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Ian Fleming's James Bond: Annotations and Chronologies for Ian Fleming's Bond Stories

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'Ian Fleming's James Bond: Annotations and Chronologies for Ian Fleming's Bond Stories' officially approved by Ian Fleming Publications Ltd (formerly Glidrose), with a Preface by Andrew Lycett and Foreword by Zoe Watkins, Publishing Manager, Ian Fleming Publications Ltd.

Preliminary Proof copies of this book, which were inadvertently released, have the following notation: `First published by AuthorHouse 01/28/05'.

The actual first edition, containing the final corrections and clarifications, has the notation: `First published by AuthorHouse 04/15/05'.

In 1953, Mr. Bond was formally introduced to the British public in Casino Royale when it was published by Jonathan Cape. Most books published about James Bond have covered the film series. This book does not concern itself with the movies. Instead its focus is on the James Bond novels and short stories written by Ian Fleming. This book annotates them. Why should his Bond stories be annotated? There are three main reasons:

1.) Ian had a broad base of knowledge. References to literary works and items of historic interest may have been missed by past readers and may be missed by current and future readers of the novels.

2.) Contemporary when written, with the passage of time they have become period pieces covering the 1950s and early 1960s.

3.) Many other notable authors have had their novels annotated to enhance enjoyment and comprehension for the reader. For example:
The Annotated Hobbit (for J.R.R. Tolkien)
The Annotated Alice (for Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland)
The Annotated Huckleberry Finn (for Mark Twain's novel)
The Annotated Sherlock Holmes (for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's books)

Annotations for literary work such as Ian's are usually printed along side the novel's text. Annotated volumes customarily have the format of a page divided into two columns with the text of the literary work in the column nearest the binding and the annotations in the column next to it. 'The Annotated Dracula' and 'The Annotated Alice' (in Wonderland) are two examples of literary works that have been formatted in this manner. The likelihood that a publisher would be interested in reissuing all fourteen of Ian's Bond books in this format appeared to be zero. As a solution to this problem, an alternative format was chosen, the annotations are placed in alphabetized glossaries for each book without having the text of each book included.

As the reader delves more deeply into the series as a whole, one can sense an autobiographical fantasy life being laid out. This is keenly spelt out in the section on You Only Live Twice which includes Richard Hughes' `Sayonara to James Bond' from his book, Foreign Devil. Many thanks are given to Richard Hughes' son, Richard Hughes, for having granted me permission to include this insightful observation of Ian at work.

Another objective of this book was to build a high level chronology of the series' adventures which has to be thought of as a whole in order to be derived. Each novel is analyzed and includes a glossary and a detailed chronology of events with annotations. The detailed chronologies of events are presented at a day-of-week, month, day, year, and time-of-day level. The detailed chronologies are not synopses of the books. They contain descriptions of non-critical events and vague descriptions of some critical events in order to pique the reader's interest. Whenever the chronology risks being too descriptive of a plot development, a spoiler warning has been inserted. The intention of this book is for people to read, comprehend, and enjoy Ian's books now and well into the future. The glossaries have translations of foreign terms, annotations, and other information of interest. Maps have been created for many of the novels along with in-depth information concerning specific topics such as, the 'Moonraker' bridge game and the 'Goldfinger' golf game. The sections covering the novels and short stories are presented in chronological order based on the analysis in the Overview for the creation of a high level chronology. In many instances, monetary amounts have been converted to their 2001 purchasing power amount; conversions were done to clarify Fleming's intent. For example, a recent article stated the bridge games played in 'Moonraker' by Bond and M against Drax and Meyers were for low stakes. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Within this book, the differences between the published editions and the original Fleming manuscripts archived at Indiana University's Lilly Library are noted. The overview explains how the high level chronology for the Bond novels was created and contains useful information about Bond's birth year, Bond's Secret Service, the area of Bond's flat, and Q.

Did you ever read a book and, when the author throws in an expression or reference to something obscure, wonder if it is a bit of fact or fiction? What that foreign phrase really means? What would be that monetary amount at today's rate? Was there really a full moon on that day?
Well, Ian Fleming was known for being the master of detail when he wrote his 21 adventures of James Bond-007, and John Griswold has written what must be considered the absolute companion to literary world of James Bond.
Mr. Griswold has gone over every detail in the world of FlemingBond and has produced a table book that is both academic for the true fan and, yet, entertaining for the person that just wonders what all the fuss was, and is, about Mr. Fleming's writings that made him one of the most famous authors of the 20th century.
With an eye for research detail that would rival Mr. Fleming, John Griswold shows that there is much more fact in the fictional world that 007 lives in. Full of surprises, his book is a labour of love that should be a fun read for anyone.
Nobody has done it better.

I know nothing about James Bond, but my father is a nut about the books, so I got it for his birthday. He loves this book. Loves it. According to him, this book is easily the most comprehensive, informative, and accurate book out there about the James Bond Universe. I would highly recommend it for any Bond fan.

Painstakingly researched. Fluently written. This is an above average beside companion to the literary world of James Bond as created by Ian Fleming. A definitive work and highly recommended.

Mr. Griswold has written a book on a subject that he clearly feels passionate about. I purchased this book after having recently reread the Fleming Bond novels. I recommend te book as a concurrent reference for anyone who plans to read the series; it is less effective as a stand-alone work.

The author does a nice job of filling in the world of James Bond, such as establishing the dates on which events took place (and identifying when those dates conflict with similar "real world" events), describing in detail the various games played in the books (golf, casino, etc.), and tying together far-flung elements to create a cohesive whole (describing and mapping the HQ for the Secret Service).

The book is not without its flaws. For example, some references that appear in multiple stories appear in the Global Glossary, while others are cited for each story. Some of the notes feel like filler (do we really need an entry on Coca-Cola?), while some of the more obscure items are frustratingly under-developed. As a personal preference, I did not care for how the chronologies were written to avoid plot "spoilers"; I think the book could stand on its own better if they were detailed and specific.

All in all, this a good reference for any Bond fan, especially as it considers the novels rather than the films. Most of the issues with the book would probably be fixed with a rigorous editing job (the book appears to be self-published).

My hope is that the Bond novels someday receive the annotated treatment they deserve, notes side-by-side with the stories themselves. Perhaps someone will recognize the author's efforts and hire him to help produce definitive annotated editions.

One note of caveat emptor: While the other reviews of this book are uniformly glowing, one of the 5 star reviews is written by the author himself.

Kudos to John Griswold for producing the ultimate reference resource on Fleming's original James Bond novels and short stories. It's impossible to imagine any subsequent work on the subject approaching, much less surpassing--this one. Well worth every penny of the retail price, and more. Whenever I reread the classic Bond canon in future, thie volume will be standing by in reserve.