Casino Royale: James Bond 007 (Paperback)

Ian Fleming was an English author famous for his series of novels surrounding perhaps the most famous (fictional) spy in history, James Bond. Born in London, he was educated at Eton College as well as abroad at universities in Germany and Austria. After studying he worked at Reuters news agency and as a stockbroker. During World War II, he worked as assistant to the Director of Naval Intelligence in the Admiralty in London. It was through his experiences during the war and his career in journalism that many of the ideas for characters and incidents during the Bond series were created.

Fleming was 43 when he wrote the first James Bond book, Casino Royale, in about two months at his house in Jamaica. Another thirteen books followed as well as a hugely successful series of films, two of which (Dr. No and From Russia With Love) he lived to see. He also wrote the children'’s book, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, for his son Caspar while recovering from a heart attack in 1962. He died two years later, aged 56, at Sandwich in Kent.

Similar authors to Ian Fleming

In all honesty, the Bond novels are quite unique in many ways (not all good) and none of the modern imitators quite captures Fleming's 007.