Ian Fleming

Born in London in 1908, Ian Fleming was educated at Eton College. He worked as assistant to the Director of Naval Intelligence, Admiral Godfrey, in WWII, before joining Kemsley Newspapers as Foreign Manager of The Sunday Times. Here he ran a network of overseas editorial correspondents who were intimately involved in the Cold War.

Fleming’s first novel, Casino Royale, was published in 1953, a spy thriller which introduced James Bond to the world. It became an instant hit in the UK – and when JFK included his fourth novel, From Russia with Love, in his favourite book list, success followed on a global scale. The 007 books were written in Jamaica, a country Fleming fell in love with during the war and where he built his house, GoldenEye. Weaving in his many interests and pastimes – from cards to golf and cars – his wartime intelligence and travel experiences, the James Bond series had an authority with a universal appeal. Fleming went on to write 14 007 titles, publishing one a year until his death, selling over 100 million copies to date.

Fleming’s children adventure story about a magical car, written in 1961 for his only child, Caspar, went on to become the well-loved novel and film, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. He also wrote two non-fiction books, The Diamond Smugglers and Thrilling Cities.