Overview

Amid the lush beauty of Jamaica's northern coast lies the true story of Ian Fleming's iconic creation: James Bond.For two months every year, from 1946 to his death eighteen years later, Ian Fleming lived at Goldeneye, the house he built on a point of high land overlooking a small white-sand beach on Jamaica's stunning north coast. All the James Bond novels and stories were written here.This book explores the huge influence of Jamaica on the creation of Fleming's iconic postwar hero. The island was for Fleming part retreat from the world, part tangible representation of his values, and part exotic fantasy. Goldeneye also examines Fleming's Jamaican friendships--his extraordinary circle included Errol Flynn, the Oliviers, international politicians, and British royalty, as well as his close neighbor Noel Coward--and traces his changing relationship with Ann Charteris (and hers with Jamaica) and the emergence of Blanche Blackwell as his Jamaican soul mate.Goldeneye also compares the real Jamaica of the 1950s during the buildup to independence with the island's portrayal in the Bond books, to shine a light on the attitude of the likes of Fleming and Coward to the dramatic end of the British Empire.

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9781481514194

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Matthew Parker is the author of several works of nonfiction, including Monte Cassino: The Hardest-Fought Battle of World War II; the Los Angeles Times bestseller Panama Fever, which was a 2008 Washington Post Best Book of the Year; and The Sugar Barons, which was an Economist Book of the Year. He lives in London. Roy McMillan is a director, writer, actor, and narrator. Among his audiobook readings are Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes, A Dog's Heart by Mikhail Bulgakov, and The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx.

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