IAN FLEMING

Ian Fleming is the brilliant author of the James Bond series of novels and short stories which became some of my favorite movies of all time. In all, Fleming wrote 12 novels and nine short stories featuring 007. He did some other writing and most notably authored the children's favorite Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Fleming was a British naval officer during the Second World War. He was assigned to the Naval Intelligence staff as Personal Assistant to the Director. During the war, he developed and proposed operational plans for the Allies and was privy to reports sent in by British spies in the field.

He published his first novel, Casino Royale, in 1953 and completed most of his novels prior to the release of the first motion picture adaption, Dr. No, in 1963. His books didn't sell well in the American marketplace until President John F. Kennedy included From Russia with Love in his list of favorite books in 1961. Dr. No was an immediate success and the rest is history.

Fleming died in 1964. Several of his novels were published posthumously.