fleming undertaking detailed scene-setting, fact-finding missions to key locations before settling into his 2,000 words-a-day writing regime. It earned him high praise, including the enthusiastic Sunday Times review, ‘Speed… tremendous zest… communicated excitement. Brrh! How wincingly well Mr Fleming writes.’

Set in London and Kent where Fleming spends most weekends at his beloved Royal St George’s Golf Club, Moonraker is a thoroughly British affair. It's also the first time James Bond fails to win the heart of the book’s heroine, police officer Gala Brand. Alternative titles under consideration include Wide of the Mark, The Inhuman Element and the startlingly gloomy Mondays are Hell.

In NYC, on his way home from GoldenEye in March 1954, Fleming notices an advertisement in American Vogue, ‘A Diamond is Forever’. This sparks his imagination and sends Bond on his next mission, investigating the spectacular world of international diamond smuggling. The book’s cover is painted by Pat Marriott, the wife of Cape publisher, Michael Howard.

After writing three James Bond novels, Ian Fleming is growing weary of his hero. His fifth novel sees Bond pitted against SMERSH, with excellently drawn villains and a wide open cliff-hanger of an ending. Will 007 return?

Alongside writing his 007 books, Fleming continues as a journalist at the Sunday Times. In 1957 the paper invites him to write a story about diamond smuggling and the International Diamond Security Organisation, an area Fleming is familiar with after extensively researching Diamonds are Forever. The Sunday Times serialise the book over six weeks in September 1957 and Cape publish it in November that same year.

Fleming’s most fantastical James Bond adventure to date. With a luxurious underground lair in the Bahamas, a giant squid for a pet and steel pincers for hands, the eponymous villain proves to be one of his most unforgettable characters.

Fleming’s seventh Bond novel follows the pursuits of a wealthy criminal with a penchant for torture. It includes iconic scenes, such as the girl suffocated by gold body paint and 007 strapped to a table as a circular saw moves slowly towards his groin. Like From Russia with Love, the book's cover is illustrated by Richard Chopping who creates the art for every UK first edition Bond cover from this point forward.

A collection of five short 007 stories – some concieved as outlines for TV features, whilst the short story 'Quantum of Solace' pays homage to Ian's friend, playwright and novelist W. Somerset Maugham.

Albert R. ‘Cubby’ Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, of EON Productions, set about transforming Ian Fleming's 007 books into films. The producers name their company EON after the phrase 'everything or nothing', and their holding company Danjaq after their wives’ first names – Dana and Jacqueline.

Keen to bring Bond to the big screen, Ian writes a treatment for a new story. His friend Ivar Bryce and producer, Kevin McClory add to it and it eventually forms the outline for the Thunderball novel. While Ian isn't proud of his efforts, the New York Times describe it as ‘a thriller, a chiller and a pleasure to read.’

Against the backdrop of failing health and marriage, Fleming breaks away from his usual writing formula and writes from the point of view of Vivienne Michel, a heart-broken young woman who gets tangled-up in an ill-fated insurance scam at an isolated motel in New York State before being rescued by 007.

Calling on his experiences at the Tennerhof in the 1930s, Ian's story transports readers to the Alps and brings back Bond’s adversary from Thunderball, Ernst Stavro Blofeld.

Ian's Sunday Times travel articles are brought together in one book. Delving into cities as varied and interesting as Hong Kong, Honolulu, Las Vegas, Berlin, and Monte Carlo, the collection provides a unique insight into locations at a time of great change.

Set in Japan, this is the last 007 novel to be published in Fleming's lifetime. It gives readers a detailed understanding of Bond’s past and sees the return of his nemesis Blofeld, thus concluding his ‘Blofeld trilogy’.

After a heart attack in 1961, Ian’s health gradually deteriorates. At Easter 1964 he plays a round of golf in the rain, drive home in wet clothes and develops pleurisy, ending up in hospital. His mother Evelyn passes away in July and a few weeks later, on 11th August he is in Kent to be elected Captain of the Royal St. George’s Golf Club, when he suffers a heart attack after dinner. The following morning, on his son Caspar’s twelfth birthday, Ian Fleming dies at the age of 56.

Written whilst convalescing after his heart attack in 1961, Ian's one and only book for children is inspired by the bedtime stories he has dreamed up for his son, Caspar.

Delivered in manuscript form before his death, Fleming's final final James Bond novel is redrafted and edited by author Kingsley Amis before being published.

The final release of Ian Fleming's James Bond adventures. The book is a collection of 007 short stories and features 'Octopussy', 'The Living Daylights', 'The Property of a Lady' and '007 in New York'.