Ian Fleming

The Complete Man

By: Nicholas Shakespeare

Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble

A fresh portrait of the man behind James Bond, and his enduring impact, by an award-winning biographer with unprecedented access to the Fleming family papers.

Ian Fleming's greatest creation, James Bond, has had an enormous and ongoing impact on our culture. What Bond represents about ideas of masculinity, the British national psyche and global politics has shifted over time, as has the interpretation of the life of his author. But Fleming himself was more mysterious and subtle than anything he wrote.

Ian's childhood with his gifted brother Peter and his extraordinary mother set the pattern for his ambition to be “the complete man,” and he would strive for the means to achieve this “completeness” all his life. Only a thriller writer for his last twelve years, his dramatic personal life and impressive career in Naval Intelligence put him at the heart of critical moments in world history, while also providing rich inspiration for his fiction. Exceptionally well connected, and widely travelled, from the United States and Soviet Russia to his beloved Jamaica, Ian had access to the most powerful political figures at a time of profound change.

Nicholas Shakespeare is one of the most gifted biographers working today. His talent for uncovering material that casts new light on his subjects is fully evident in this masterful, definitive biography. His unprecedented access to the Fleming archive and his nose for a story make this a fresh and eye-opening picture of the man and his famous creation.

©2024 Nicholas Shakespeare (P)2024 HarperCollins Publishers

A biography worthy of the creator of James Bond

This is a fantastic, at times thrilling, and ultimately heartbreaking, capturing the remarkable and at times sad, life of Ian Fleming. Although at times it gets a little deep in the woods in providing details about somewhat peripheral characters in Fleming’s life, the details provide a richness to the book. It is a wonderful book

Flemming really was a War Winner

I was amazed at how deeply Ian Flemming’s involvement was with establishing the British secret service and even his involvement with the CIA. It all makes the business of his books seem rather trifling.
The end was a tragedy

Shaken not stirred

In depth narration of the life of an man I knew so little about and found intriguing. I think it was a little long but I was never bored listening

A better than expected review of life.

I was fascinated to hear the amount of history and connection Ian Fleming represented. Highly recommend this. If you are on the fence and like 007, this is for you.

James Bond’s dad.

Loved the book. Ian Fleming was a master craftsman. But he was definitely tortured. Bless him for giving us the opportunity to experience his life through his fictional character James Bond. 007 lives.

Narration is wonderful

Very detailed Biography from birth to death with alot of 007 in between. Enjoyed it. ‘Rum collins Mr. Bond’?

Brand new information

Very good analysis of Fleming's entire life. The point here is the revelation of Fleming's expansive clandestine operations during WWII, Other books I've read about the subject are vague as to whether his James Bond creation was based on Fleming's real experiences. Now I know. I wound up believing that the author presents truthful reporting, as he vows. Any event or quote mentioned that's speculative is prefaced like that. 29 hours did not seem that long.

One of the great biographies

This is one of the great biographies. It is set within a Bayeux tapestry peopled by the heroes and cads, the clever and ghastly women at the top of England as the country toppled through its last two dreadful wars into a grumbling little island north of Europe. Massive quantities of alcohol and expensive tobacco, heroism, and dirty tricks, with James Bond stepping unstoppably through false starts and lawsuits. A remarkable book, wonderfully well-paced and -written. It gets 5.0 top of the class in every section and deserves extra stars for length: just under 30 Audible hours of often faster than the original Bonds.

Once past Ian Fleming's childhood, ropey Eton days, and first grimy couple of years of being bullied by rich mummy, it takes off through the heart of 20th century London and New York. It flies in a constant commando raid on the upper crusty heart of the top of London social politics, English spying and dirty tricks real and imaginary, the imaginary, usually more important, flowering into the fantastic-Orwellian world of Dr. No, Smersh, To Russia With Love, the giggling collapse of a sad Empire.
In 'Ian Fleming, ' Nicholas S describes a Pepysian diarist –the combinations of idiocy and clear-eyed heroism –the death of Fleming’s father in 1917 Flanders. No one who was anyone, male and female in London is not here: an incredibly rich Anglo-Peruvian, Winston Churchill, Jack and Jackie Kennedy, Graham Greene, Evelyn Waugh, and David Cornwell. A driving page-by-page account of real-life sex and violence with names, dates, and times, scrupulously researched and dated.

Nicholas Shakespeare turns every fast-paced page with ease and well-judged indiscretion, indeed kindness, how Fleming, a wartime spy chieftain and then top London newspaper executive, at last, got round to writing the Bond books, starting with Casino Royal in 1953. The first four did not make, to begin with, much of a splash in London and even less in New York. When they did take off, thanks to a plug from President Kennedy, they became a rocket constantly refueled and, after splashdown relaunched, innately powerful producing, in Nicholas S's book, a constant stream of well-turned quotes enlivening pages already crammed with emotional and political action. Fleming would be dead only 11 years later at 56.

“Ian Fleming'' is a supercharged open-topped Bentley Thunderbird cruising surehanded through the hearts and livers of the Anglo 20th century, the swerves and wrong turnings, dead ends of history. This is how things happen. Beware of being rich and successful, of a winning streak. May the gods protect you from hitting the jackpot.

N. Asheshov

What a fascinating and surprising life!

A very thorough job of capturing all aspects of Fleming’s life from birth to death. Countless
contributions and quotes from people who knew him give a saturated view of the life of which James Bond was just a part. Full of his thoughts and experiences before, during, and after WWII, it’s a story of a well-born man looking to find his life’s purpose and success in the shadow of his older brother, full of the tumult of the time.

Manipulated by his mother, disdained by his wife, a sophisticated journalist, close to many men in power and society, instrumental in the success of international intelligence services; so many influences contributed to the man he was.

Shakespeare’s research and writing are impressive and the narration couldn’t be better. Excellent attention to accents and delivery of quotations from the scores of characters who crossed paths with Fleming, wrote letters and kept diaries about him.

Complete

This is the most complete and comprehensive biography I’ve have ever read. A must read for those interested in Ian Fleming’s life and James Bond.