Ian Fleming "Casino Royale"

 

Ian Fleming

Fleming’s first novel - Casino Royale - was about a handsome British secret agent called James Bond. Bond was a spy who loved women, fast cars, and good food and drink. Casino Royale was very successful and the adventures of James Bond, agent number 007, became very popular. When Fleming died on the 12th of August, 1964, more than 40 million copies of the James Bond hooks had been sold.

The story of Casino Royale takes place in the 1950s. The names of some countries and their governments have changed since that time.

During the Second World War, France, Britain, the United States and the Soviet Union fought together - they were allies. But when the war ended, these countries began to disagree with each other. France, Britain and the United States believed that democratic capitalism was the best political system. The USSR believed that communism was the better way. The US and the USSR started to build huge numbers of powerful weapons, including atomic bombs. Each country watched the other. They did not trust each other and they made life difficult for each other. This period - 1945 to 1989 - was called the Cold War.

During the Cold War, many countries had secret intelligence services. These services sent men and women into their enemies’ countries. These spies tried to discover their enemies’ secrets. They also tried to find their enemies’ spies. Sometimes they tried to kill them. In USSR was created a special government department, the MGB. The MGB made sure that the country and its people were safe. This department later became the secret police force called the KGB. Officers of the KGB collected information about the USSR’s enemies. The KGB tried to protect the country and its people. Sometimes the KGB secretly investigated the people of the USSR. SMERSH was part of the KGB. The letters S-M-E-R-S-H are from the Russian words ‘Smyert Shpionam’ which mean, ‘Death to Spies’. People were very afraid of SMERSH.

Ian Fleming’s James Bond stories are set during the Cold War. It was a dangerous time and many people were frightened of an atomic war. So they loved to read about James Bond’s exciting adventures with powerful enemies, fast cars and beautiful women.

 

 

  

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