The Diamond Smugglers

Description

The fantastic true story of the world's greatest smuggling racket, as told by the creator of James Bond 'One day in April 1957 I had just answered a letter from an expert in unarmed combat writing from a cover address in Mexico City, and I was thanking a fan in Chile, when my telephone rang...' The Diamond Smugglers is the true story of an operation responsible for smuggling millions of pounds worth of precious gems out of Africa. Ian Fleming, creator of James Bond, drew on interviews with the reluctant hero of the diamond companies' counter-attack to explore the world of the real master criminals of his time.The result rivals Fleming's greatest spy novels.

Ian Lancaster Fleming was born in London in 1908. His first job was at Reuters news agency after which he worked briefly as a stockbroker before working in Naval Intelligence during the Second World War. His first novel, Casino Royale, was published in 1953 and was an instant success. Fleming went on to write twelve other Bond books as well as two works of non-fiction and the children's classic Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. The Bond books have sold over sixty million copies and earned praise from figures such as Raymond Chandler who called Fleming 'the most forceful and driving writer of thrillers in England' and President Kennedy who named From Russia with Love as one of his favourite books. The books inspired a hugely successful series of film adaptations which began in 1961 with the release of Dr No, starring Sean Connery as 007. Fleming was married to Anne Rothermere with whom he had a son, Caspar. He died in 1964.

It is often difficult to remember that we are not listening to his old hero Mr. James Bond...several yarns are worthy of the best spy-stories * Observer * An exciting and richly fascinating account * Sunday Times * Fleming not only had a gift for gripping plots, but an abundantly moreish prose style with pin-sharp descriptions. Betjeman was right. Fleming conjured an entire world, infinitely more colourful than our own, and one that may well go on for ever * Daily Telegraph * Fleming's books are well-written, pacy and hard-edged -- Lee Child * Daily Mail *