JEREMY DUNS ON BOND

New release: Journalist and spy novelist Jeremy Duns recently published an anthology of some of his scholarly pieces about James Bond. Duns On Bond features Rogue Royale, an investigation of Ben Hecht's drafts of Casino Royale, as well as Diamonds in the Rough, a collection of fascinating 007 articles. Jeremy Duns has been an important presence on the Spy Vibe radar over the past six years. In addition to his work as a journalist for major papers, his prolific run of projects has included the first Paul Dark trilogy and the non-fiction books, Dead Drop and News of Devils: The Media and Edward Snowden. Duns On Bond is available in both eBook and paperback editions at Amazon and AmazonUK. There is also a new Paul Dark novel coming soon! More info at the Jeremy Duns website. Press release and book cover collage below. Enjoy!

Duns On Bond is an omnibus edition of two short ebooks by Jeremy Duns: Rogue Royale and Diamonds In The Rough. Both are also individually available for the Kindle. Rogue Royale: In the mid-Sixties, the James Bond films became a global phenomenon as the world thrilled to their spectacular action sequences and cool gadgets. But the films nearly went in a very different direction, with a much darker treatment of Ian Fleming’s first novel by Hollywood’s most acclaimed screenwriter. In this Kindle Single, journalist and spy novelist Jeremy Duns unearths Ben Hecht’s drafts of Casino Royale. Rogue Royale is around 11,000 words long, and builds on his ground-breaking 3,400-word article published in The Sunday Telegraph.

Diamonds In The Rough: So much has been written about James Bond that it seems scarcely imaginable there is any more territory to mine. But in Diamonds In The Rough, Jeremy Duns shares the fruits of several years of research into unexplored aspects of Ian Fleming and his universe, from lost novels and screenplays to hidden inspirations. This short ebook collects articles previously published in The Sunday Times, The Sunday Telegraph and elsewhere. It features six articles:

Gold Dust: The secret history of the lost Bond novel Per Fine Ounce.

Uncut Gem: Uncovering the attempts to film The Diamond Smugglers.

Commando Bond: James Bond's relationship to special forces history.

Black Tie Spy: The MI6 operation that inspired the pretitles scene in Goldfinger.

Smersh vs Smersh: Comparing Fleming's sinister organisation to the real thing.

Bourne Yesterday: The roots of an unusual premise, from You Only Live Twice to wartime thrillers and beyond.

Selected Spy Vibe posts: John Buss interview, Diana Rigg eBook, Avengers Season 5 Titles, Saint Volvo, Mod Tales Interview, Agente Secreto Comics, Danger Man Comics 2, Danger Man Comics, John Drake Comics, Der Mann Von UNCLE, Golden Margaret Nolan, Man From UNCLE Rocksteady, Pussy Galore Calypso, Cynthia Lennon R.I.P., Edward Mann Fashion, Leonard Nimoy Tribute, Shatner at 84, Bob Morane series, New Saint Publications, The Saint Complete box set, Gerry Anderson Box Sets, Music For Spies, Thai Bond Design, Brian Clemens RIP, Bond vs Modernism, Imitation Game, New Avengers Books, Ringo Does Goldfinger, Sixties Beat Wear, Popular Skullture, Art of Modesty, Avengers Blu-ray update, Tokyo Beat 1964, Polaroid Spy, Feraud Mod Fashion, Flint Scores!, Bond Danish, New Richard Sala Book, New 007 Comics, Designing Bond Books, Green Hornet Manga, Margaret Nolan Art, No 6 Festival, Barbarella Returns, Designer: Gene Winfield, Avengers Interview: Michael Richardson, Ian Fleming: Wicked Grin, Jane Bond Hong Kong Records, Ryan Heshka Interview, Comics Week: Man From R.I.V.E.R.D.A.L.E., Comics Week: Archie, Comics Week: Robots, Comics Week: Cold War Atomic, Comics Week: SPYMAN, Comics Week: Jimmy Olsen, Rare Avengers Scripts, Man From Uncle UK Comics, Thunderbirds Comics, Shakespeare Spies: Diana Rigg, Shakespeare Spies I, Rodney Marshall Avengers Interview, Avengers Book: Bowler Hats & Kinky Boots, George Lois Design & Mad Men, Richard Sala: Super-Enigmatix, Cold War Archie, Playboy Bunny Interview, The 10th Victim Japanese and Kindle, U.N.C.L.E. Japanese Books, The Saint books return, Trina Robbins Interview, Catsuits, Batman '66 Green Hornet Interview: Ralph Garman Ty Templeton.

UNPRODUCED IAN FLEMING FILM

The rare screenplay for an unproduced movie based on Ian Fleming's Diamond Smugglers was sold at auction this fall. The movie project, which included contributions by Kingsley Amis (Colonel Sun), had remained obscure and lost to the public for decades, until author Jeremy Duns (Dead Drop, Paul Dark series) spotted a reference in The Letters of Kingsley Amis about a Fleming script. Duns immersed himself in detective work and uncovered the story in a 2010 article for The Sunday Times. With the auction sale of the original script in recent news, Duns posted a complete "director's cut" of his findings on his blog here. 

Ian Fleming's The Diamond Smugglers was published in 1957 and featured a non-fiction account of the International Diamond Security Organization's efforts to stop the illegal traffic of gems leaving South Africa. Fleming dealt with the same topic in his 1956 James Bond novel Diamonds Are Forever. Jeremy Duns' article makes for fascinating reading and is highly recommended to Spy Vibers and fans of Fleming and film history. Jeremy Duns blog here. Ian Fleming Publications here. 

Recent Spy Vibe posts: Sherlock Exhibit, Fu Manchu history panel, Andy Warhol box set, Six-Million Dollar Man, Striped Light Nude, Buckminster Fuller, Dylan at Newport, Jane and Serge, The Goldfinger Variations, Mod Tales Interview, Pete Seeger nominated for Grammy,Kraftwerk returns to US, Beatles BBC on Fresh Air, Steranko S.H.I.E.L.D. Artist Editions, David Tennant's Ian Fleming audio books, Atomic Art, Modern Architecture LP, Julius Shulman, Shane Glines Batman, The Prisoner and Captain Scarlet, Diego Fortunato and Verner Panton, Saturday Morning Cartoons, Assassination Bureau on DVD, new Young Bond series, new Hercule Poirot novel, Early Beatles image archive, Julie Newmar, Erno Goldfinger, Hitchcock tribute.

Recent Ian Fleming posts on Spy Vibe: Ian Fleming Letters, Erno Goldfinger, Ian Fleming Music Series links: Noel Coward, Whispering Jack Smith, Hawaiian Guitar, Joe Fingers Carr, new Ian Fleming Catalog, Jon Gilbert interview, Double 007 Designs, Bond audio book reissues, discovery of one of Ian Fleming's WWII Commandos, James Bond book covers, Ian Fleming's Playboy interview for Kindle, Spy Vibe's discovery of a rare Ian Fleming serialization, rare View to a Kill, Fleming's Royal gold typewriter, Ian Fleming's memorial address, Spy Vibe's Ian Fleming image archive. 

IAN FLEMING LETTERS

Unseen letters from Ian Fleming to his Kemsley Newspapers colleague Denis Hamilton were recently made public in a sale publicized by the Daily Express. The correspondences from the James Bond author include intimate references to his affair and marriage to Ann Rothermere, his heart attack, and to efforts to bring the 007 magic into their newspaper features. The lot also includes concerned letters from Ann about their son Caspar, who suffered from depression and later took his life (fleming died on Caspar's 12th birthday). Denis Hamilton's son Nigel wrote a piece for the Huffington Post in May 2012 about working on his dad's memoirs and about the Bloomsbury auction of his father's complete (and inscribed) collection of Fleming's books. More info at the Daily Mail and Huffington Post. Spy Vibe's Ian Fleming image archive on Pinterest here. Andrew Lycett's excellent Fleming biography was recently republished in October in hardback and Kindle editions.

Recent Ian Fleming posts on Spy Vibe: Erno Goldfinger, Ian Fleming Music Series links: Noel Coward, Whispering Jack Smith, Hawaiian Guitar, Joe Fingers Carr, new Ian Fleming Catalog, Jon Gilbert interview, Double 007 Designs, Bond audio book reissues, discovery of one of Ian Fleming's WWII Commandos, James Bond book covers, Ian Fleming's Playboy interview for Kindle, Spy Vibe's discovery of a rare Ian Fleming serialization, rare View to a Kill, Fleming's Royal gold typewriter, Ian Fleming's memorial address, Spy Vibe's Ian Fleming image archive. 

Recent Spy Vibe posts: Dylan at Newport, Jane and Serge, The Goldfinger Variations, Mod Tales Interview, Pete Seeger nominated for Grammy,Kraftwerk returns to US, Beatles BBC on Fresh Air, Steranko S.H.I.E.L.D. Artist Editions, David Tennant's Ian Fleming audio books, Atomic Art, Modern Architecture LP, Julius Shulman, Shane Glines Batman, The Prisoner and Captain Scarlet, Diego Fortunato and Verner Panton, Saturday Morning Cartoons, Assassination Bureau on DVD, new Young Bond series, new Hercule Poirot novel, Early Beatles image archive, Julie Newmar, Erno Goldfinger, Hitchcock tribute.