Birth of Ian Fleming

Ian Fleming was born on 28 May 1908 in Mayfair. A British author and naval intelligence officer, Fleming created James Bond, the secret agent 007, in Casino Royale, written at his Jamaican estate, Goldeneye. Over the next dozen years he wrote twelve novels and two short-story collections about the spy, including From Russia with Love, Goldfinger and Thunderball, which became a hugely successful film franchise. He drew on his experience in the Second World War, when he was an assistant to the director of naval intelligence. He was also a journalist, and wrote the children's book Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang. He died of a heart attack at fifty-six.

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