Customer Reviews

Ian Fleming's James Bond: Annotations and Chronologies for Ian Fleming's Bond Stories (New Edition)

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John Griswold has done James Bond fans a real service with this volume. However, he has done himself a disservice in the presentation. The good points are numerous - the chronologies, the details, the research, the definitions and much more. Where he has gone wrong is in the needless repetition, the annoying underlining of entries and the lack of information. He deliberately does not give away information in the chronologies in order to not 'spoil' the plot - no one is going to resort to a book like this without having read the stories beforehand, so withholding detail is useless. The alphabetical entries should have been amalgamated (not separated into the various novels) and all characters and places should have been included. His decision to present fictional and non-fictional characters in a different format is pointless - fictional cahracters could just as easily had an asterisk attached. The novels in which they occurred could have been indicated by a series of initials. He makes reference to 'The Encyclopaedia Sherlockiana' and should have followed this format. Similarly, the chronologies should have been presented in one block.
To sum up - I love this book for what the author has done, but am disappointed in what he has not done. A new edition with the suggested improvements would make it THE James Bond (novels) reference book.

Did you ever read a book and, when the author off-handedly throws in an expression or a reference to something obscure, wonder if it is a bit of fact or fiction? What does that foreign phrase translate to? What would be that monetary amount be at today's rates? Was there really a full moon on that day?
Well, Ian Fleming was well-known for being the master of detail when he wrote the 21 adventures of James Bond; and John Griswold has written what must be considered the absolute companion for the literary world of Secret Agent 007.
Mr. Griswold seems to have explored every possible detail of FlemingBond and has produced a table book that is both academic for the hardcore fan and, yet, entertaining for the novice that just wonders what all the fuss was, and still is, about Mr. Fleming's writings that made him one of the most famous authors of the 20th century (and, with the release of the latest motion picure heavily based on the first novel, a merit that now stems into the 21st century).
With researched detail that would rival Mr. Fleming, author John Griswold shows us that there is much more fact than fiction in the incredible world of James Bond. Full of surprises, the book is a labour of love that should be both informative and fun for anyone.
Nobody has done it better!

Other reviewers have commented on the layout and look of this volume, suggesting that it is unprofessional or unattractive. As someone who has authored niche market books on both Bond and Hitchcock, let me just say that it's a miracle such books are published at all. If they contain valuable information, as this one does, that's great for fans and more serious exegetes. If they happen to look great, too, well, that's a bonus. Mr. Griswold's book sits on my desk for immediate and accurate information about the Fleming Bond adventures. He has meticulously researched the novels and their arcana (and, boy, could Fleming heap on the arcana) and I couldn't begin to imagine how many hours he spent doing that. (Well, actually, I probably could.) If you are interested in digging deeper into Fleming's world, if you like trivia, if, you, like me, wish people would say, as Fleming did, "Casino ROYal" (not "royAL"), then you will like Mr. Griswold and his work. If you want a more superficial, "been there, done that" picture book, then, yes, look elsewhere. All in all, a worthwhile project. Well done, John.

...and then some.

Like another reviewer here, I've been rereading all of the Bond novels while anticipating the release of the new film of "Casino Royale." (The movie, by the way, is one of the best Bonds ever and Daniel Craig is instantly 007 for a new--and old--generation of fans).

After reading the first three ("Casino Royale," "Live and Let Die," and "Moonraker"), I noticed seeing foreign phrases and unfamiliar names and references to forgotten historical events so I did a search on any Annotated versions I could find. I stumbled on this volume and ordered it while reading "Diamonds Are Forever" and I'm glad I did!

Painstakingly researched and filled with everything from glossaries to timelines to maps, this book is absolutely essential for anyone reading Bond with any questions about each story and where they came from.

This book is set up as reference book, not a literary critique, so it's very easy to use and overflowing with definitions and details. (Robert Benson's "The James Bond Bedside Companion" would be a wonderful companion).

Painstakingly researched and fluently written this is an above average beside companion to the literary world of James Bond as created by Ian Fleming. This is a definitive work in every respect and comes highly recommended. The revised cover containing several examples of artwork from the old Signet paperbacks is very nostalgic and is an elegiac homage to Fleming! With the release of CASINO ROYALE featuring Daniel Craig as James Bond there has been a resurgence of interest in the Ian Fleming novels. This book is an indispensable companion to Fleming's stories. It is an incredible work.

Now that the motion picture CASINO ROYALE with Daniel Craig as James Bond has been released and has been applauded as possibly the best Bond film to date, attention has finally returned to James Bond's creator and his literary body of work devoted to his hero. Ian Fleming's creation, James Bond, has virtually been replicated and re-interpreted in every medium from comics, motion pictures, action figures, cartoons, video games and the like. The only one true James Bond is that created in the writings of Ian Fleming. James Bond is a creation from the mind of Ian Fleming. Author John Griswold's "Ian Fleming's James Bond: Annotations and Chronologies for Ian Fleming's Bond Stories" is an in depth study of those writings and an objective look into the mind that created them. Author John Griswold's research is meticulously exhaustive, absolutely objective and thoroughly engrossing in every sense. Griswold's research of Fleming's writings and his objective use of that research to draw rationally based conclusions are reverently commendable. Author Griswold has no room for innuendo or speculation in his book. Ian Fleming created James Bond and the world he inhabited and it is a world based on a great deal of fact as indicated by author Griswold supported by his research. John Griswold's work is indeed an essential in-tandem book to keep within arm's reach when reading Fleming. You will undoubtedly see the value of this book the first time you refer to it and you will assuredly return many times to it.

This book, which obviously was a labor of love by the author, is simply amazing. I purchased it after recently re-reading all of the Fleming novels. I now realize how much detail went straight over my head. The chronology alone is impressive, and the maps are great fun. It would be interesting to see a follow-up for the John Gardner and Ray Benson novels (and even Colonel Sun), although this would disrupt the chronology since a 70-year-old Bond running around the later novels would seem absurd.

As an avid Ian Fleming enthusiast and his incomparable literary creation James Bond, I whole-heartedly embrace this book for its depth of knowledge, meticulous attention to infinite detail and the inimitable passion woven into the overall effect of this book by its author John Griswold.

The labors and efforts put forth by Mister Griswold are much in evidence here. Often many throwaway details and lines found in the Ian Fleming novels are in fact not throwaway in any sense of the word. I do not think the term "throwaway" existed in any Ian Fleming's literary works. So-called throwaway details and lines had actual historical, scientific, geographical, and sociological documentation that have all been painstakingly researched by Mister Griswold.

This background gives greater insight into the mind of Fleming and into his literary hero James Bond and the world he traversed and operated in. Mister Griswold even supplies a chronology of Fleming's novels that parallel actual historical events, which unfolded in the real world thus having influenced his hero and his literary adversaries as well.

Mister Griswold's book is very interesting with an entirely unique approach that captures this fascinating period in time when Ian Fleming penned these highly stylized and treasured novels and created this modern hero, this blunt instrument, James Bond.

Fastidiously researched and assertively written by author John Griswold, "Ian Fleming's James Bond: Annotations and Chronologies for Ian Fleming's Bond Stories" is a unique and refreshing re-examination of the words that Ian Fleming put on paper in his James Bond novels and short stories. This is a thorough examination into the psyche and encyclopedic mind of Fleming through an examination of his incredible writings devoted to his literary creation. Griswold's work here is truly one of a kind and is highly recommended.

Having cut my teeth reading my first James Bond novel when I was but a wee young lad ('You Only Live Twice' when I was 12), it's great to see a thoroughly researched book like this. Before this book was published it took me many years to understand some of the 'veddy British' and foreign terms in Fleming's writings. I found it to be an indispensable reference, and very useful for a beginner to the world of the premier operative on Her Majesty's Secret Service. Highly recommended.

Obscure trivia for a future edition of the chronology: in 'You Only Live Twice', Fleming mentions the Japan Air Lines aircraft that Bond flies to Japan is named 'Yoshino'. It was no coincidence that Fleming picked this aircraft, for it was registered JA8007. (For the serious airplane geeks, it was a Douglas DC-8-53, serial number 45647, withdrawn from use and probably scrapped.)