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Ian Fleming

The Complete Man

Nicholas Shakespeare

$79.99

Hardback

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English
Harvill Secker
05 November 2023
A fascinating new biography of the man behind James Bond, by an award-winning biographer and novelist who has unprecedented access to the Fleming Archive.

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 family papers and his nose for a story make this a fresh and eye-opening picture of a man whose life was overshadowed by his famous creation.
By:  
Imprint:   Harvill Secker
Country of Publication:   United Kingdom
Dimensions:   Height: 240mm,  Width: 165mm,  Spine: 45mm
Weight:   994g
ISBN:   9781787302419
ISBN 10:   1787302415
Pages:   864
Publication Date:  
Audience:   General/trade ,  Professional and scholarly ,  College/higher education ,  ELT Advanced ,  Undergraduate
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active

Nicholas Shakespeare was born in 1957. The son of a diplomat, much of his youth was spent in the Far East and South America. His books have been translated into twenty-two languages. They include The Vision of Elena Silves (winner of the Somerset Maugham Award), Snowleg, The Dancer Upstairs, Inheritance, Priscilla and Six Minutes in May. He has been longlisted for the Booker Prize twice, was a Visiting Fellow at All Souls College, Oxford and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

Reviews for Ian Fleming: The Complete Man

Written with Fleming-esque brio and insouciance, with a feeling for the tragic aspects of his life as well as the ironic comedy of it..elegant...the research here is impeccable. * Telegraph * This excellent biography is as worldly and clever as one could wish. -- Philip Hensher * Spectator * Elegant and painstakingly researched * Observer * 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 The Complete Man is packed with women, their characters and stories carefully filled in...highly accomplished and readable * New Statesman * Fascinating, well researched, neatly written -- D.J. Taylor * Literary Review * Shakespeare has the rare ability to reinvigorate subjects that had seemed exhausted. If, like me, you thought you knew all there was to be known about Ian Fleming, prepare for a surprise...written with such brio that the pace never slackens -- Adam Sisman A scintillating read...Shakespeare presents his readers with a rounded portrait of a complicated man...remarkable and beautifully written...wholly successful * Entertainment Focus * [This book] impressed me enormously… stupendous research * Spectator, *Books of the Year* *


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