JAMES BOND turns 100

Today marks the 100th birthday of James Bond. Well, it does if we accept the birthdate of November 11, 1920 given to him by John Pearson in the 1973 continuation novel James Bond the Authorized Biography of 007. While others have gone on to provide different dates, Pearson was the first and I really enjoy his book, so... Happy Birthday old boy!

Thanks to the Neil S. Bulk for the reminder.

It was one year ago...

It was one year ago that Bondmania swept London as the first (adult) Bond novel in six years was released to mark the centenary of Ian Fleming's birth. "Centenary Week" saw London awash in billboards and store displays, newspaper extracts, and a spectacular launch event which saw model Tuuli Shipster and Royal Marines transport the first copies of Devil May Care via speedboat to a battleship on the Thames, and then onto Waterstone's Picidilly via a fleet of Bentleys. What a week it was for Bond fans!

Here are a few links to coverage of the week.

'Devil May Care' Launched in High Style

Sebastian Faulks on the launch day event

Young Bond Centenary events

Centenary Week Photo Gallery

YOUNG BOND centenary week events

Bondmania swept London last week as the first adult James Bond novel in 6 years, Devil May Care by Sebastian Faulks, was released to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Ian Fleming’s birth. But Young Bond was also part of the celebration with the release of a sparkling paperback edition of Hurricane Gold. Charlie Higson may not have rode down the Thames in a catsuit, but he did embark on a book tour while stores across the UK held Young Bond quizzes and special Young Bond Mini Adventure challenges.

Charlie kicked off the week with an appearance at the Imperial War Museum’s special Ian Fleming exhibition, For Your Eyes Only: Ian Fleming and James Bond. Noting that he labors for a year over each Young Bond installment, Charlie joked, “there’s this man called Sebastian Faulks who claims to have written a Bond novels in just six weeks.”

Charlie joined fellow Bond authors Sebastian Faulks and Samantha Weinberg (The Moneypenny Diaries) at the spectacular Devil May Care launch party on May 27. Held at the exclusive private club FIFTY, the party was also attended by Devil May Care cover model Tuuli Shipster and a host of notables and celebrities, including members of the Fleming family.

On launch day, May 28, Charlie appeared at the Hay Festival in Wales while back in London magician David Crofts entertained children and hosted a Young Bond costume contest at Waterstones Piccadilly. Waterstones had a full stock of signed copies of Hurricane Gold waiting for those Bond fans who had queued up in the pre-dawn hours to buy a special limited edition of Devil May Care (including yours truly).

The following day, Charlie appeared at Waterstone’s in Bristol, which also hosted a Young Bond Mini Adventure Challenge. Friday found Charlie signing copies of the book in Norwich where, according to the Evening News, some fans showed up in their own suave James Bond suits.

The Young Bond Dossier was on hand during Charlie’s appearance at Waterstones in Milton Keynes on Saturday, May 31. Charlie signed copies of Hurricane Gold for a long queue of enthusiastic fans while the brave took on a rolling rock wall challenge set up in front of the store. Free bookmarks promoting the next Young Bond novel, By Royal Command, were also available. After the signing, Charlie signed the store’s entire stock of Young Bond novels in record time.

Charlie concludes his book tour today with a signing at WHSmith in Manchester. He will then complete the circle and return to the Imperial War Museum this Tuesday for a panel discussion about “Writing Bond”.

What a week for Bond fans!

The Young Bond Dossier: The Centenary Week that was

Click the headline to read The Young Bond Dossier's report on the Young Bond events during Centenary Week in London.

LINK: Devil May Care launch day coverage

Click the headline for coverage of Devil May Care's spectacular launch in London, including photos and video, from our friends at Universal Exports.

London calling...

I'm off to London for the big Ian Fleming Centenary week!

On the agenda is a visit to some of the dark corner locations from Double or Die; a photo recon of potential By Royal Command locations in Windsor; Bond exhibits at the Imperial War Museum and the Fleming Gallery; as many Charlie Higson appearances as I can manage; and a VERY special launch party for the centenary novel, Devil May Care, where I will finally be able to meet the kind folks at IFP, Penguin, and Coleman-Getty who have helped so much with this site.

I’m packing my laptop and will try to update the site with any breaking news...but with such a full schedule, expect the bulk of my coverage after my return on June 3.

And if you see a dorky old guy at one of the Young Bond events...say hello, that’s me!

The man with the golden book

A dazzling 24-carat gold-plated copy of Charlie Higson’s fourth Young Bond novel Hurricane Gold was revealed yesterday at a major press event at the Imperial War Museum in London. The event was attended by author Charlie Higson, renowned jeweler Theo Fennell (designer of the Gold Book), and four lucky schoolchildren from nearby Charlotte Sharman School in Lambeth, who got a close-up preview of the gold book before it went into its display case.

The gold book is now a permanent part of the Imperial War Museum’s For Your Eyes Only: Ian Fleming & James Bond, and forms an integral part of a special Young Bond trail within the exhibition. The gold book takes its inspiration from the rumored treasure in the story and opens up to reveal an inner compartment with an inlay of ebonised wood, containing a very special secret note from Charlie Higson.

The gold book will also feature as a part of Puffin’s advertising campaign for the paperback edition of Hurricane Gold, due for release on Wednesday, May 28, the centenary of the birth of Ian Fleming.

Centenary website launched

Ian Fleming Publications has launched a new website, IanFlemingCentenary.com, devoted to next year's Centenary events and publications.

New to the line-up of events is the exhibit "Bond Bound: Ian Fleming & The Art of Cover Design," which charts the role of artists and designers in creating and defining the Bond look from Casino Royale through Young Bond, The Moneypenny Diaries, and Devil May Care. The exhibit will be on show at the Fleming Collection gallery from 22 April to 28 June 2008.

The site will be regularly updated throughout the centenary year.

New Chitty chugging into stores

Just in case Devil May Care, Final Fling, the SilverFin graphic novel, the Hurricane Gold paperback, James Bond Authorized Biography paperback, For Your Eyes Only: Ian Fleming & James Bond, and 14 new hardcover editions of the original Fleming novels isn't enough for you in May 2008...here comes Chitty!

According to the always vigilant CommanderBond.net, a lavish new collectible gift edition of Ian Fleming's classic children's novel will be released on May 1, 2008, and can be pre-ordered now on Amazon.co.uk.

For those of you who didn't realize Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was written by Ian Fleming, it may also surprise you to know that the 1968 film version was produced by Eon Productions, the only non-Bond film the company has ever made.

New Fleming hardcovers on Amazon

As reported last week, the 14 original James Bond novels by Ian Fleming are going to be reprinted in hardcover by Penguin 007 and released as part of next year's centenary celebrations.

Now those new Fleming hardcovers are available for pre-order on Amazon.co.uk. The release date is May 28, 2008. Each book retails for £14.99.

To make it easy, I created an Amazon list for one stop shopping. CLICK HERE TO REDISCOVER THE ORIGINAL JAMES BOND.

For Your Eyes Only: Ian Fleming & James Bond available for pre-order

The Centenary celebration book For Your Eyes Only: Ian Fleming and James Bond by Ben MacIntyre is now available for pre-order on Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com.

Published by Bloomsbury Books to coincide with the 2008 Imperial War Museum exhibition of the same name, this is a stand-alone book that looks into the entwined worlds of James Bond and Ian Fleming. The book explores how Fleming’s 007 emerged against the background of the Second World War and the Cold War, and how Bond’s world was based on the realities (and fantasies) of Fleming’s life as a wartime spy-master and peacetime bon viveur.

For Your Eyes Only: Ian Fleming and James Bond will be fully illustrated and runs 270 pages. According to Amazon, the book will be released in the UK on April 7, 2008 and in the U.S. on April 29, 2008.

James Bond Centenary stamps

The Royal Mail will pay tribute to James Bond as part of the Ian Fleming Centenary celebrations next year when it releases a series of stamps commemorating the famous secret agent.

A series of six stamps will be released on 8 January 2008, each featuring four different covers of one of Ian Fleming’s novels.

Corinne Turner, Managing Director of Ian Fleming Publications Ltd said: "It is a privilege for Ian Fleming's novels to be celebrated by the Royal Mail Special Stamps' programme and we couldn't ask for a better start to his Centenary year."

Thanks to CBn and oo7 Magazine Online.

Fleming centenary exhibit & book announced

The Times have announced one of the major Ian Fleming Centenary celebration events for next year.

For Your Eyes Only: Ian Fleming and James Bond, will run from April 25, 2008 to March 1, 2009 at the Imperial War Museum, and will be the first comprehensive exhibition exploring the Bond phenomenon and the life of his creator.

Rare material on display will include Fleming’s research notes for From Russia with Love, a map of the Mercury News Network, established by Fleming in the 1950s to collect information and intelligence from Sunday Times foreign correspondents; notes for the scandalous Thrilling Cities series in which Fleming explored the casinos and brothels of the world’s most glamorous metropolises; annotated Bond manuscripts; the Colt Python .357 Magnum revolver presented to Fleming by the Colt company; and the manuscript for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Fleming’s other enduring classic.

The organisers also hope to track down the golden typewriter that Fleming used and to secure a letter to the author written by a Major Boothroyd, advising him on what handguns he thought would be most appropriate for Bond.

The exhibit will show how the Bond plots, locations and villains were rooted in Fleming’s experiences during the Second World War and as a well-travelled reporter. It will examine to what extent the books and films reflect the reality of the Cold War and life in postwar Britain and how far they were a product of Fleming’s prodigious imagination.

Ben Macintyre is writing the book to accompany the exhibition, For Your Eyes Only: Ian Fleming and James Bond, due to be published by Bloomsbury in April.

Child explains why he passed on Bond

In April of last year a representative for author Lee Child informed me (via The Young Bond Dossier) that he was not the 2008 Centenary novelist. Now K1Bond007.com has uncovered an interview in which Child himself talks about his close call with Bond fame and explains exactly why he passed...twice!

“Twice over the period of five years they’ve asked me to write the series, no regrets really because I think it is a thankless task in terms of first financial remuneration, as the terms were more favourable to the Ian Fleming estate than to me, and secondly there is the technical and cultural aspect. I see this as an impossible job as it’s now 2007, around 50 years on from the world that James Bond first appeared in. The world has changed, and one of the reasons the world has changed is because of James Bond, this country has altered its cultural frame of reference because of things like James Bond, so any follow-up fifty years later would be somewhat self-referential, and reading the book would be like watching an ABBA tribute band – i.e. what’s the point?”

ABBA tribute band? Well!

Well-Known Writer Selected for Centenary Novel

PRESS RELEASE: Ian Fleming Publications Ltd have commissioned a very well-known and highly respected author to write a new James Bond novel. The launch of the new book, which promises to be a major publishing event, will mark the centenary of Ian Fleming's birth in May 2008.

Corinne Turner of Ian Fleming Publications Ltd comments, "We are delighted to have secured this particular author who we have had in mind for some time now. He is the perfect writer for this project and we are greatly looking forward to his take on James Bond, in what we are convinced will be a stunning novel."

A publisher has not yet been sought and the identity of the author will be a closely guarded secret until publication.

Ian Fleming, whose one hundredth birthday will be celebrated on the 28th May 2008, gained worldwide acclaim for his most famous literary creation - the suave but deadly British secret agent, James Bond.

The Bond novels are, however, just one aspect of a fascinating life that combined the flamboyant elements of 007 with a unique creativity. Fleming was not only a novelist, but also a journalist, sportsman, naval commander, traveller, intelligence officer and bon-viveur.

2008 will be dedicated to a broad range of events and publications designed to celebrate the life of this literary legend and to examine his legacy. The programme includes a major exhibition featuring never-before-seen material. Further events will reflect Fleming's passions and experiences in the worlds of art, literature, journalism, sport, motoring and travel.

Corinne Turner adds, "The Ian Fleming Centenary presents an exciting opportunity to celebrate an extraordinary life. Our centenary plans are well underway and we are sure that there are more possibilities still to be explored."

New Adult Bond Novel Coming in 2008

Ian Fleming Publications have announced plans to commission a one-off adult James Bond novel to celebrate the centenary of Ian Fleming's birth in 2008.

Following the success of Charlie Higson's Young Bond series (Book 2, Blood Fever is to be released in January 2006), IFP are keen to commission a big-name author to pen the new novel.

"We are still in the planning stages, but at the moment the idea would be to have it done by an established author - potentially a big name," said Zoe Watkins of IFP. "The literary Bond is something we want to focus on and any work would have to be in keeping with the literary aspects of the books. If it was successful there could be scope for further novels."

According to Ms Watkins, the new novel will be far removed from the gloss of 007's cinematic incarnation, marking a return to the dark and complex nature of Fleming's early works.

Scotsman.com reports the early favorites to be approached to pen the new novel include Lee Child (Killing Floor), Frederick Forsyth (The Day of the Jackal) and John le Carré (The Tailor of Panama).

John Gardner, who penned 16 James Bond novels throughout the 1980s and 1990s (including two novelisations) has ruled himself out for taking on the new project. "Sorry, but for me Bond is very much in the past. No more comments, no more interviews."

The adult literary James Bond went on hiatus in 2002, following the publication of Raymond Benson's The Man With The Red Tattoo and the novelisation of Die Another Day. Earlier this year, Penguin released the first in a series of five novels by Charlie Higson, focussing on Bond's time at Eton in the 1930s.

Asked about the possibility of him writing the new adult Bond novel, Higson commented, "I'm very honored. But I'm busy writing the young Bond books and I can't take the time out. It's a shame because I'd love to do it."

Source: CommanderBond.net