James Bond: The Secret World of 007 (Hardcover)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: stealth ship, ejector seat, James Bond, Crab Key, Elliot Carver (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

From its foreword, written by M16's very own chief, M, James Bond: the Secret World of 007 takes readers on a thrill-packed journey through the life and career of the world's most famous secret agent. Every major mission Bond has ever undertaken in the interests of world security, from Dr. No to The World Is Not Enough, is investigated and explained. Spectacular illustrations and photographs reveal, for the first time, the hidden workings of Bond's incredible vehicles and gadgets, the labyrinthine lairs, and masterplans of villains such as Ernst Stavro Blofeld, Elliot Carver, and Auric Goldfinger, and some of 007's most spectacular chases and battles. The book also explores Bond's lovelife, and his relationships with other key members of M16, such as M, Q, and Miss Moneypenny. In addition, a reference section gives details of the world famous movies based upon his amazing assignments. Officially endorsed by Eon Productions, creators of the Bond movies, this in-depth approach to Bond's career will bring 007 to life for fans of all ages.

Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: DK CHILDREN (October 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0789466910
• ISBN-13: 978-0789466914
• Product Dimensions: 12.1 x 10.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #412,904 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars James Bond is Real!, November 24, 2000

By	Azul Adnan (Malaysia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This amazing book brings to reality the fantasy world of 007. It provides details about everything and anything to do with James Bond as if he were a real secret agent.

There are three main sections:

1. The Bond Dossier - here you will find background information on Bond (the weapons, clothes, women), MI6 and the villains. (As this book is targeted at today's 'kids', it uses images of the actors from the latest film, The World Is Not Enough - Brosnan, Dench, etc. - as the 'real' James Bond and MI6 team.)

2. The Missions - this section dedicates 4 - 6 pages for each of Bond's 'missions' (i.e. the 19 Bond films), describing what the 'mission' is about and who the allies and villains are. There are detailed cross-section illustrations of the villains' headquarters, e.g. Blofeld's volcano, Stromberg's Atlantis and Elliot Carver's Stealth Ship, and also wonderful photos/illustrations of the Bond vehicles and gadgets, e.g. the DB5, Lotus, Little Nellie, etc. These pictures miraculously show how everything falls into place and how everything works (a miracle considering most of these things don't really function or even exist in real life!)

3. The Movies - the book ends with background information on 'movies' that have been made about James Bond, featuring the 5 actors who have portrayed him. The introduction to this section diplomatically concludes: "The real 007 has never disclosed which one (actor) he feels has captured him the best"! (It is only in this last section that we see pictures of Connery, Lazenby, Moore and Dalton.)

This is definitely one of the best books on James Bond. It is well researched and has breath-taking pictures, as per DK's usual high standards. It beautifully and convincingly transforms the fiction of Bond into reality.

I actually have the British version of this book and it has a simple but more official looking cover - just the title of the book on a plain red jacket with an embossed "James Bond". Maybe not as fun looking as the American version but definitely a lot easier to carry around for a thirty-something 'kid' like me!

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous Film Fantasy Fun for 007 Fans!, November 7, 2000

By	Professor Donald Mitchell "Jesus Makes Me a P... (Boston) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)

Add more Bond to your life between movies!

This is the book you have been waiting for! It starts with the Bond films and adds to your pleasure of watching and recalling them in a remarkably effective way.

This book takes an in-depth look at the action, the gadgets, the props, and the lairs of the Bond films . . . spiced up with many of your favorite stills from those movies. You will see illustrations to cut away the surface of the devices, cars, attache cases, and belts to show you how Bond used them in the films. As you know, each film ends with a major attack on the bad guy's lair. These are lovingly drawn and detailed so you can see how the whole sequence took place. You will even get such basics as how to use judo illustrated!

The book begins with a perfunctory foreword by the current M. The next sections feature stills and drawn illustrations from the movies built around the themes of Bond's secret weapons, clothing, the women he loved, other MI6 personnel, Q, spies who worked for other governments, and Blofeld.

Next, you go into several pages on each move in order. These include outlines of the characters in the movies, the lairs of the villains, any special equipment used (every single wonderful car is there!), and the details of the ending attack scenes. In some cases, the opening and intermediate attack scenes are blocked out also. The movies covered include Dr. No, From Russia with Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Diamonds Are Forever, Live and Let Die, The Man with the Golden Gun, The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker, For Your Eyes Only, Octopussy, A View to a Kill, The Living Daylights, Golden Eye, Tomorrow Never Dies, and The World Is Not Enough.

Finally, there is an appendix with all of the key movie credits so you can see who played what roles. This will be great for playing trivia games and amazing people over a glass of vintage claret!

The book will greatly expand your appreciation of the details in the films. It will also make them feel fresher than the way they appear on the television festivals of 17 Days of Bond (or whatever they are called -- Ian Fleming must turn in his grave).

After you have finished enjoying these wonderful pages, I suggest that you think about where it would be valuable and interesting for people in your family to you to tell them the details concerning something about your earlier years. They may find how you "made it to where you are" as fascinating as the Bond fans find this wonderful book about plots and movie-making.

Have a [Thunder] ball!

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Bond book ever?, October 10, 2000

By	Andrew Tonkin (Burbank, California) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

In a word, wow.

When this showed up today, I was so dazzled by the beautiful photography, brilliant cutaway illustrations and classic DK "callout" design that it took me a few minutes to figure out what was really going on here.

What's going on is simply this: this Bond book is the first of its kind. It exists purely within the fantasy universe created by the films. That is to say, that although it is crammed with pictures of actors, actresses, sets, models and props, none is described as such. Instead, each film is really a "case," actors are villains, actresses Bond's women, props are real weapons, sets are lairs. Picture a (DK) "Eyewitness Travel Guide" to Bond's (real) world and you get the idea. The hundreds of new and newly imagined technical illustrations are such a treat: you picture the film people talking to the book people, and all of them pondering, how WOULD this missile-launching ghetto blaster work?

Although there are many pictures of Sean Connery (and the four other Bonds), his name does not appear ANYWHERE until a brief "movie index" ten pages from the end. This to me is a good thing. Those of us who watch the Bonds do so to live briefly in his slightly surreal universe. "Secret World" lets you do so in more depth and with greater understanding than ever before.

Of particular value are these two brilliant features:

1) Travel/fight scene breakdowns. To me, those dustups on speeding trains and flying blimps all happen in a blur. Who's he punching? What does that buy him? Here, in numbered steps, you can follow the hurtling vehicle's progress and how James stands at each turn.

2) Evil lair cutaways. These help to bridge the huge gaps between those three Bond staples: exotic locales, imaginative model work and sprawling interior sets. In the films, we see these as: Bad process shot of motorboat speeding towards futuristic evil lair (model + location). Cut to wide shot of boat docking at interior dock (obviously a set). These cutaways show you the "real" relation and mitigate the fakeness.

Frankly an incredible book. A must for the Bond person on your list. With this as your "official" guide and the wonderful "Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" as your unofficial, you're good to go.