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MI6 rounds up all the events and releases surrounding
the Ian Fleming centenary celebrations this month...
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Ian Fleming Centenary Diary
May 2008
12th
May 2008 - RSL Lecture
The Ian Fleming Centenary Lecture at the Royal Society
of Literature will take place on 7pm at the Kenneth Clark
Lecture Theatre, Courtauld
Institute at Somerset
House (pictured opposite), London.
The lecture will be given by Daphne Park and will feature readings
by Lucy Fleming.
The Lecture is entitled 'Licensed to kill?' and will be
chaired by Alan Judd. Tickets, which are not issued in
advance, are available on the door. Suggested contribution £5.
Please telephone 020 7845 4676 or email [email protected]
for further details
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Daphne Park does not look like James Bond - in fact her
beady cosiness is more reminiscent of Miss Marple - but
she was the true face of British Intelligence for the second
half of the twentieth century. She served in the SOE (Special
Operations Executive) during the Second World War, in Moscow
during the Cold War, and in Hanoi during the Vietnam conflict.
She smuggled men out of the Congo in the boot of her car (not
an Aston Martin, but a 2cv), and became a senior controller for
MI6, before moving on to become Principal of Somerville College,
Oxford. Created Baroness Park of Monmouth in 1990, she insists
that intelligence work is less about glamorous derring-do than
about ‘knowing human beings’. So, how real was James
Bond? In a discussion to mark the centenary of the birth of Ian
Fleming, interspersed with readings from his work by his niece,
the actress Lucy Fleming, Lady Park talks to diplomat Alan Judd,
author of the authorised life of Mansfield Cumming, founder of
MI6, and of the spy novel Legacy.
18th
May 2008 - Amis, Amis & Bond
Martin Amis explores his father's obsessive interest in James Bond and
the writing of Ian Fleming, with fellow Bond enthusiast Charlie
Higson.
Forty years ago, Kingsley Amis (pictured
opposite) undertook an unusual project, analysing in detail all of Ian Fleming's
James Bond books
and compiling a guide
to being James Bond for prospective spies, based entirely on Fleming's
writing.
Broadcast on BBC Radio 4 (UK) at 13:30.
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24th May 2008 - Dr. No Radio Play
On Saturday 24 May, Toby Stephens and David Suchet star
in the first ever full radio adaptation of Dr No, Ian
Fleming's 1958 James Bond novel.
Recovering from the after-effects
of his last assignment, Bond is given what appears
to be
an easy job on his next case. Sent to Jamaica to investigate
the mysterious disappearance of two of his colleagues,
Bond discovers
that the heart of the mystery lies with a sinister
recluse on Crab Key, Dr No. Before long Bond comes face
to face
with this bizarre creature and soon he is fighting
for his life in a murderous game.
Broadcast on BBC Radio 4 (UK) at 14:30.
 Dr
No Radio Play - Preview
Radio
4 Bond Season
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Starring Toby Stephens as James Bond (pictured
above), David Suchet as Dr No and, John Standing as ‘M’,
Janie Dee as Moneypenny, Samuel West as Pleydel-Smith, Clarke
Peters
as Quarrel, Lisa
Dillon as Honey Rider, Martin Jarvis as the Voice of Ian Fleming.
Plus star cameos from Simon Williams, Peter Capaldi, Nicky Henson
with Kobna Holdbrook Smith, Kosha Engler, Jon David Yu, Jordanna
Tin, Inika Leigh Wright and a special appearance by Ian Fleming’s
niece Lucy Fleming as the Jamaican Institute Librarian Original
music composed by Samuel Barbour and Mark Holden
24th May 2008 - The Bond Correspondence
Ian Fleming's niece, Lucy Fleming, sets
out to discover more about both her uncle and the creation
of his most famous character, James Bond.
Her uncle has, until
now,
been someone Lucy vaguely remembers from her teens. But,
after she delves into dusty old boxes of letters to see
the wealth
of correspondence from readers and his responses, she discovers
a lesser known side of Ian.
She goes inside the old Naval
Intelligence Unit where her uncle worked in the Second
World War, visits
his wartime girlfriend Joan Bright Astley, and stepdaughter
Fionn Morgan, and, in doing so, brings to life ghosts
from the past.
Broadcast on BBC Radio 4 (UK) at 10:30.
Radio
4 Bond Season
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26th May 2008 - James Bond,
The Last Englishman
Professor David Cannadine argues that the Bond novels are a fantastic response
to the moment when Britain lost an Empire but was still struggling to find
a role in the new world. In James Bond, The Last Englishman, Professor Cannadine
claims that Fleming's Bond novels have played a key role in shaping England's
national self-image. For Cannadine, Bond is the consolatory fantasy of Fleming,
the nostalgic conservative appalled by Britain's collapse as a great power.
Broadcast on BBC Radio 4 (UK) at 20:00.
28th May 2008 - Devil May Care
Sebastian Faulks, one of Britain’s most admired novelists, is
the author of a brand new James Bond novel, to be published by Penguin
Books in the UK and Doubleday in the US. The book, entitled Devil May
Care, will be published to mark the
centenary of Ian Fleming’s birth - 28th May 2008.
Bond is back with a license to thrill. Forty-three years
ago, Ian Fleming wrote his last great 007 adventure.
Now, in Devil May Care, the world’s most iconic
spy returns in a Cold War story spanning the world’s
exotic locations. By invitation of the Fleming estate
to mark the centenary of his birth, acclaimed novelist
Sebastian Faulks picks up where Fleming left off, writing
a tour de force that will electrify every James Bond
fan. A fitting tribute to the Bond tradition, Devil May
Care stands on its own as a triumph of witty prose and
plenty of double-0 action.
Devil
May Care - Coverage
 Pre-Order
Hardback - Amazon UK
Pre-Order
Hardback - Amazon USA
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28th May 2008 - Hurricane Gold
Charlie Higson's fourth Young Bond outing " Hurricane
Gold" is published
in paperback following its golden hardback debut earlier this year.
Hurricane
Gold is the fourth and latest of the massively successful Young
Bond adventures and will be published in the UK in paperback
by Puffin.
As the sun blazes over the Caribbean island
of Lagrimas Negras, its bloodthirsty ruler is watching
and waiting.
Criminals come here to hide, with blood on their hands
and escape on their minds. On the mainland, in the
quiet town of Tres Hermanas, ex-flying ace Jack Stone
leaves
his son and daughter
in the company of James Bond. But a gang of thieves lies
in ambush - they want Stone's precious safe, and
will kill for its contents. James embarks on a deadly
chase through the Mexican jungle. On this terrifying
trail of greed and betrayal, only danger is guaranteed
... Survival is not.
Hurricane
Gold - Coverage
Order
Hardback (Amazon UK)
Order
Audiobook (Amazon UK)
Pre-Order
Paperback (Amazon UK)
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29th May 2008 - Ian Fleming Reissues
Ian Fleming's series of
James Bond novels will be republished in hardback. To coincide with
the Ian Fleming centenary, all 14 novels will
be
re-released
in hardback under the Penguin 007 imprint.
The covers are by artist Michael
Gillette. Originally
from Wales but now based in San Francisco, USA, Gillette
has worked for some of the world's biggest clients including
Capitol Records, Greenpeace, Levi and MTV. Of his latest
work for Bond, Gillette wrote on his blog, "Ahh
the The 60's. When I was a kid, I thought this was what
illustration was all about - setting the type and drawing
the images for books."
Ian
Fleming Hardback Reissues
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29th May 2008 - Quantum of Solace
With no movie novelization
planned for the 2008 James
Bond film "Quantum of Solace", Ian Fleming
Publications are moving ahead with a "complete collection" of Ian
Fleming's short stories. To cash in on the movie, the
title of the collection will be taken from one of the included
stories...Quantum of Solace. Penguin Modern Classics, who
reissued Fleming's novels in two waves in 2004 and 2006,
will publish the collection in paperback for £8.99
in the UK and $15.00 in the USA. It will be released
on May 29th 2008 in the UK along with the reissue of 14
Ian Fleming novels in hardback, a day after the Ian
Fleming centenary. US readers will have to wait until
August 26th 2008.
Stories will include "From A View To A Kill", "For
Your Eyes Only", "Quantum of Solace", "Risico",
"The Hildebrand Rarity", "Octopussy",
"The Property of a Lady", " The Living Daylights",
and "007 in New York"
Pre-Order
Amazon UK (Paperback)
Pre-Order
Amazon USA (Paperback)
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