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What Bond reference book are you reading?

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  • CharmianBondCharmianBond Pett Bottom, Kent
    Posts: 557
    MaxCasino wrote: »
    CharmianBond wrote: »
    Being Bond: A Daniel Craig Retrospective

    After being slated for way back in May, it's has finally arrived. I read all of it in one sitting. It mainly focuses on the stunts but there is some discussion around the writing, and it is slightly more candid about that than I was expecting, but there's nothing especially revelatory. Similarly there aren't many images I haven't seen before but there are couple. Although Spectre's mixed reception was glossed over but Mendes does defend those controversial plot points. But overall it's a decent coffee-table book.

    Glad to hear your opinions. Between this book and the new Dr No and From Russia With Love books, these are what I hope to find under the Christmas tree this year.

    Thanks. I've also got them on my prezzie list but the Fashioning James Bond book is at the top of it.
  • Agent_99Agent_99 enjoys a spirited ride as much as the next girl
    Posts: 3,176
    I loved Fashioning James Bond and I'm not much of a fashion person.

    I went to the BFI launch of Llewella Chapman's From Russia with Love book last night. Best thing I learned: in an early draft of the novel, Rosa Klebb was into not just men and women, but animals too. (You can see why that got taken out.)
  • MaxCasinoMaxCasino United States
    Posts: 4,620
    Agent_99 wrote: »
    I loved Fashioning James Bond and I'm not much of a fashion person.

    I went to the BFI launch of Llewella Chapman's From Russia with Love book last night. Best thing I learned: in an early draft of the novel, Rosa Klebb was into not just men and women, but animals too. (You can see why that got taken out.)

    Thank you for the information. Any other fun facts about either of the two books/novels or movies?
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,269
    Agent_99 wrote: »
    I loved Fashioning James Bond and I'm not much of a fashion person.

    I went to the BFI launch of Llewella Chapman's From Russia with Love book last night. Best thing I learned: in an early draft of the novel, Rosa Klebb was into not just men and women, but animals too. (You can see why that got taken out.)

    Yes, I had a conversation with Llewella Chapman on Facebook and she told me that. I too can see why that was cut given the mores of the time. The killing of animals was still used for the Red Grant backstory at the start of the novel though I suppose. Now I'm imagining Rosa Klebb looking fondly at farmyard fowl. What a terrible image!
  • Agent_99Agent_99 enjoys a spirited ride as much as the next girl
    Posts: 3,176
    MaxCasino wrote: »
    Agent_99 wrote: »
    I loved Fashioning James Bond and I'm not much of a fashion person.

    I went to the BFI launch of Llewella Chapman's From Russia with Love book last night. Best thing I learned: in an early draft of the novel, Rosa Klebb was into not just men and women, but animals too. (You can see why that got taken out.)

    Thank you for the information. Any other fun facts about either of the two books/novels or movies?

    The only one I can remember offhand is that Rosa Klebb originally had a different name, which meant 'white bread'!

    Thanks for that image, @Dragonpol - I may never sleep again!
  • MaxCasinoMaxCasino United States
    Posts: 4,620
    Agent_99 wrote: »
    MaxCasino wrote: »
    Agent_99 wrote: »
    I loved Fashioning James Bond and I'm not much of a fashion person.

    I went to the BFI launch of Llewella Chapman's From Russia with Love book last night. Best thing I learned: in an early draft of the novel, Rosa Klebb was into not just men and women, but animals too. (You can see why that got taken out.)

    Thank you for the information. Any other fun facts about either of the two books/novels or movies?

    The only one I can remember offhand is that Rosa Klebb originally had a different name, which meant 'white bread'!

    Thanks for that image, @Dragonpol - I may never sleep again!

    Thank you! Now I’m really hoping “Santa” leaves these books (plus DC’s Being Bond) under the tree for Christmas.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,269
    Agent_99 wrote: »
    MaxCasino wrote: »
    Agent_99 wrote: »
    I loved Fashioning James Bond and I'm not much of a fashion person.

    I went to the BFI launch of Llewella Chapman's From Russia with Love book last night. Best thing I learned: in an early draft of the novel, Rosa Klebb was into not just men and women, but animals too. (You can see why that got taken out.)

    Thank you for the information. Any other fun facts about either of the two books/novels or movies?

    The only one I can remember offhand is that Rosa Klebb originally had a different name, which meant 'white bread'!

    Thanks for that image, @Dragonpol - I may never sleep again!

    I'm sorry for that image and I hope that no nervous shock was inflicted as a result. I will read you a nice bedtime story with a happy ending to make up for it. :)
  • Mathis1Mathis1
    Posts: 7,415
    Just received my copy in the post of
    'Being Bond : A Daniel Craig Retrospective'
    Think I keep it as a Christmas present for myself!
  • CharmianBondCharmianBond Pett Bottom, Kent
    Posts: 557
    A smaller and slightly more affordable version of Taschen's James Bond Archives NTTD Edition book is available to preorder with a release date of next February. Has anyone got a copy? I resisted buying the larger version because I couldn't justify the price but I'm more of a fan of NTTD than most and there's the other 24 films as well so is the content worth the price tag?
  • Mathis1Mathis1
    Posts: 7,415
    CharmianBond wrote: »
    A smaller and slightly more affordable version of Taschen's James Bond Archives NTTD Edition book is available to preorder with a release date of next February. Has anyone got a copy? I resisted buying the larger version because I couldn't justify the price but I'm more of a fan of NTTD than most and there's the other 24 films as well so is the content worth the price tag?

    I have the larger version.....but need to hit the gym to start reading it!!
  • BT3366BT3366
    Posts: 1,917
    CharmianBond wrote: »
    A smaller and slightly more affordable version of Taschen's James Bond Archives NTTD Edition book is available to preorder with a release date of next February. Has anyone got a copy? I resisted buying the larger version because I couldn't justify the price but I'm more of a fan of NTTD than most and there's the other 24 films as well so is the content worth the price tag?

    Interesting. I have the Stanley Kubrick Archives in the smaller version and it's a bit too small to appreciate, so I don't know how the Bond version will translate. It should be a nice alternative considering the price of the full version if nothing else.
  • brinkeguthriebrinkeguthrie Piz Gloria
    Posts: 1,400
    Superspy Science by Kathryn Harkup is WELL worth a read.
  • Cdr_BondCdr_Bond
    Posts: 53
    Currently reading For Your Eyes Only: Ian Fleming and James Bond by Ben McIntyre. It’s quite enjoyable. Also recommend his other book on WW2 espionage ‘operation mincemeat’ and ‘agent zigzag’ but especially ‘Double Cross’
  • MaxCasinoMaxCasino United States
    Posts: 4,620
    Revelator wrote: »
    From Russia With Love joins BFI Film Classics!

    9781839024535.jpg

    From the publisher:
    Often hailed as the 'best' James Bond film, From Russia With Love (1963) is celebrated for its direction by Terence Young, memorable performances from Sean Connery in his second outing as 007, Pedro Armendáriz as Kerim, Lotte Lenya as the lesbian villain Colonel Rosa Klebb, and Robert Shaw as Red Grant, the sexually ambiguous SPECTRE assassin. And regardless of its place within the longest-running continuous film series in cinema history, it is also an outstanding example of the British spy thriller in its own right.

    Llewella Chapman's study of the iconic film pinpoints its place within the James Bond film franchise, and its significant cultural value to critics and fans as well as this film's important place within British cinema history more widely. Drawing on a broad range of archival sources, Chapman traces the film's development and production history, including its adaptation from Ian Fleming's source novel, as well as its reception and lasting impact. Chapman also considers the film's portrayal of gender politics, with its queer villains counterpoised with the heterosexual couple Bond and his Russian counterpart Tatiana Romanova, the context of Cold War politics, and the influence of Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest (1959).

    Now reading this!
  • VenutiusVenutius Yorkshire
    edited March 2023 Posts: 3,152
    I'm reading it next!
  • MaxCasinoMaxCasino United States
    Posts: 4,620
    MaxCasino wrote: »
    Revelator wrote: »
    From Russia With Love joins BFI Film Classics!

    9781839024535.jpg

    From the publisher:
    Often hailed as the 'best' James Bond film, From Russia With Love (1963) is celebrated for its direction by Terence Young, memorable performances from Sean Connery in his second outing as 007, Pedro Armendáriz as Kerim, Lotte Lenya as the lesbian villain Colonel Rosa Klebb, and Robert Shaw as Red Grant, the sexually ambiguous SPECTRE assassin. And regardless of its place within the longest-running continuous film series in cinema history, it is also an outstanding example of the British spy thriller in its own right.

    Llewella Chapman's study of the iconic film pinpoints its place within the James Bond film franchise, and its significant cultural value to critics and fans as well as this film's important place within British cinema history more widely. Drawing on a broad range of archival sources, Chapman traces the film's development and production history, including its adaptation from Ian Fleming's source novel, as well as its reception and lasting impact. Chapman also considers the film's portrayal of gender politics, with its queer villains counterpoised with the heterosexual couple Bond and his Russian counterpart Tatiana Romanova, the context of Cold War politics, and the influence of Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest (1959).

    Now reading this!

    Just finished reading it. A quick easy, enjoyable read, and great new things I didn’t know about. Highly recommended! Now I’m reading Dr. No The First James Bond Film by James Chapman.
  • LeonardPineLeonardPine The Bar on the Beach
    Posts: 3,996
    Finally got around to start reading a Christmas present...
    20230318-123401.jpg
  • Mathis1Mathis1
    Posts: 7,415
    LeonardPine wrote: »
    Finally got around to start reading a Christmas present...
    20230318-123401.jpg

    Thats a great book,mate, very detailed. And a great companion piece to the OHMSS book!
  • BT3366BT3366
    Posts: 1,917
    Couldn't resist picking up a sealed version of The Goldfinger Files for about a third of the price it's going for on Amazon. When I first heard about it, I wasn't expecting much as it just focused on a week of filming the Aston Martin following Goldfinger, and Tilly's first appearance. I anticipated it being similar to the Terry O'Neill book with just a lot of photos, most of which we'd seen many times before. What I found instead was surprising. True, there were a few photos that have been in other publications but so many others that we'd otherwise never get to see and stories from those involved giving a fresh perspective. Who'd have thought photos of set caterers would prove charming? A very worthy addition to my Bond library that I'll return to many times just because it offers something so different from the usual photo collections, synopsis and well-known trivia bits.
  • LeonardPineLeonardPine The Bar on the Beach
    Posts: 3,996
    Mathis1 wrote: »
    LeonardPine wrote: »
    Finally got around to start reading a Christmas present...
    20230318-123401.jpg

    Thats a great book,mate, very detailed. And a great companion piece to the OHMSS book!

    Yeah I have both now @Mathis1

    Two of my favourite Bond films! Really enjoying this book so far 👍
  • RevelatorRevelator
    Posts: 2,917
    Arriving Oct. 5:

    9781787302419-jacket-large.jpg
    A fresh portrait of the man behind James Bond, and his enduring impact, by an award-winning biographer with unprecedented access to the Fleming family papers.

    Ian Fleming's greatest creation, James Bond, has had an enormous and ongoing impact on our culture. What Bond represents about ideas of masculinity, the British national psyche and global politics has shifted over time, as has the interpretation of the life of his author. But Fleming himself was more mysterious and subtle than anything he wrote.

    Ian's childhood with his gifted brother Peter and his extraordinary mother set the pattern for his ambition to be 'the complete man', and he would strive for the means to achieve this 'completeness' all his life. Only a thriller writer for his last twelve years, his dramatic personal life and impressive career in Naval Intelligence put him at the heart of critical moments in world history, while also providing rich inspiration for his fiction. Exceptionally well connected, and widely travelled, from the United States and Soviet Russia to his beloved Jamaica, Ian had access to the most powerful political figures at a time of profound change.

    Nicholas Shakespeare is one of the most gifted biographers working today. His talent for uncovering material that casts new light on his subjects is fully evident in this masterful, definitive biography. His unprecedented access to the Fleming archive and his nose for a story make this a fresh and eye-opening picture of the man and his famous creation.

    Source.
  • LucknFateLucknFate 007 In New York
    Posts: 1,644
    I've just finished Some Kind Of Hero and am now reading the Lycett biography of Ian Fleming.

    What are some good nonfiction Bond books I should check out like SKOH? Stuff about alternate castings, potential plots, fun facts, Fleming's spycraft, that sort of thing? If it's on Kindle, that's ideal. Thanks in advance.
  • ggl007ggl007 www.archivo007.com Spain, España
    Posts: 2,541
    LucknFate wrote: »
    What are some good nonfiction Bond books I should check out like SKOH? Stuff about alternate castings, potential plots, fun facts, Fleming's spycraft, that sort of thing? If it's on Kindle, that's ideal. Thanks in advance.

    https://www.amazon.es/Ian-Fleming-James-Bond-Connection/dp/B09FS2VB6W

    :D
  • RevelatorRevelator
    edited June 2023 Posts: 2,917
    LucknFate wrote: »
    What are some good nonfiction Bond books I should check out like SKOH? Stuff about alternate castings, potential plots, fun facts, Fleming's spycraft, that sort of thing? If it's on Kindle, that's ideal. Thanks in advance.

    SKOH is probably the best overall history of the Bond films you can find. You might also wish to look at the Taschen James Bond Archives, which is designed along similar lines. For deep dives into individual films, check out Adrian Turner's Goldfinger: The Ultimate A-Z and Charles Helfenstein's The Making of on Her Majesty's Secret Service and The Making of The Living Daylights. For a fascinating look at the unmade version of Casino Royale, consult Jeremy Duns's Rogue Royale: The Lost Bond Film by the ‘Shakespeare of Hollywood'.

    Lycett's Fleming biography is the most comprehensive one (for now; Nicholas Shakespeare's bio will be released Oct. 5) but it can get heavy with non-Bond detail. For books more focused on the Bond stories, I recommend The James Bond Dossier by Kingsley Amis and James Bond: The Man and His World, the Official Companion to Ian Fleming's Creation, by Henry Chancellor. There are no annotated editions of the Bond books, but John Griswold's Ian Fleming's James Bond: Annotations and Chronologies is useful. There are many books about Fleming's wartime service--Ian Fleming's War: The Inspiration for 007 by Mark Simmons is the most comprehensive one, though it it's badly edited.
  • LucknFateLucknFate 007 In New York
    Posts: 1,644
    Revelator wrote: »
    LucknFate wrote: »
    What are some good nonfiction Bond books I should check out like SKOH? Stuff about alternate castings, potential plots, fun facts, Fleming's spycraft, that sort of thing? If it's on Kindle, that's ideal. Thanks in advance.

    SKOH is probably the best overall history of the Bond films you can find. You might also wish to look at the Taschen James Bond Archives, which is designed along similar lines. For deep dives into individual films, check out Adrian Turner's Goldfinger: The Ultimate A-Z and Charles Helfenstein's The Making of on Her Majesty's Secret Service and The Making of The Living Daylights. For a fascinating look at the unmade version of Casino Royale, consult Jeremy Duns's Rogue Royale: The Lost Bond Film by the ‘Shakespeare of Hollywood'.

    Lycett's Fleming biography is the most comprehensive one (for now; Nicholas Shakespeare's bio will be released Oct. 5) but it can get heavy with non-Bond detail. For books more focused on the Bond stories, I recommend The James Bond Dossier by Kingsley Amis and James Bond: The Man and His World, the Official Companion to Ian Fleming's Creation, by Henry Chancellor. There are no annotated editions of the Bond books, but John Griswold's Ian Fleming's James Bond: Annotations and Chronologies is useful. There are many books about Fleming's wartime service--Ian Fleming's War: The Inspiration for 007 by Mark Simmons is the most comprehensive one, though it it's badly edited.

    I was hoping to hear from you! Thanks for the helpful descriptions.
  • MaxCasinoMaxCasino United States
    Posts: 4,620
    The James Bond Archives: NTTD Edition.
  • MaxCasinoMaxCasino United States
    Posts: 4,620
    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0231207417/ref=ox_sc_saved_image_4?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

    New reference book on the way!
  • RevelatorRevelator
    Posts: 2,917
    After more than a decade's wait, Talk of the Devil is now available for purchase! Go here to drop £75 (10 extra for shipping outside the UK).
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,269
    Revelator wrote: »
    After more than a decade's wait, Talk of the Devil is now available for purchase! Go here to drop £75 (10 extra for shipping outside the UK).

    I need to get this as I've wanted to read it since it was first published. As the price was prohibitive I had to hold off until now!
  • RevelatorRevelator
    Posts: 2,917
    My feelings exactly. I know what I'm getting myself for Christmas!
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