Product Description

Every major foreign government has a file on James Bond, British secret agent. Now, Russia’s deadly SMERSH organization has targeted him for elimination – they have the perfect bait in ravishing agent Tatiana Romanova. Her mission is to lure Bond to Istanbul and seduce him while her superiors handle the rest. But when Bond walks willingly into the trap, a game of cross and double cross ensues – with Bond both the stakes and the prize …

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #118020 in Books
• Published on: 2006-10-26
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

From the Publisher
With a new introduction by Charlie Higson.

About the Author
Born in London in 1908, Ian Fleming worked as a banker and journalist before serving in the British Naval Intelligence during World War II. He published his first novel Casino Royale in 1953 and thus started the astoundingly successful James Bond novels and films. Fleming died in 1964. Other titles include: Casino Royale (0141028300), Diamonds Are Forever (0141028246), Dr No (0141028270), For Your Eyes Only (0141028254), Goldfinger (0141028319), Live and Let Die (0141028327), Moonraker (0141028335), Octopussy & The Living Daylights (0141028343), On Her Majesty's Secret Service (0141028351), The Man with the Golden Gun (0141028238), The Spy Who Loved Me (014102822X), Thunderball (0141028289), You Only Live Twice (0141028262)

Customer Reviews

Great Bond
'From Russia With Love' was always one of my favourite Bond movies. It might have lacked the gadgets and style of some of the later movies but there was something about the plot that always had me hooked. Every element just seemed to fit together so well.

Having now read Fleming's original novel I can see that it is he I have to thank for most of what subsequently appeared in the film adaptation. Although some details were changed (SMERSH were replaced by SPECTRE as the bad guys for the film and extra action was injected) the essential mechanics of the plot were pretty much as Fleming originally conceived them, which is hardly a surprise considering how brilliantly he did so.

I can see why FRWL was the book that made Fleming and Bond's reputation. Compared to the four novels that preceded it this is the first time that the character we now traditionally think of as being James Bond appeared fully formed on the page. Moreover all the other elements of a classic Bond Adventure are present and correct for the first time. There are the girls, the gadgets, the globetrotting, the exotic locales, the evil organisation up to no good, its ugly minions and evil henchmen and the inevitable action. Other Bond books might have had one, two or possibly more of the above elements but none of them manage to put them all together into such a compelling package as FRWL.

Nor did any of the books that came before FRWL have such a highly tuned, compelling plot to them. Its no surprise to discover that Fleming spent a great deal of time refining FRWL to get the story and the details that accompany it just right. There isn't a loose thread or plot hole to be seen. Everything works just like clockwork, maintaining tension from the get go right up to the very suprising ending.

If you've read some or all of the first four Bond books but gave up on the series before picking up the fifth novel then I can highly recommend giving the literary Bond another try by reading FRWL. This is where everything comes together into a perfect formula. The Bond on the page remains very different to the Bond of the screen, but with FRWL you get an almost perfect blend of everything that makes Fleming's original Bond novels so compelling and long lasting.

One of the greatest in the greatest series of 20th Century books...
...of the greatest 20th Century character!

S.M.E.R.S.H. plot a scheme to increase their reputation- and decide to assassinate Bond!

The first half is set in the USSR- setting the trap. And the movie follows the second half.

Read them in order from Casino Royale to Octopussy and the Living Daylights. None of them will dissapoint- fan of the movies or not.

Jim