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00 Agent
In Ian Fleming's James Bond novels and the derived films, the 00 Section of MI6 is considered the secret service's elite. A 00 (pronounced "Double O") is a field agent who holds a licence to kill in the field, at their discretion, to complete any mission. The novel ''Moonraker'' establishes that the section routinely has three agents concurrently; the film series, in '' Thunderball'', establishes a minimum number of nine 00 agents active at that time. Inspiration The origins of the Double O title may date to Ian Fleming's wartime service. According to World War II historian Damien Lewis in his book ''Churchill's Secret Warriors'', agents of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) were given a "0" prefix when they became "zero-rated" upon completion of training in how to kill. As part of his role as assistant to the head of naval intelligence, Rear Admiral John Godfrey (himself the inspiration for M), Fleming acted as liaison to the SOE. Another theory holds that Fleming, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ian Fleming
Ian Lancaster Fleming (28 May 1908 – 12 August 1964) was a British writer, best known for his postwar ''James Bond'' series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., and his father was the Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Henley (UK Parliament constituency), Henley from 1910 until his death on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front in 1917. Educated at Eton College, Eton, Royal Military College, Sandhurst, Sandhurst, and, briefly, the universities of Munich University, Munich and University of Geneva, Geneva, Fleming moved through several jobs before he started writing. While working for Britain's Naval Intelligence Division (United Kingdom), Naval Intelligence Division during the Second World War, Fleming was involved in planning Operation Goldeneye and in the planning and oversight of two intelligence units: 30 Assault Unit and T-Force. He drew from his wartime se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Express
Mobico Group, formerly National Express Group, is a British multinational public transport company with headquarters in Birmingham, England. Domestically it currently operates bus and coach services under brands including National Express. The company also operates transport services including trains abroad: in the Republic of Ireland, United States, Canada, Spain, Portugal, Malta, Germany, Bahrain, Morocco, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and South Korea, and long-distance coach services across Europe. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. History Early years In 1972, the state-owned National Bus Company decided to bring together the scheduled coach services operated by its bus operating companies in the United Kingdom under one brand. Sir Frederick Wood, a prominent businessman and industrialist, was asked to oversee the creation of this new business model and led the group as its chairman from 1972 to 1978. Initially brande ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The World Is Not Enough
''The World Is Not Enough'' is a 1999 spy film, the nineteenth in the List of James Bond films, ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions and the third to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional Secret Intelligence Service, MI6 agent James Bond filmography, James Bond. It was directed by Michael Apted, from an original story and screenplay by Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, and Bruce Feirstein. It was produced by Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli. The title is the translation of the motto on the Bond family coat of arms, first seen in ''On Her Majesty's Secret Service (novel), On Her Majesty's Secret Service''. The film's plot revolves around the murder of billionaire businessman Sir Robert King by the terrorist Renard, and Bond's subsequent assignment to protect King's daughter Elektra King, Elektra, who was previously held for ransom by Renard. During his assignment, Bond unravels a scheme to increase petroleum prices by triggering a nuclear ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
On Her Majesty's Secret Service (novel)
''On Her Majesty's Secret Service'' is the tenth novel and eleventh book in Ian Fleming's List of James Bond novels and short stories, ''James Bond'' series. It was first published in the United Kingdom by Jonathan Cape on 1 April 1963. Fleming changed the formula and structure from the previous novel, ''The Spy Who Loved Me (novel), The Spy Who Loved Me'', and made a determined effort to produce a work that adhered to his tried and tested format. The initial and secondary print runs sold out quickly, with over 60,000 copies sold in the first month, double that of the previous book's first month of sales. Fleming wrote the novel at Goldeneye (estate), Goldeneye, his holiday home in Jamaica, while ''Dr. No (film), Dr. No'', the first entry in the James Bond in film, ''James Bond'' film series by Eon Productions, was being filmed nearby. ''On Her Majesty's Secret Service'' is the second book in what is known as the "Blofeld trilogy", which begins with ''Thunderball (novel), Thun ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thunderball (novel)
''Thunderball'' is the ninth book and the eighth novel in Ian Fleming's ''James Bond'' series. It was published in the UK by Jonathan Cape on 27 March 1961. The first novelisation of an unfilmed James Bond screenplay, it was born from a collaboration by five people: Ian Fleming, Kevin McClory, Jack Whittingham, Ivar Bryce and Ernest Cuneo. The first edition was published under Fleming's name, after which a legal case brought against him by McClory and Whittingham led to them being given writing credits. The story centres on the theft of a pair of nuclear weapons by the crime organisation SPECTRE and the subsequent attempted blackmail of the Western powers for their return. James Bond of the Secret Service travels to the Bahamas to work with his friend Felix Leiter, who had been seconded back into the CIA for the investigation. ''Thunderball'' introduces SPECTRE's leader Ernst Stavro Blofeld, in the first of three appearances in Bond novels, with '' On Her Majesty's Secret ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Devil May Care (Faulks Novel)
''Devil May Care'' is a James Bond continuation novel written by Sebastian Faulks. It was published in the UK by Penguin Books on 28 May 2008, the 100th anniversary of the birth of Ian Fleming, the creator of Bond. The story centers on Bond's investigation into Dr. Julius Gorner, a megalomaniac chemist with a deep-seated hatred of England. Faulks wrote the book in the style of Fleming, and the novel carried the credit "Sebastian Faulks writing as Ian Fleming"; he also took the same timeframe as Fleming, setting the novel in 1967, following the events in Fleming's last novel ''The Man with the Golden Gun''. He ignored the influences of the other Bond continuation authors and the films, producing a characterisation of Bond in the style of Fleming's. The novel was broadly well received by critics and went into the best-seller lists by the end of the first week of sales, selling 44,093 copies in four days to become the fastest-selling fiction book after the ''Harry Potter'' titl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sebastian Faulks
Sebastian Charles Faulks (born 20 April 1953) is a British novelist, journalist and broadcaster. He is best known for his historical novels set in France – '' The Girl at the Lion d'Or'', ''Birdsong'' and '' Charlotte Gray''. He has also published novels with a contemporary setting, most recently '' A Week in December'' (2009) and ''Paris Echo'', (2018) and a James Bond continuation novel, '' Devil May Care'' (2008), as well as a continuation of P. G. Wodehouse's Jeeves series, ''Jeeves and the Wedding Bells'' (2013). He was a team captain on BBC Radio 4 literary quiz '' The Write Stuff''. Biography Early life Faulks was born on 20 April 1953 in Donnington, Berkshire, to Peter Faulks and Pamela (née Lawless). His father was a decorated soldier (he won the Military Cross), who later became a solicitor and circuit judge. His brother Edward Faulks, Baron Faulks KC, a barrister, became a Conservative Government Minister in January 2014 in the Ministry of Justice. His uncle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Gardner (British Writer)
John Edmund Gardner (20 November 1926 – 3 August 2007) was an English writer of spy and Thriller (genre), thriller novels. He is best known for his James Bond (literary character), James Bond continuation novels, but also wrote a series of Boysie Oakes books and three novels containing Arthur Conan Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional villain, Professor Moriarty. During the Second World War, Gardner joined the Home Guard (United Kingdom), Home Guard at the age of 13, served in the Fleet Air Arm and subsequently joined the Royal Marines: he later described himself as "the worst commando in the world". After demobilisation, he followed his father into the Church of England, studying theology at St John's College, Cambridge, and being ordained as a priest in 1953. After losing his faith, he left the church in 1958 and took a job as a drama critic at the ''Stratford-upon-Avon Herald.'' Gardner's literary career began in 1964 with the autobiographical ''Spin the Bottle' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Man With The Golden Gun (novel)
''The Man with the Golden Gun'' is the twelfth and final novel in Ian Fleming's ''James Bond'' series and the thirteenth Bond book overall. It was first published by Jonathan Cape in the United Kingdom on 1 April 1965, eight months after the author's death. The novel was not as detailed or polished as the others in the series, leading to poor but polite reviews. Despite that, the book was a best-seller. The story centres on the fictional British Secret Service operative James Bond, who had been posted missing, presumed dead, after his last mission in Japan. Bond returns to Britain via the Soviet Union, where he had been brainwashed to attempt to assassinate his superior, M. After being de-programmed by the MI6 doctors, Bond is sent to the Caribbean to find and kill Francisco Scaramanga, the titular "Man with the Golden Gun". The first draft and part of the editing process was completed before Fleming's death and the manuscript had passed through the hands of his copy edi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Goldfinger (novel)
''Goldfinger'' is the seventh novel in Ian Fleming's James Bond series. Written in January and February 1958, it was first published in the UK by Jonathan Cape on 23 March 1959. The story centres on the investigation by the British MI6, Secret Service operative James Bond into the gold-smuggling activities of Auric Goldfinger, who is also suspected by MI6 of being connected to SMERSH, the Soviet counter-intelligence organisation. As well as establishing the background to the smuggling operation, Bond uncovers a much larger plot: Goldfinger plans to steal the gold reserves of the United States from United States Bullion Depository, Fort Knox. Fleming developed the James Bond (literary character), James Bond character in ''Goldfinger'', presenting him as a more complex individual than in the previous novels, and bringing out a theme of Bond as a St George figure. This theme is echoed by the fact that it is a British agent sorting out an American problem. In common with his other ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Live And Let Die (novel)
''Live and Let Die'' is the second novel in Ian Fleming's James Bond (literary character), James Bond List of James Bond novels and short stories, series of stories. Set in London, the United States and Jamaica, it was first published in the UK by Jonathan Cape on 5 April 1954. Fleming wrote the novel at his Goldeneye (estate), Goldeneye estate in Jamaica before his first book, Casino Royale (novel), ''Casino Royale'', was published; much of the background came from Fleming's travel in the US and knowledge of Jamaica. The story centres on Bond's pursuit of "Mr Big", a criminal who has links to the American criminal network, the world of Haitian Vodou, voodoo and SMERSH—an arm of the Soviet secret service—all of which are threats to the First World. Bond becomes involved in the US through Mr Big's smuggling of 17th-century gold coins from British territories in the Caribbean. The novel deals with the themes of the ongoing East–West struggle of the Cold War, including Britis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Bond (literary Character)
Commander (Royal Navy), Commander James Bond is a character created by the British journalist and novelist Ian Fleming in 1953. He is the protagonist of the ''James Bond'' series of List of James Bond novels and stories, novels, James Bond in film, films, James Bond (comics), comics and James Bond in video games, video games. Fleming wrote twelve Bond novels and two short story collections. His final two books—''The Man with the Golden Gun (novel), The Man with the Golden Gun'' (1965) and ''Octopussy and The Living Daylights'' (1966)—were published posthumously. The character is a Secret Intelligence Service, Secret Service officer, code number 00 Agent, 007 (pronounced "double-O[]-seven"), residing in London but active internationally. Bond was a composite character who was based on a number of British Commandos, commandos whom Fleming knew during his service in the Naval Intelligence Division (United Kingdom), Naval Intelligence Division during the Second World War, to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
