WHEN Ian Lancaster Fleming set out to write ‘the spy story to end all spy stories’, his own backstory didn’t sound auspicious: a father killed in the First World War when Ian was only eight; a domineering mother who removed him from Eton; dropping out of Sandhurst; and, later, failing his Foreign Office exams.
Events took a turn for the better when this handsome, athletic Englishman left his native land to attend the Tennerhof finishing school in Kitzbühel, Austria, run by former diplomatspy Ernan Forbes Dennis. Falling in love with the mountains, he became an accomplished skier and was soon engaged to a Swiss woman, Monique Panchaud de Bottomes. Their relationship didn’t last, but it was in this romantic world that Fleming made his first attempts at writing fiction.
Peter Wälty has looked closely at Fleming’s time in the Alps and has written the book James Bond und die Schweiz (James Bond and Switzerland). He observes: ‘You can view the Bond novels, written decades later, as a kind of wish fulfilment—the adventurous life that a younger Fleming might have imagined for himself.’
The Englishman returned to London in need of income, becoming a stockbroker and spending money on golf, cards and women as fast as he could earn it. He might well have slid into obscurity as a regular at various late-night gambling clubs had the Second World War not broken out. Using his connections, Fleming secured a role as an assistant to Rear-Admiral Godfrey, director of Naval Intelligence. It was a new lease of life for the 30 year old, who began working from 6am until late at night. He was good at it (unlike stockbroking), rising to the rank of acting commander (the same level as Bond).
Denne historien er fra December 04, 2019-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra December 04, 2019-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Happiness in small things
Putting life into perspective and forces of nature in farming
Colour vision
In an eye-baffling arrangement of geometric shapes, a sinister-looking clown and a little girl, Test Card F is one of television’s most enduring images, says Rob Crossan
'Without fever there is no creation'
Three of the top 10 operas performed worldwide are by the emotionally volatile Italian composer Giacomo Puccini, who died a century ago. Henrietta Bredin explains how his colourful life influenced his melodramatic plot lines
The colour revolution
Toxic, dull or fast-fading pigments had long made it tricky for artists to paint verdant scenes, but the 19th century ushered in a viridescent explosion of waterlili
Bullace for you
The distinction between plums, damsons and bullaces is sweetly subtle, boiling down to flavour and aesthetics, but don’t eat the stones, warns John Wright
Lights, camera, action!
Three remarkable country houses, two of which have links to the film industry, the other the setting for a top-class croquet tournament, are anything but ordinary
I was on fire for you, where did you go?
In Iceland, a land with no monks or monkeys, our correspondent attempts to master the art of fishing light’ for Salmo salar, by stroking the creases and dimples of the Midfjardara river like the features of a loved one
Bravery bevond belief
A teenager on his gap year who saved a boy and his father from being savaged by a crocodile is one of a host of heroic acts celebrated in a book to mark the 250th anniversary of the Royal Humane Society, says its author Rupert Uloth
Let's get to the bottom of this
Discovering a well on your property can be viewed as a blessing or a curse, but all's well that ends well, says Deborah Nicholls-Lee, as she examines the benefits of a personal water supply
Sing on, sweet bird
An essential component of our emotional relationship with the landscape, the mellifluous song of a thrush shapes the very foundation of human happiness, notes Mark Cocker, as he takes a closer look at this diverse family of birds