From Russia with Love

Ian Fleming

Illustrated by Fay Dalton

Often named by Bond fans as Fleming’s best novel, this suspenseful thriller sees 007 ensnared by an elaborate honeytrap set by SMERSH.

Ian Fleming

Named as Ian Fleming’s finest novel in numerous polls, and described by the author as, ‘In many respects, my best book,’ this nail-biting thriller sees 007 ensnared by an elaborate plot devised by the Soviet counter-intelligence agency, SMERSH. Set among the bazaars and minarets of Istanbul, and aboard the Orient Express, the novel features some of the series’ most memorable characters.

The ebullient and dissipated Darko Kerim reigns over ‘Station T’ with the help of his many children, and becomes Bond’s firm comrade. Rosa Klebb is the repugnant SMERSH operations chief whose weaponry includes a boot concealing a poison-tipped knife; Red Grant is the terrifying psychopath whose lust for murder has made him Chief Executioner. Tatiana Romanova is the ravishing, guileless instrument of a deadly honeytrap designed to destroy and defame the Secret Service’s greatest agent.

This elegant edition features a pictorial slipcase and alluring illustrations by Fay Dalton, whose work also appears in all titles of the Folio Society Ian Fleming Collection.

‘Mr Fleming’s tautest, most exciting and most brilliant tale’

Times Literary Supplement 

PRODUCTION DETAILS

Bound in blocked cloth
Set in Miller Text
272 pages
Frontispiece and 6 colour illustrations
Pictorial slipcase
9˝ x 6¼˝

THE FLEMING EFFECT

From Russia with Love was published during the Cold War, and John F. Kennedy listed it amongst his ten favourite books. Unusually for a Bond novel, the hero does not appear for the first portion of the book. This is a daring move, but one which pays off by allowing a detailed portrayal of other key characters, including Grant ‘the slaughterer’ and his gruesome back story. When we first see Grant he is prone beside a swimming pool at a Russian villa, his ‘morgue-like’ face sending shivers through the masseuse kneading his ‘insolent’ muscles. Indifferent to everything but violence, he calmly awaits the call that will signal his next murderous mission. When the narrative turns to Bond, he is listless in London, mourning the end of a love affair and appalled by the boredom that has overtaken him after a year of unbearable peace. Little does he know that his ennui will make him the perfect target for SMERSH’s cruel designs. 

As in all of his novels, Fleming grounds explosions, assassinations and death-defying exploits in carefully related, realistic details about cars, meals and hotel rooms – something Kingsley Amis called ‘the Fleming effect’. More unusual is this novel’s cliffhanger ending – a dramatic turn of events that even Bond, after all his adventures, does not foresee.

ABOUT IAN FLEMING

Ian Lancaster Fleming was born in London in 1908. He was educated at Eton College and abroad in Germany and Austria. After working as a stockbroker he became the assistant to the Director of Naval Intelligence in the Admiralty during the Second World War. In 1952 he wrote Casino Royale, the first of 14 James Bond titles, of which 30 million copies were sold during his lifetime. He was married to Ann Rothermere and together they had one son, Caspar. Fleming died in 1964.

ABOUT FAY DALTON

Fay Dalton is a London-based illustrator. She has a first-class degree in Illustration and was the winner of the 2010 Pickled Ink Award for illustration. Fay combines traditional drawing and painting methods with digital painting. She has also illustrated Casino Royale (2015), From Russia with Love (2016), Dr No (2017), Moonraker (2017), Goldfinger (2018), Diamonds Are Forever (2018), Thunderball (2019), Live and Let Die (2019) and The Spy Who Loved Me (2020) for The Folio Society.