Ian Fleming
The Complete Man
Published on 3. October 2024
Book
Paperback/Softback
864 pages
978-1-5299-2060-4 (ISBN)
Description
A fresh portrait of the man behind James Bond, and his enduring impact, by an award-winning biographer with unprecedented access to the Fleming family papers.
*WINNER OF THE CWA GOLD DAGGER FOR NON-FICTION*
Ian Fleming's greatest creation, James Bond, has had an enormous and ongoing impact on our culture, but Fleming's life was more mysterious than anything he wrote.
Ian's childhood with his gifted brother and extraordinary mother established his ambition to be 'the complete man'. Only a writer for his last twelve years, his dramatic personal experiences and career in Naval Intelligence put him at the heart of critical moments in world history, while also providing rich inspiration for his fiction.
Nicholas Shakespeare is one of the most gifted biographers working today. His talent for uncovering new material that casts fresh light on his subjects is fully evident in this masterful, definitive biography.
'Elegant and painstakingly researched' Observer
'Marvellous...one of the most engaging portraits of a particular period of British history that I have read in a long time' Antonia Fraser
'A book so buoyant and delicious that you feel it will be a friend for life' Telegraph
*SHORTLISTED FOR THE SALTIRE SOCIETY LITERARY AWARD*
*A The Times, Financial Times, Economist, Spectator and BBC History Magazine Book of the Year*
*WINNER OF THE CWA GOLD DAGGER FOR NON-FICTION*
Ian Fleming's greatest creation, James Bond, has had an enormous and ongoing impact on our culture, but Fleming's life was more mysterious than anything he wrote.
Ian's childhood with his gifted brother and extraordinary mother established his ambition to be 'the complete man'. Only a writer for his last twelve years, his dramatic personal experiences and career in Naval Intelligence put him at the heart of critical moments in world history, while also providing rich inspiration for his fiction.
Nicholas Shakespeare is one of the most gifted biographers working today. His talent for uncovering new material that casts fresh light on his subjects is fully evident in this masterful, definitive biography.
'Elegant and painstakingly researched' Observer
'Marvellous...one of the most engaging portraits of a particular period of British history that I have read in a long time' Antonia Fraser
'A book so buoyant and delicious that you feel it will be a friend for life' Telegraph
*SHORTLISTED FOR THE SALTIRE SOCIETY LITERARY AWARD*
*A The Times, Financial Times, Economist, Spectator and BBC History Magazine Book of the Year*
Reviews / Votes
Written with Fleming-esque brio and insouciance, with a feeling for the tragic aspects of his life as well as the ironic comedy of it..elegant...the research here is impeccable. * Telegraph * This excellent biography is as worldly and clever as one could wish. -- Philip Hensher * Spectator * Magisterial.... Shakespeare knows Fleming's world intimately and the intricate portrait of this complex individual is unsurpassable. -- William Boyd * Daily Express, Books of the Year * Elegant and painstakingly researched * Observer * A monumental record of Fleming's life. The completeness of the book is beyond doubt. Shakespeare leaves no future biographer much to discover. Fleming's place in history is assured. -- Max Hastings * Sunday Times * A sustained and engrossing homage to the Olympic icon of a beleaguered Britain, and a writer damned to fame. With scarcely a dull page, it's a chip off the old block... steeped in exceptional research....stitches up the loose ends of Fleming's story into a satisfying 21st-century biography. -- Robert McCrum * Independent * This is a marvellous book about Ian Fleming, but it's also one of the most engaging portraits of a particular period of British history that I have read in a long time -- Antonia Fraser A must-read * Evening Standard * A definitive biography that deepens and reshapes previous versions of Fleming's life... light-footed and swift-moving despite its copious research... Shakespeare's Fleming rises from these richly textured pages as a more substantial and sympathetic figure than the preening snob of myth. * Financial Times * The Complete Man is packed with women, their characters and stories carefully filled in...highly accomplished and readable * New Statesman *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Vintage Publishing
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 197 mm
Width: 128 mm
Thickness: 46 mm
Weight
612 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-5299-2060-4 (9781529920604)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
10/2023
Vintage Digital
€11.99
Available for download
Person
Nicholas Shakespeare was born in 1957. The son of a diplomat, much of his youth was spent in Asia and South America. One of Granta's Best of Young British Novelists 1993, and considered by the Wall Street Journal as 'one of the best English novelists of our time', his prize-winning books have been translated into twenty-two languages. They include The Vision of Elena Silves (winner of the Somerset Maugham Award), Snowleg, The Dancer Upstairs, Inheritance, Priscilla, Six Minutes in May and acclaimed biographies of Bruce Chatwin and Ian Fleming. His most recent thriller featuring John Dyer was The Sandpit. He has been longlisted for the Booker Prize twice, was a Visiting Fellow at All Souls College, Oxford and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.