James Bond Encyclopedia

 

The Name’s Kindersley, Dorling Kindersley. 

Encyclopedia Kings Dorling Kindersley turned their hand to the James Bond franchise in 2007, and in 2023 I found it in a 2nd hand charity shelf in Tesco. I must have started reading it in September at the latest last year and finished it this week. Alongside, I’d been reading other, more compact and physically lighter books that were better for travelling. 

Even so, The James Bond Encyclopedia is a large, weighty investigation into the movie franchise – very pictorial but also hugely expansive and well-researched. 

The book’s broken down into chapters on author Ian Fleming, who Bond is, his style, his role, villains he faced, women, supporting cast, vehicles, weapons & equipment and the movies themselves. 

I’m sure I’ve seen all the Bond movies but there’s so much in the films that I don’t remember, or hadn’t latched onto. It’s also surprising how a huge role in a Bond film doesn’t necessarily pluck an actor from obscurity. After playing the titular Dr No in the original Bond adventure, what did Canadian actor Joseph Wiseman do? Buck Rogers in the 25th Century is the only credit I recognise. So many Bond girls didn’t seem to make a name for themselves either. Shirley Eaton portrayed Jill Masterson in Goldfinger, famously dispatched by asphyxiation through gold paint to the body. Aside from a couple of episodes of the TV show The Saint, her filmography is very short and obscure. Also, did you know Minnie Driver was a talentless singer in Goldeneye? 

A must for Bond fans.