The third in our collection of guides to the great London spy novelists, following on from
John le Carré’s London
and
Lamb’s London
– which explores the city as it appears in Mick Herron’s
Slough House
novels.
Ian Fleming’s life was, in many aspects, identical to that of his creation, James Bond. They smoked the same cigarettes, drank the same cocktails, and went to the same restaurants. Much of the London that Fleming knew exists today, and with this guide, you can visit his tailor, drink at his favourite bar, buy his preferred aftershave, even loiter outside his flat. It’s a tour that takes in some of London’s wealthiest neighbourhoods, places immune to change, that would be immediately recognisable to Fleming 60 years after his death in 1964. And it brings to vivid life the agent known as 007, whose habits and preferences so mirror that of his creator.