On this day in 1964 James Bond writer Ian Fleming passed away – the same day that filming finished on GOLDFINGER. In today’s clip Bond (Sean Connery) follows Auric Goldfinger (Gert Fröbe) along the Furkha Pass in Switzerland. Director Guy Hamilton said: “During the course of filming I had to sneak off and search the whole of Switzerland in one weekend, to find a wiggly road where Bond could tail Goldfinger.” | James Bond 007

1961. Thunderball is published and the world is introduced to 007's new adversary, SPECTRE. Headed by evil genius, Ernst Stavro Blofeld, the Special Executive for Counterintelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion is a global criminal council of a new kind. And one of its criteria for membership is a clean sheet... ​ 'All experts in conspiracy, in the highest ranges of secret communication and action and, above all, of silence, also shared one supreme virtue – every man had a solid cover. Eve

Listen to the beginning of Ian Fleming's very first James Bond story, Casino Royale, as read by Richard Armitage! Part of a new series of recordings of Fleming's original works, the end of the Casino Royale audiobook also features some bonus content - 'Bang-bang, Kiss-Kiss' is an article by Ian Fleming about how he came to write Casino Royale. This new recording is out now in the US from William Morrow, and will be coming to the UK in early 2025. https://www.harpercollins.com/products/casino-roy