Ian Fleming: The Complete Man
£23.70£28.50 (-17%)
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.
Nicholas Shakespeare is one of the most gifted biographers working today. His talent for uncovering new material that casts fresh light on his subjects is fully evident in this masterful, definitive biography.
‘This is a marvellous book about Ian Fleming, but it’s also one of the most engaging portraits of a particular period of British history that I have read in a long time.’ Antonia Fraser
‘A book so buoyant and delicious that you feel it will be a friend for life.’ Telegraph
The perfect Christmas gift for fans of James Bond and British history.
*A Financial Times and Spectator Book of the Year*
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Additional information
| Publisher | Harvill Secker (5 Oct. 2023) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Hardcover | 864 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 1787302415 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1787302419 |
| Dimensions | 16.2 x 4.4 x 24 cm |
by Amazon Customer
I have devoured the Bond novels since I was a schoolboy and been telling friends for years to go back to the books and not let the hype about the films, some of which are dire, deflect from the fact that Fleming was one of the master storytellers of his generation. Of the man himself, I knew only the bare bones: the work in naval intelligence during the war, the house in Jamaica, the womanising, the penchant for spanking, the passion for golf and fast cars etc.
Nicholas Shakespeare’s compendious new biography joins the dots until a far more complex figure emerges than the caddish playboy I thought I knew. It is a crowded life by any standards. Simply keeping tags on Fleming’s relentless womanising demands concentration of the reader. But it is the wealth of other supporting characters that makes this biography so compelling. From his overbearing mother to his supposedly more talented older brother, from Anthony Eden, who stayed at Fleming’s villa in Jamaica after the Suez debacle, to JFK, whom Fleming met at a famous dinner party in Washington before he was President, every piece of the human jigsaw is put in place with forensic skill.
Does the biography make you want to go back to the novels? Not really. For me, there is not enough on Fleming’s mastery of the storytelling arts. He remains an under-appreciated writer But, through the sheer fecundity of Shakespeare’s research, it brings to life one of the most extraordinary Britons of his generation. It is a superb effort.
by G.Bean
There is no doubt that this biography tells us more than the life of Ian Fleming. It fixes him in his era, so that we understand so much more about Britain and its complex social structures of that time.
And the life, thank goodness, gives us a biography of rare nuance. It describes a life in which Fleming’s merits and huge success are the flip side of the coin to his faults. In such a woke era, many authors would have decided on the easier task of a simplistic hatchet job.
by Patrick disney
Shakespeare has left nothing unexplored in this biography of a man most famous for creating one of the most famous figures in fiction. It is fascinating to learn the story behind him.
by Amazon Customer
Wow having the time to read this book is awkward as I’m fairly busy.
At 800 pages it is going to take me awhile ! ????
The man did an awful lot in his short lifetime. I’m at the stage of reading about his father and grandfather. As an avid bond fan it’s a must!
by G.Bean
I came to Shakespeare’s book Ian Fleming: The Complete Man with an open mind because of his biography of Bruce Chatwin. I was never a massive fan of the Bond books, and the violence in the later movies turned me off. But I picked up Casino Royale a few years ago and was struck by the lean, swift-moving prose. Against all odds, I found myself reading more of them and re-evaluating. His stories gallop along without pretence and the excess of heart-felt sentiment that freights many contemporary “literary” writers. So it was hugely riveting to learn from Shakespeare’s comprehensive authorised biography that Fleming was actually a nice man, damaged, yes, and beaten down by personal and historical circumstances (loss, dysfunction, war, insane fame, booze and cigarettes). Shakespeare does what the best biographies do–he performs an act deep listening to the people and history that shaped the man and, in the process, brings into being a living account of British history that you can see, smell and taste. It’s long. I didn’t love each chapter equally. But it radiates life and reflects a novelist and biographer at the top of his game.
by Hamish Ridgwell
Nicholas Shakespeare has written a thoroughly enjoyable book examining the intriguing man behind James Bond, shedding light on a fascinating period of British history. Expertly penned with a novelist’s skill for storytelling.
by Hugh Craven
This is a great book. Shakespeare is an excellent biographer. He can marshal large casts of characters and make each of them distinct and memorable.
I initially thought that this would be just another person jumping on the Bond bandwagon, but this is far from that. Shakespeare has unearthed fascinating information about Fleming’s time in Naval Intelligence. Far from being the fairly minor pen pusher that it was often alleged that he was, he was Number 2 there and a man of great importance in the conduct of the war.
It’s a fascinating life and well told. It’s got to be a must for your Christmas presents.
by Ivo Hesmondhalgh
Shakespeare’s reputation for detailed research ( see his book ‘Six Minutes in May’) combined with his flair as a novelist has led this superb biography to be a compelling read.With access to previously unseen Fleming family papers new facts are revealed about Ian Fleming’s life as well as new aspects of his character. Fleming’s role in the Second World War is fascinating and show him to be a more substantial and influential figure than was previously been thought.