GOLDENEYE: Where Bond was Born

We enter a world of luxury, sex, power, danger and excitement, far away from the judging stares of grey old England. Sub-titled 'Ian Fleming's Jamaica', amid the lush beauty of the island's northern coast lies the true story of Fleming's iconic creation, James Bond. For two months every year from 1946 until his death 18 years later, Ian Fleming lived at Goldeneye, the house he built on a point of high land, overlooking a small white sandy beach on Jamaica's stunning northern coast. All the James Bond novels and stories were written there, and this book explores the huge influence the island had on his iconic post-war hero. For the writer the island was part retreat from the world, part tangible representation of his own values and part exotic fantasy. The book compares the real Jamaica of the 1950s during her dramatic build-up to independence with the island's fictional portrayal in the Bond books, shining a sometimes severe light on the dramatic end of the British Empire. The books evaluates the related impact of Fleming's circle of notable friends, the endless parties, sun, sand, wildlife, flowers, swimming and what a privileged upbringing and rich imagination could create. Beautifully written, pure escapism. 388pp, paperback with colour and other photos.