From Russia with Love by Ian Fleming
The Soviet counterintelligence agency SMERSH has James Bond marked for death in Ian Fleming’s superb spy thriller, which President John F. Kennedy called one of his all-time favourite books.
SMERSH, which stands for “Death to Spies,” would like to discredit and destroy James Bond more than any other spy. But it will take a temptation so alluring that even the most deadly agent of the British Secret Service will fall for it. Enter Tatiana Romanova, a gorgeous Russian spy whose “defection” sets off a trap that was meticulously planned. Her objective was to seduce Bond before taking the Orient Express to the West.
Two of Ian Fleming’s most vividly imagined villains are hiding in the shadows: Rosa Klebb, the evil operations commander, and Red Grant, the greatest assassin in SMERSH at five feet four inches tall and with pure killing power.
One of the most beloved books in the Bond canon and a modern classic that set the bar for clever literary espionage for decades to come, From Russia with Love is bursting with action and intrigue.
From Russia with Love by Ian Fleming
Amazon.com
The best Bond novel is most likely this one. It was among Kennedy’s top 10 books to read. The first third of it sets it apart from the others by focusing on Grant—who turns out to be an assassin—and Smersh. Additionally, Istanbul, my favourite city, is where it is set. I suggested to my wife that we purchase a property there, but she is not interested. I believe especially in the 1960s, Bond constantly takes us to locations that are so exotic. Fleming was actually in Istanbul in the 1950s, and in this book, he uses an event where the Turkish authorities did nothing as the Greek Commissioner was attacked by Turks.
Fleming creates a completely engrossing primary character who is a fantasy figure that men want to be like and women want to sleep with. He has a mix of sophistication, charisma, and subtle roughness. Some of the stuff, the language, and the racial portrayals may be a little out of date now. But it would be difficult to find a figure who has truly entered the general mind by looking at literary literature over the past 50 years. Fleming is a journalist as well, and his writing is strong and direct. And as you are aware, all guys have a slight…
