Product Description
Webster's bibliographic and event-based timelines are comprehensive in scope, covering virtually all topics, geographic locations and people. They do so from a linguistic point of view, and in the case of this book, the focus is on "Ian Fleming," including when used in literature (e.g. all authors that might have Ian Fleming in their name). As such, this book represents the largest compilation of timeline events associated with Ian Fleming when it is used in proper noun form. Webster's timelines cover bibliographic citations, patented inventions, as well as non-conventional and alternative meanings which capture ambiguities in usage. These furthermore cover all parts of speech (possessive, institutional usage, geographic usage) and contexts, including pop culture, the arts, social sciences (linguistics, history, geography, economics, sociology, political science), business, computer science, literature, law, medicine, psychology, mathematics, chemistry, physics, biology and other physical sciences. This "data dump" results in a comprehensive set of entries for a bibliographic and/or event-based timeline on the proper name Ian Fleming, since editorial decisions to include or exclude events is purely a linguistic process. The resulting entries are used under license or with permission, used under "fair use" conditions, used in agreement with the original authors, or are in the public domain. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

The magical car
Like most books that have had a movie made of them, this one is very different than the movie. Ian Fleming, who wrote the James Bond books, tried his hand at a children's book. This particular version is the Book Club edition published by Random House for the U.S. market. The story is fairly short and I will not spoil it by telling what the differences are, but trust me that the book is quite enjoyable, and very British. The charming illustrations were by John Burningham. Later editions of the book I have seen are not illustrated as well as this one.

This is based on another edition, apparently now OOP.
When most people think of Ian Fleming, they think of "James Bond." This is the only children's book he ever wrote, and one wishes that he wrote more.

Forget the Dick VanDyke film, which has very little resemblance to the book. (Not that it is a bad film, mind you, taken by itself.)

In the film, Mr. Potts was a widower; in the book, Mrs. P. was very much alive.They pushed the time-frame of the book about 75 years, also, and (aside from using the idea of the rehabilitated racecar that could convert into a boat or an airplane) the plot had very little resemblance to that of the book.

The story is fairly simple, but is well told, rather in the manner of a parent telling a bedtime story.The author is not afraid to use big words, but he explains them.I remember at about age eight (shortly after I heard my teacher read it out loud to us in school) I used the word 'transmogrification' at home; my Mother told me that wasn't a real word, and I said it was, and we looked it up in the dictionary--and there it was!(Mother wasn't a stupid or uneducated woman; she was a college professor.)

The book could be read TO a child as young as four or five, and could be read BY a child of nine or up. ... Read more

Product Description
The legend continues! Stand by for more adventures with the world’s greatest secret agent, as his most thrilling missions are collected for the first time ever!

Modern-day King Midas, Auric Goldfinger, plans on ruining the economies of the Free World and using his own vast hordes of gold to control the planet. Bond must use all his rugged charms and brutal skills to stop Goldfinger before he brings western civilisation to its knees!

This new edition also collects the very rare newspaper strips Risico, From A View To A Kill, For Your Eyes Only and Thunderball! Not only that, it also features a brand new introduction by Goldfinger Bond girl, Shirley Eaton! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Simply Awesome!!
I am a huge James Bond fan, so this will be a little biased.I am a fan of the books, movies, lifestyle, character, just about everything bond and have been since childhood.WWJD to me means "what would james do?".

The GN follows the Fleming novels' plot and is in classic comic strip sketching.Due to this type of sketching a lot of detail is lost compared to say .... Alan Moore.But it does not detract from the feel or story in any kind of way.I highly recommend reading the full novel before this as your mind will fill in the gaps.Goldfinger included the For Your Eyes Only short stories as well as a short version of Thunderball.

I finished it in one sitting and see myself going back to it soon.Enjoy!

Bond fans can't lose!
In July of 1987 I was visiting Washington D.C. when I stumbled upon a copy of THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS comic strip, published by Titan Books. Being a Bond fan I snapped it up as quick as I could. The next day I went back and bought the OCTOPUSSY collection.I'd known that these strips existed but I had no idea that they had been collected in published form (other than THE ILLUSTRATED JAMES BOND, 007 released by The James Bond Fan Club). I found a copy of CASINO ROYALE on Ebay.Then, for over a decade, we had no new releases from Titan.

In the last year Titan has graciously resumed publishing these classic strips.My first purchase was the release of ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE.I will post a review there soon.Just yesterday I received GOLDFINGER- and I cannot be more pleased!

The adaptations by Henry Gammidge, with art by John McLusky are fantastic.I've read and reread these novels but some aspects of the story resonate so much better than Fleming's amazing novels.

McLusky had, by this time, really hit his stride with the strip, doing work that was light years ahead of when he began with CASINO ROYALE (which is still worth a peek!).His mastery of shadow and light comes through in some great atmospheric ways.

My introduction to the strips were through Yaroslav Horak's art, which has a distinct, Gil Kane-like style. When I first saw McLusky's work in CASINO ROYALE it seemed very basic in comparison. But now I actually prefer it- and I that's no slight on Horak!

GOLDFINGER also includes the adaptations of the short stories, FOR YOUR EYES ONLY, RISICO, FROM A VIEW TO A KILL and the abreviated THUNDERBALL. Along with THE ILLUSTRATED JAMES BOND, 007, I have every Fleming story adapted except MOONRAKER.The upcoming release of CASINO ROYALE is 96 pages compared to the previous 60 page release. maybe it will finally be included.

For my money, GOLDFINGER may be the most satisfying book in the lot. It is 128 pages of James Bond fun.The text articles are all welcome material as well.Well done Titan Books. Feel free to continue publishing the non-Fleming stories as well! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Fleming writes action in a way the films cannot do justice.
Reading Fleming's books is certainly a wise move for any fan of the Bond films. The "omnibus" is an excellent way to start, for it presents a flowing triology of action and angst between Bond and the hated SPECTRE agent Blofeld.On paper Bond becomes much more human and at times more vulnerable, which lends itself to greater suspense throughout the three stories.After reading the collection, one must ask why the films didn't stick with the plot and design of Fleming's writing--for in the writing lies the true 007.

The Commander and Ernst Blofeld keep the action going.
Mr. Bond and his arch nemisis, the criminal genius Ernst Blofeld, return and roll out the thrills in three novels. Bond thwarts three straight Blofeld opperations, gets the girl, and ultimatly destroys him and his entire circle of thugs in the last book of the volume, "You Only Live Twice." However,I thought the endings a bit weak in "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" and in "You Only Live Twice." A must read for any Bondophile.

Outstanding
A prime example of Fleming's genius as a writer. Bond is human and credible, the plots more realistic today than they were 30 years ago, the action and tension better than what the MTV generation gets...stylish, elegant and gripping...one finally gets to meet the real Bond. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Richly Textured Novel and Period Piece
This is not only Ian Fleming's first James Bond novel but one of his best. It is richly textured, well written, clearly defines the Bond character and has survived not only as good literature but as a great period piece of the 50s. It also gives us a glimpse of the often unseen smoke filled cocktailed night life found in Europe's plush casinos of that era. Clearly, James Bond is a worldly character that lives and breaths in this unseen world described by Ian Fleming in this novel. James Bond can easily adapt to any locale or situation, size it up and endure. He is both innovative and resourceful and he must rely on his talents and instincts to survive. This is a very good Bond novel.

Richly Textured Novel and Period Piece
This is not only Ian Fleming's first James Bond novel but one of his best. It is richly textured, well written, clearly defines the Bond character and has survived not only as good literature but as a great period piece of the 50s. It also gives us a glimpse of the often unseen smoke filled cocktailed night life found in Europe's plush casinos of that era. Clearly, James Bond is a worldly character that lives and breaths in this unseen world described by Ian Fleming in this novel. James Bond can easily adapt to any locale or situation, size it up and endure. He is both innovative and resourceful and he must rely on his talents and instincts to survive. This is a very good Bond novel.
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Product Description
Bond is back! 007, the world’s greatest secret agent, returns in a classic adventure!

James Bond is dead! Or so his employers at MI5 believe... until he attempts to assassinate his boss, M — because he’s been brainwashed by the KGB! With his conditioning removed, M sends Bond on a deadly mission; to track down Francisco Scaramanga — "The Man with the Golden Gun"! But with a KGB agent and the usual quotient of beautiful, treacherous girls in his path, will Bond make it back?

Also features the story, "The Living Daylights", plus background on Bond creator,Ian Fleming, and a foreword by Ian Fleming’s niece, Lucy Fleming. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

A very mature comic strip, an improvement on the book.
Jim Lawrence and Yaroslav Horak took over the James Bond Newspaper Strip in the mid 60's and produced some of the best adaptations of Fleming's work in any medium.
After the bulk of Fleming's books were adapted by Jim McClusky and henry Gammidge, who's work today seems quite dated, Lawrence was left with two novels, The man with the Golden Gun and the Spy who Loved me, as well as a hand full of short stories to adapt, but he takes what he has and makes something memorable. Both stories are far superior to the silly Roger Moore movies they inspired; so much so it's a shame the Brocolli family didn't ask Jim Lawrence to script their movies. We may have been spared some really poor 70's adaptations.
If you are thinking of picking these volumes up, start with the Lawrance and Horak stuff, you will be rewarded.

A great reprint in a nice, new package.
I discovered the James Bond comic strips when there was a reference to the James Bond Fan Club releasing a book, THE ILLUSTRATED JAMES BOND, 007 in a Starlog magazine.This was in 1981.At the time I couldn't afford to get it, even at it's modest $6.95 price.I knew there were a limited number of these books so I'd resigned myself to the idea that I would never own it.

Then, in 1988, I was in the Washington D.C. area when I stumbled onto a store that was selling Titan's first releases- THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS and OCTOPUSSY.Included in THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS, a popular title at that time because of the movie that had recently been released, was the complete THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN adaptation.

Needless to say, I snapped them both up and enjoyed them for many, many years.Eventually I found the THE ILLUSTRATED JAMES BOND, 007 on Ebay and purchased that too- along with Titan's later releases, THE SPY WHO LOVED ME and CASINO ROYALE.

Then, in more recent years, I discovered Titan was releasing the Bond strips again- this time in more complete packages with value added bonuses.Historical essays and introductions by famous names within the James Bond world.These are the books that you are looking at now- and they are stunners!

THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN still includes THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS, as well as an introduction by Ian Fleming's niece, Lucy Fleming.It's a brief but nice statement about her memories of that famous uncle of hers.

THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN is the story that started the collaboration between Jim Lawrence and Yaroslav Horak, who both went on to work together for man years on several adaptations and eventually original stories.

Lawrence's script is tight and snappy.He also is less slavish to the original words of Fleming, probably because the book and short storeis he adapted needed some flourish.While TLD is my favorite of all Fleming's short stories, TMWTGG is one of my least favorite novels.It is largely incomplete as a novel because Fleming never had a chance to revise it from it's first draft, having succombed to a heart attack, and not lung cancer as a previous reviewer stated.Lawrence deftly avoids the more brutal devices of the story without changing the "feel" of the original.In fact, I might say that I enjoy this comic adaptation better than Fleming's original novel.

Horak's artwork is different fom John McLusky's previous work, reminding me of Gil Kane who did Spider-Man (as well as many others!) for a while in the early seventies.Obviously they were contemporaries, so that's not too strange. What sets Horak ahead of the game, in my opinion, is his use of black.Shadows become a major part of the storytelling.Even a story that spends a lot of time outside in the hot Jamaican sun is often shrouded in darkness.

The entire series is reprinted on high quality paper and is well worth the cover price.Not only is this a great introduction to the Bond of Fleming's novels, but it is a fantastic piece of pop culture which we can enjoy again... for the first time.

Well done Titan -more please!!
I hope Titan Books will continue releasing the remaining strips by Yaroslav Horak, starting with the wonderful adaptation of "Colonel Sun".

Titan editors, Are you listening?

Great Bond adventures far different from the movies
How influential were the Bond comic strips? Desmond Lewellyn (Q) was on record saying he never read the Flemming novels, but was quite a fan of the Daily Mail strip.Clearly the casting of Sean Connery had to be inspired by the image of Bond in the original run of the comic strip, which began in 1958, four years before the film Dr. No.

These stories were published in 1966 , nearly 10 years before the Roger Moore film version, and 20 yrs before the Timothy Dalton movie. These are not the gadget driven romps that the films have become, this is solid, cold war action. The plots and characters share names with the film versions, but their charcterizations and motivations are far different, and surprisingly more complex.

This JB is the classic Ian Flemming Bond,adapted by Jim Lawrence, with beautiful art from Yaroslav Horak, that carrys on the tradition of excellence established by the strips first core team of Henry Gammidge & John McClusky. Titan Books has produced a solid collection , that begs for more volumes to follow. ... Read more

Product Description
There are four key stages to coaching, namely assessing current performance levels, setting outcomes for learning, agreeing tactics/initiating action, and giving feedback. The author explains each stage and then moves on to summarise the various skills required. Next, the opportunities for coaching and the potential pitfalls are highlighted. A checklist and a case study end the Pocketbook on a practical note. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

coaching the pocketbook review
Nice little book which provides some interesting prompts for professionals who are coaching others.Although it has a business flavour, it provides some insights on how to coach effectively in the educational context. ... Read more

Product Description

"This is a compelling and important book... [that] makes a significant contribution not only to studies of Bond and Ian Fleming but also to studies of popular culture in general." -- Michael Bérubé

The Cold War agent of pulp fiction and the hero of more than a dozen movies, James Bond, also known as 007, is one of pop culture's most recognizable icons. Doubtless better known from film than from Ian Fleming's novels, the character has become a lightning rod for criticism from all camps. And yet somehow his popularity remains intact.

But who is James Bond? Ian Fleming and James Bond: The Cultural Politics of 007 is an entertaining and revealing examination of the many facets of Bond. Before Bond became a cinematic icon, he was the protagonist of a series of thrillers that appeared during the time of Britain's decline as a major power and the heating up of the Cold War. Fleming's character gave expression to biases and anxieties that continue to shape our political worldview in ways both obvious and covert.

Fifteen spirited and engaging essays -- all new to this volume -- cover topics including Bond's Britishness, James Bond and JFK, homosexual panic and lesbian Bond-age, the James Bond lifestyle, and Bond's brands.

The contributors are Alexis Albion, Dennis W. Allen, James Chapman, Edward P. Comentale, Vivian Halloran, Jaime Hovey, Aaron Jaffe, Christoph Lindner, Andrew Lycett, Patrick O'Donnell, Craig N. Owens, Brian Patton, Judith Roof, Stephen Watt, and Skip Willman.

Customer Reviews (2)

only a silly academic person could appreciate this book
This is another one of those books that seems to be about an interesting and very popular subject, yet when you begin to read, you find that it is a collection of dry, overly wordy essays written by stuffy academic-types.Each one attempts to analyse the subject matter from a different intellectual viewpoint and bores the reader to tears.Yawn.Each writer seems to be out-doing the previous one with more pretentious language.I don't want to have to consult my thesaurus every 2 sentences to look up a word that nobody uses in normal speech.

This book--in a nutshell--consists of academic literary analyses on how the James Bond novels affected society.Each chapter is awordy essay that could have done with serious editing by the publisher.As is, the book is mind-numbing and is probably used as a substitute for water-boarding by the CIA to extract information from terrorists.Either that or they play Britney Spears songs over and over again until they talk.Anyway, with editing the book could have been cleaner and more succinct.Perhaps there are some grains of useful information inside but it is lost in all the wordiness.

If you are an Ian Flemming fan, go rent a movie or visit your library.The material in this book is more dry than the dust on the moon.Avoid it like Odd Job's hat.

Academic Conference or Hunting Lodge for Smart Weirdos?
James Bond is one of the few pop culture references that writer (and portrayer of Riff Raff) Richard O'Brien didn't throw into his masterpiece, The Rocky Horror Picture Show. (At least I don't remember any.) But there's a line in Rocky Horror that applies to the book Ian Fleming & James Bond: The Cultural Politics of 007.

In Rocky Horror, the "sweet transvestite" and mad scientist Frank N. Furter shows innocent young Janet Weiss his Charles Atlas-like creation, Rocky. Janet touches Rocky's firm oiled flesh but says she doesn't like a man with too many muscles.

"I DIDN'T MAKE HIM FOR YOU!!!" Frank answers.

This book was written for academics, not for me.

It's a collection of papers written for an academic conference at Indiana University in 2003. The first half of the book especially is full of the jargony prose that academics use too often. Or, as the introduction states, "This grouping of essays explores Fleming's work as it responds to post-World War II transformations - - theoretical or otherwise - - of subjectivity and intersubjective relations." (My spellchecker doesn't even want to call "intersubjective" a word, but it flagged "jargony" too and I like that one.)

The acknowledgments page thanks the "faculty and graduate students" who attended the conference - - didn't they even let undergraduate students past security? I imagine some freshman with one of Q's hi-tech iris-scanning gizmos sneaking in, just like Bond.

Again quoting the introduction, "In fact, the secret service and academia are linked by this mode: the success of both depends on an ability to cross and confound rigid oppositions, . . ." Come on, guys. I had a Man from UNCLE camera-gun too, when I was ten, but I don't still shoot THRUSH agents with it.

But the second half of the book (the essays tying the Bond books and movies to their moment in history) is more interesting. How Bond went from British pulp hero to transatlantic (in other words American) superspy-savior. How Bond (who we always think of as very modern, whatever decade he's in) is really a conservative reaction against the "angry young men" of fifties Britain ("Shoot Back in Anger"). What are the literary and real-life connections between JFK, RFK, Fleming, Bond, and Castro? (And who among those are real people, who are fictional characters, and who are both?)

If you liked Peter Biskind's Seeing is Believing: How Hollywood Taught Us to Stop Worrying and Love the Fifties, and J. Hoberman's The Dream Life: Movies, Media, and the Mythology of the Sixties, you'll find enough in this book to make it worth reading several of the essays. It's definitely worth the Amazon paperback price.


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Product Description
Stand by for more adventures with the world’s greatest secret agent, as some of his most thrilling missions are collected for the first time ever!

When two MI5 agents disappear in Jamaica, Bond is sent to investigate — but a mysterious assailant attempts to dispatch 007 with everything from poisoned nectarines to killer centipedes! And when Bond links the attacks to the island of Crab Key, owned by the mysterious Doctor No, his troubles are just beginning!

This new edition also collects Diamonds Are Forever and From Russia, With Love! Not only that, it also features a new introduction by Bond girl Eunice Gayson (Sylvia Trench in Dr No) and a feature on the post-Ian Fleming Bond novels. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

BOND COMIC STRIPS BACK IN PRINT!
I was somewhat surprised to learn that the adventures of James Bond had appeared in comic strip format in England.I supposed I shouldn't have been...after all James Bond is certainly as revered a character to the English as Superman is to Americans.That's why I really love Titan books!They have undertaken the daunting task of reprinting all of Bond's comic strip adventures into several volumes, each featuring two or three separate Bond stories.Readers will recognize many of the stories that were eventually adapted into film although there are many more which will no doubt be new to many Bond Fans.

Now, the first time I ever went to a drive-in movie was around 1970 when I was eight years old.My parents load me and my older brothers up in the family station wagon and we went to see a bond triple feature of Dr. No, Goldfinger, and From Russia with Love.Bond films probably were not ideal for an eight year old with their complex plots but even at that age I knew this was a character much different than I had ever seen before.Dr. No remains one of my all-time favorite Bond pictures.

This volume titled "Dr. No" features that story, along with "Diamonds are Forever" and "From Russia with Love".In the bibliography section I would be somewhat surprised again to see that the chronology of the comic strip adaptations differed quite a bit from the film.While the film version of "Diamonds" didn't arrive until nine years after Dr. No, it actually appeared before in the comic strip version.

In Dr. No, Bond is sent to Jamaica to investigate the disappearance of two operatives.The mystery seems to center on the mysterious Chinese Dr. No, who owns Crab Key Island where he has made a fortune selling sea bird guano to be used as fertilizer, but Bond would soon find out that the he has far more sinister goals.Dr. No has developed technology that allows him to divert American missiles fired from a nearby missile base, and sending them to other targets.It's a technology that his Russian customers would love to get their hands on.Bond must find a way to escape No's gauntlet of death and stop the mad man, and rescue Honey Ryder all at the same time.

The story has everything that has made Bond so popular over the years:an evil madman, ruthless henchmen, a diabolical plot, and a beautiful yet resourceful damsel.The art of John Mclusky is perfectly suited to these stories as it has a very cinematic feel to them, almost like reading finished storyboards.His art is crisp and his action sequences are deftly handled, not always an easy thing to do within the restrictions of a panel strip.It was just a superb story.This strip originally ran from May 1960 to October 1960.

The other stories are wonderful as well; particularly Diamonds are Forever which I've also always liked as a film.Bond is sent to the states to bust up a diamond smuggling ring and ends up in Las Vegas involved with the deadly Spangled Mob.

These Bond comic strip collections are just fantastic, especially to those of us who have never read them before and most of this material is being re-printed for the first time in decades.The books also contain a number of well-written articles on Bond history.Kudos to Titan Books for reprinting these classic comic strips!

Reviewed By Tim Janson


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