About this item
Highlights
- Bond.
- About the Author: Simon Winder is the editor of several anthologies, including the highly praised Night Thoughts.
- 312 Pages
- Literary Criticism, European
Description
About the Book
Ian Fleming fabricated an icon that has endured long past its maker's death. Winder lovingly and ruefully re-creates the nadirs and humiliations of fandom while illuminating what Bond's evolution says about the conservative movement, sex, the monarchy, food, attitudes toward America, class, and everything in between.Book Synopsis
Bond. James Bond. The ultimate British hero--suave, stoic, gadget-driven--was, more than anything, the necessary invention of a traumatized country whose self-image as a great power had just been shattered by the Second World War. By inventing the parallel world of secret British greatness and glamour, Ian Fleming fabricated an icon that has endured long past its maker's death. In The Man Who Saved Britain, Simon Winder lovingly and ruefully re-creates the nadirs of his own fandom while illuminating what Bond says about sex, the monarchy, food, class, attitudes toward America, and everything in between. The result is an insightful and, above all, entertaining exploration of postwar Britain under the influence of the legendary Agent 007.
Review Quotes
"Simon Winder gives us a rollicking tour through Bondland, [and] expertly captures the knowing blend of nostalgia, sophistication, and plain absurdity that made the Bond books (and later the movies) such a hit in the 1950s and '60s. . . . Entertaining and very funny." --Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times
"Happily, this brilliantly obsessive exegesis on the meaning and influence of the 007 character--part sociological study, part geek memoir--also has a sense of humor about its subject. . . . Indeed, Bond hasn't provided this much entertainment in decades." --Entertainment Weekly (grade: A) "Sly, funny, occasionally sad, a wild mix of cultural history, film criticism, and memoir." --Rich Cohen, author of Sweet and Low "The nimble and witty Simon Winder sifts through Ian Fleming's formulaic 007 books with excellent and often hilarious explanations. . . . [An] enchanting book--social history at its best." --The Palm Beach Post "Winder has an easy journalistic tone, a surprisingly objective take on his own obsession, and an encyclopedic knowledge of all things Bond- and Ian Fleming-related. . . . Witty and intelligent." --Financial Times (U.K.) "Almost ridiculously enjoyable." --New Statesman (U.K.)About the Author
Simon Winder is the editor of several anthologies, including the highly praised Night Thoughts. He works in publishing and lives in London.