Ian Fleming, Nicholas Shakespeare
Ian Fleming, Nicholas Shakespeare
List: $27.99
On Sale: $6.99

Ian Fleming
The Complete Man

Author: Nicholas Shakespeare

Narrator: Jonathan Keeble

Unabridged: 29 hr 17 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: HarperAudio

Published: 04/09/2024


Synopsis

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.

About Nicholas Shakespeare

Nicholas Shakespeare's books have been translated into twenty languages. They include The Vision of Elena Silves, winner of the Somerset Maugham Award, and The Dancer Upstairs, which was made into a film of the same name by John Malkovich. His nonfiction includes the critically acclaimed authorized biography of Bruce Chatwin. Shakespeare is married with two sons and lives in Oxford.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Bill on November 26, 2023

Having read all of the previous books about the life of Ian Fleming I wondered if there was anything else left to discover. Strangely enough when author Nicholas Shakespeare was approached to write about Fleming's life he thought the same thing! This is a huge volume, both in page count & detail, but......more

Goodreads review by Rob on January 01, 2024

Nicholas Shakespeare's literary endeavor, "Ian Fleming: The Complete Man," serves as a captivating expedition into the intricate layers of the renowned creator of James Bond. In this biographical masterpiece, Shakespeare skillfully navigates the narrative landscape, offering readers a comprehensive......more

Goodreads review by Meredith on October 12, 2023

Ian Fleming: The Complete Man Nicholas Shakespeare, Harvill Secker, London, 2023 (Review copy supplied by publisher) Ian Fleming had a golden typewriter. It was smuggled in from the USA by a friend, just after he finished Casino Royale in 1952. Vulgar? Yes of course, but he enjoyed the joke. (Presumab......more

Goodreads review by Daniel on May 03, 2024

This absolutely sails into TMI territory -- the exhaustive details are almost crushing at times. And, for a book that claims so much of Ian Fleming's wartime activities remain a secret, this book seems to have no problem filling in that hole. Contradictory? Perhaps...yet in spite of these caveats, I......more

Goodreads review by Barry on June 13, 2024

Nicholas Shakespeare, renowned for his award-winning fiction and landmark biography on Bruce Chatwin has notched another milestone with this chunky biography of Ian Fleming. Drawing on much previously unpublished material and deep access to the papers and letters of friends and family he fills in ma......more